Sally Bull / SPPSMalcom Delaney (23) tries for a lay-up but is bloked by FSU's Eche Echefu (41) in the Men's Basketball game Tuesday night.
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While the Seminoles would score the game's first basket, Tech would establish its presence early. The Hokies would answer Florida State with a 7-0 run capped by a J.T. Thompson lay-up off a no-look pass from fellow freshman Malcolm Delaney.
The Cassell Guard roared with excitement as FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton took the game's first timeout at the 18:07 mark.
"That was something great," Thompson said. "A little no-look. He got the crowd into it—he got everybody into it … that helped a lot."
After a media timeout, the Hokies continued to stretch their lead aided in part by freshman Jeff Allen, who came off the bench to play his first minutes in almost two weeks after serving a two-game suspension for contact with an official during Tech's Jan. 19 loss at Georgia Tech.
"Coach just made a last minute decision to start me again," Thompson said. "I don't know when it's going to be over, so, hey, got to enjoy it why it lasts."
The game would be the third-straight in which Thompson scored in double figures; he scored 11 against the Seminoles after 13- and 14-point efforts against Duke and Boston College, respectively.
"I feel like I've been more aggressive," Thompson said. "I've been trying to go to the hole a little stronger—getting fouled, getting to the line. I feel like that's what's been working for me."
Turnovers did not help matters for the visitors from Tallahassee in the first half with many of their 11 being of the unforced variety.
"We had four turnovers, I think, in our first seven possessions," Hamilton said. "Our turnovers gave them too many extra possessions."
The two teams would trade baskets for the next several minutes before a 7-0 Hokie run would have Tech more than doubling-up Florida State at 39-19. The 20-point lead would prove to be a game-high for the Hokies, and Tech would take a 42-24 lead into the locker room at the half.The Hokies were red hot in the first half, shooting 60.9 percent from the field and 78.6 percent from the free-throw line.
A slow start plagued the Hokies out of the second half gate. Five turnovers in less than four minutes sparked a 7-0 Florida State run that saw Tech's lead cut to 12 points—the lowest it had been since the 4:10 mark in the first half. But a quick 7-0 Hokie run that took little over a minute would nullify any momentum gained by Seminoles.
"It was real important, because when they caught momentum I think we shut them down," said Thorns. "We came at them and we hit them before they could keep their momentum going."
The Seminoles would remain down by double-digits for much of the second half, but a Douglas three-pointer would cut the lead to eight with 4:35 remaining.
Back-to-back Tech baskets by Allen and Malcolm Delaney would rebuild the Hokie cushion to 12 at 72-60.
Although the Hokies were ahead by multiple possessions, the Seminoles would make a charge—shrinking the lead to six points at a few points in the game's final two minutes and to five with 47.3 seconds remaining.
"The end of the game reminded me a lot of our Carolina game last year," said Tech head coach Seth Greenberg. "They had nothing to lose and they were just attacking us and going after us. They made great shots."
The Hokies finally sealed the game after an intentional foul call on Florida State's Brian Hoff with 35.2 seconds remaining. Vassallo's free-throws on the intentional and subsequent personal fouls would leave the Seminoles down nine.
Tech, as a team, shot 35-47 from the charity stripe on the evening.
"We had the ball in the right guys' hands and they made free-throws," said Greenberg who praised the free-throw shooting of Deron Washington, Vassallo, Delaney and Thorns.
Tech played just well enough down the stretch to improve its record to 4-3 in ACC play and 13-8 overall on the season.
The Hokies return to the hardwood Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. against the University of Virginia, whom they beat 70-69 in overtime Jan. 16 in Charlottesville. The game will be televised by Raycom Sports and air on local affiliates.
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