Virginia Tech Slips Past Liberty, 56-53

Virginia Tech played perhaps its worst game of the season four days before facing the best team in the country. Nevertheless, the 10th-ranked Hokies managed to squeak out a 56-53 victory over Liberty.

“We were really lucky to escape the second half with a win,” said Travis Jackson, who had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Virginia Tech trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half and was behind most of the game, but Damon Watlington led the Hokies’ comeback by making three straight 3-pointers late in the game.

Shawn Good had 13 points for Virginia Tech (19-2), which might have been caught looking ahead to Saturday’s home game against unbeaten and top-ranked Massachusetts.

“Our players are human; the UMass game is all they have heard about,” Virginia Tech coach Bill Foster said. “I thought they managed to stay focused pretty well. They had to be focused to make the comeback they did tonight.”

Liberty (12-10) had a chance to tie the game at 55 with 1:04 to play, but Barry Taylor’s 3-point shot only grazed the far side of the rim.

“I think our backcourt grew up tonight,” Liberty coach Jeff Meyer said. “Our backcourt was able to hit some key 3-point shots, which gave us an excellent chance of winning the game. You have to give Virginia Tech a lot of credit. They are a veteran team and they know how to finish.”

Marcus White was 3-for-4 from 3-point range and finished with 15 points for the Flames, while Peter Aluma added 14 points.

“We weren’t taking them lightly,” Good said. “They kept passing the ball around and with five or 10 seconds left on the clock, they got a good shot.”

Virginia Tech made only nine of its first 26 shots and was outrebounded 20-10 in the first half, which Liberty led 29-21.

After taking a 6-2 lead, Virginia Tech missed 12 of its next 14 shots and let Liberty keep its lead until Jim Jackson’s 3-pointer tied the game at 44 with 7:00 left.

Liberty led 38-27 with 15:44 remaining as Aluma, who was being double-teamed, repeatedly dished the ball back out to teammates who hit wide-open shots.

“It was a little frustrating because we would play good defense, then they would rotate the ball around and kick it out and they were making the shots,” Watlington said. Two 3-pointers by the Flames came as the shot clock was about to expire.