Nov. 18, 2005

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) - Deron Washington nearly outscored Mount St. Mary's in the first half, hitting 20 of his game-high 24 points as Virginia Tech won 74-62 Friday night.

Washington was filling in for center Coleman Collins, who missed the game to return to his home in Stone Mountain, Ga., to deal with family issues. Washington responded, tying his career-high in points and rebounds (10), set last season.

"I knew I was going to have to play hard because we were without Coleman," Washington said.

He chased back-to-back layups with a free throw, taking the Hokies (3-1) to an 11-2 lead less than four minutes in. Washington's dominating play led him inside, where he followed an offensive rebound with a layup to make it 16-4.

"Deron was very good without us running a play for him," Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg said.

D.A. Vassallo's pair of 3-pointers from left of the arc made it 22-7 with 9:51 left in the half. Charles Cook's 3-pointer pulled the Mountaineers within 28-16, but Washington's dunk off Jamon Gordon's no-look pass started a 10-0 run.

"It takes a lot out of you to come back that far," said Mount St. Mary's coach Milan Brown.

The Mountaineers, who were playing in their season opener, scored six unanswered to close within 38-22 at halftime. Markus Mitchell hit two of three free throws and a layup in the mini-run.

Tech's Cheick Diakite scored consecutive baskets following the half, and the lead was 20. Mount St. Mary's put together an 8-0 run as the Hokies failed to score over the next six minutes.

Greenberg called time with 12:52 to play, setting up Chris Tucker's layup underneath. Landy Thompson's 3-pointer cut the lead to 10. Zabian Dowdell drained a 3-pointer from the corner 20 seconds later.

The Mountaineers twice cut the lead to eight, the second time on Mychal Kearse's free throws midway through the second half, but never got closer.

Dowdell's jumper in the lane capped an 8-point run, extending the lead to 58-42 at the 7:59 mark.

The Hokies hit 10 of 11 free throws down the stretch. Kearse scored 18 and grabbed eight rebounds, and Sam Autupem had 13 points for Mount St. Mary's. Mitchell grabbed nine rebounds.

Dowdell added 18, Vassallo 13 and Diakite 11 for Tech.