Virginia Tech holds off North Carolina 74-70

BLACKSBURG -- Last night at Cassell Coliseum felt like February in the ACC: Two teams, desperate for a win, chasing a spot in the NCAA tournament, playing in a packed-to-the-rafters arena, and doing it with drama fitting of the stage.

There was Virginia Tech's best scorer, point guard Malcolm Delaney, playing the final seven minutes with four fouls, then sinking two free throws that helped ice a 74-70 win.

There was North Carolina's toothpick freshman forward, John Henson, battling under the basket to keep his team in the game all night. There was Tech forward Jeff Allen answering and pumping his fist -- emotion he rarely shows on the court -- when his hook shot drew an Ed Davis goaltending call that put Tech up 69-64 with 1:50 left.

There was Tech coach Seth Greenberg dropping to his knees and pressing his forehead against the edge of the scorers' table after point guard Erick Green was whistled for a charge midway through the second half. A half hour or so later, there were the 9,847-plus fans, reveling in the win with Greenberg, waving the night's promotional giveaway -- a white towel with the coach's bald head on it -- and bouncing to Metallica's "Enter Sandman" as the clock ticked down.

And there went those towels, soaring out of the stands when fans showered the court with them at the buzzer -- confetti worthy of their team snapping a five-game losing streak to the Tar Heels.

The best players play their best on these February nights, and Delaney filled that role for Tech (4-3 ACC, 17-4). He scored 14 of his 21 points after halftime, and his two free throws with 36.6 seconds left put the Hokies up 71-67.

But the Hokies might not have won without shooting guard Dorenzo Hudson, who scored 17, including five when Delaney was out of the game with four fouls for five minutes before he returned with seven minutes remaining.

Perhaps most of last night's theater came from desperation, because both teams craved a win.

The Hokies were facing a difficult turnaround before Saturday's 4 p.m. home game against Clemson, which hasn't played since Sunday, and losing both of these games would have dropped them to 3-5 midway through the league schedule.

The Tar Heels (2-5, 13-9) were enduring some of their most trying times under seventh-year coach Roy Williams, having lost four of their past five games -- a swoon that some in Blue Heaven feared might prevent the defending national champions from even playing the NCAA tournament.

The Hokies cruised midway through the first half as their fans roared. Tech led 22-10 with 11:45 in the half. At the 11:58 official timeout, they had made 8 of 16 shots, Carolina 3 of 13.

But the Tar Heels went on a 14-2 run to tie the game at 24 with 7:20 left in the half and entered halftime up 35-33. During that run, Carolina shot 5 of 5, Tech 0 of 7.

One of the Hokies' major objectives as they prepared for last night was limiting Carolina's rebounds. They failed to do it in the first half, when the Tar Heels outrebounded them 27-15. But in the second half, Tech won on the boards 21-13.

The Tar Heels also got a surprisingly effective first half from Henson, who is 6-10 and 195 pounds. Henson led Carolina with eight points. He entered last night averaging 3 and finished with a career-high 14. But in the end, Carolina got too little from its leading scorer, forward Deon Thompson, whose eight points were 6.7 fewer than his average.

And in the end, there were two of Greenberg's three daughters, Paige and Ella, running onto the court after the game, embracing their dad, who could only smile and exhale.

Contact Darryl Slater at (804) 649-6026 or dslater@timesdispatch.com.

NORTH CAROLINA (1-2 ACC, 15-2)


M FG FT R PF A Pt Thompson------------------------- 22 3-7 2-5 6 5 1 8 Davis------------------------- 31 4-7 7-11 7 4 0 15 Strickland------------------------- 15 0-2 1-2 7 1 1 1 Drew II------------------------- 35 3-7 2-2 1 2 6 9 Graves------------------------- 23 1-7 2-2 5 0 0 4 Ginyard------------------------- 31 2-7 1-2 4 0 2 6 McDonald------------------------- 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 Henson------------------------- 14 5-6 4-4 1 3 0 14 D. Wear------------------------- 16 5-7 0-0 4 3 1 12 T. Wear------------------------- 12 0-3 1-2 3 1 1 1 Team 2 Totals ------------------------- 23-53 20-30 40 19 12 70

VIRGINIA TECH (1-1, 13-2)
M FG FT R PF A Pt Allen------------------------- 29 4-14 6-9 7 4 2 14 Bell------------------------- 28 2-6 2-3 11 4 3 6 Davila------------------------- 21 3-4 0-0 6 4 0 6 Hudson------------------------- 37 6-13 3-3 1 2 3 17 Delaney------------------------- 32 6-17 7-7 1 4 5 21 Rains------------------------- 8 1-1 0-0 1 0 0 2 Green------------------------- 21 0-5 0-0 0 1 3 0 Witcher------------------------- 6 0-1 0-0 0 1 0 0 Atkins------------------------- 0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 Thompson------------------------- 18 4-6 0-0 6 4 0 8 Team 3 Totals ------------------------- 26-67 18-22 36 24 16 74

North Carolina ------------------------- 35 35 -- 70
Virginia Tech ------------------------- 33 41 -- 74

3-point goals -- North Carolina (4-15): D.Wear 2-3, Drew II 1-3, Ginyard 1-4, Henson 0-1, Graves 0-4. Virginia Tech (4-19): Hudson 2-5, Delaney 2-9, Allen 0-1, Bell 0-1, Green 0-3.

Turnovers -- North Carolina (19): Ginyard 4, Drew II 4, Strickland 3, Graves 3, Thompson 2, Henson, D.Wear, Davis. Virginia Tech (10): Thompson 2, Hudson 2, Bell, Green, Raines, Witcher, Allen, Delaney.

Blocked shots -- North Carolina (3): Davis 3. Virginia Tech (4): Davila 2, Green, Bell.

Steals -- North Carolina (3): Ginyard, Drew II, Graves. Virginia Tech (8): Allen 4, Green, Hudson, Bell, Delaney.

A -- 9,847.