After beating Colorado State in a thriller on Wednesday, the Hokies fell 77-66 to the Saint Mary’s Gaels in the semi-finals of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.
Under head coach Randy Bennett, the Gaels find themselves to be one of the best mid-major teams in the country and a consistent NCAA Tournament at-large bid on a yearly basis, so the Hokies had a tough one ahead of them. It didn’t help that Virginia Tech is Tobi Lawal with an apparent lower-body injury for the rest of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament.
That, plus the poor first half for the Hokies, led them to see defeat for the first time this season, falling to 6-1, while the Gaels improved to 8-0.
Lawal was seen in a boot, and after the game, Mike Young described Lawal’s injury as a foot injury and stated, “[He] will be fine.” Young doesn’t expect him to play in their next game tomorrow.
Without Lawal, Ben Hammond got the start as the Hokies went with a smaller lineup.
The first half didn’t start well for the Hokies offensively, only shooting 2-13 (15%) at the 12-minute mark. The shooting woes persisted, going 7-33 (21%) from the field and 1-15 (6%) from beyond the arc. At that early point in the first half, the Hokies trailed 12-4 to the Gaels but went on a 7-0 run in the middle of the half to close the gap. Still, the Gaels were able to hold their lead and shot at a good clip of 12-26 (46%) and headed into the half leading by 11.
At halftime the only players with a made bucket from the field were Ben Hammond, Amani Hansberry, and Neoklis Avdalas. Six other players took at least one shot but didn't convert.
The Hokies also had a difficult test on the boards today against Saint Mary's, Andrew McKeever, a 7-foot-2 center who clears Amani Hansberry, who is six inches shorter than McKeever. . It also didn't help that Lawal, who would've helped in the paint, was out. McKeever finished with 14 points, eight boards, and two blocks, including several crucial offensive rebounds in the final minutes of the game.
Despite the challenge that McKeever was for the Hokies, they held their own on the glass. Losing the rebound battle by five (39-35) and having 18 offensive rebounds compared to Saint Mary’s 11.
It was also Virginia Tech’s Hansberry leading the way with a double-double with 18 points and 10 boards with a block. While Hansberry led the team, he was a contributor to Tech’s early shooting drought, going 0-6 from three in the game. Hansberry has shown promise from deep and finds himself open a lot at the top of the key but has been too inconsistent to make it something the opposing defense has to account for so far.
In the second half, the Hokies shot a lot better, going 14-35 (40%) from the field and 6-15 (40%) for three, a big difference from their first half.
Behind sharp shooting from Jaden Schutt with four threes, the Hokies closed the gap to five points multiple times throughout the second half, but Saint Mary’s always had an answer, preventing the Hokies from making a run and bringing the game any closer.
Jaden Schutt finished the game with 17 points while shooting 50% from both the field and for three. Following him was Neoklis Avdalas with 13 points. And no other player hit double-digit points.
For Saint Mary’s, it was Paulius Murauskas leading the Gaels with 19 points and seven rebounds while shooting 6-14 (42%) and having the dagger three-pointer in the final few minutes to seal Virginia Tech’s bid at coming back late in the game.
The game was quite simple for the Hokies. Shooting the ball at the poor rate that they did in the first half can sink the ship before the second half even starts. Especially against a team coached by Randy Bennett. The Hokies did the best they could at clawing back, trying to salvage a win against Saint Mary’s, but the deficit was too much to work back from.
While the loss is tough, the Hokies battled against a very talented Saint Mary’s team that usually finds itself in the tournament consistently. The win would've been huge for their resume come Selection Sunday, but there's nothing for the Hokies to hang their heads on for long.
The Hokies look to bounce back against VCU tomorrow morning to see who finishes in 3rd and 4th place in the Battle 4 Atlantis.
