BLACKSBURG, VA. -- The look of utter determination on Sean Singletary's face made it clear that he was not going to let his team lose this game, no matter what the circumstances. Hampered by lingering injuries that had prevented him from practicing last week, the sophomore point guard placed Virginia's offensive burden squarely on his shoulders for most of the final 10-and-a-half minutes of the second half. He scored 13 straight points and led the Cavaliers to a contentious and hard-fought 54-49 victory over Virginia Tech Sunday evening in Blacksburg.
"He's got a level of intestinal fortitude that I don't know that I've ever seen before," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said. "A light went off in him that [he] had to take control of this game, and that's what he did."
It was sophomore forward Adrian Joseph, however, who hit the biggest shot of the game for Virginia (8-6, 2-2 ACC). With 45 seconds remaining and the game tied 49-49, junior guard J.R. Reynolds dished the ball to Joseph in the corner, and Joseph silenced the crowd by calmly nailing the three-pointer, his third of the game. The Hokies (10-7, 0-4 ACC) missed two three-point attempts in the final 30 seconds, and freshman Mamadi Diane sealed Leitao's first road ACC win by converting two free-throws.
"I stepped up with confidence to take the shot, and it went in," Joseph said. "After the shot went through the net, I felt great."
With 11:11 remaining in the second half and Virginia leading 32-29, the game took a bizarre and disturbing turn. After Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg was issued a technical foul for arguing with the referees over Coleman Collins' missed dunk attempt, the crowd pelted the court with several pieces of debris. The referees gave Greenberg the microphone for the purpose of calming the crowd down. Greenberg, however, did no such thing, turning the opportunity into an impromptu Hokies pep rally.
"There's 11 minutes left in the game," Greenberg exhorted. "We're going to play as hard as we can, so cheer as loud as you can and get behind the Hokies!"
With the crowd having been whipped into a deafening frenzy, Virginia Tech's offense came alive. The Hokies took their first lead of the second half, 41-39, with 6:41 remaining. When Zabian Dowdell hit a three-pointer with 3:39 remaining, the Cavaliers faced a 49-44 deficit. Dowdell led the Hokies with 16 points. Collins finished with 14.
Singletary, who finished the game with 16 points, erased that deficit over the next minute with a three-pointer and two free throws. The Hokies then missed three-straight shots, setting the stage for Joseph's heroics.
Reynolds scored 12 points in the first half, but foul trouble limited his second half playing time to 13 minutes, during which he scored only four points. Junior forward Jason Cain scored seven first-half points but was completely neutralized in the second half by Virginia Tech's defense. Freshman forward Laurynas Mikalauskas and sophomore center Tunji Soroye both fouled out of the game with more than five minutes left. The Cavaliers out-rebounded the Hokies 32-25. Virginia also posted a respectable 11-14 mark from the free throw line.
"This was a very good win for the guys and the growth of our team," Leitao said. "We hung tough through a lot of different things."
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