Field Level Media
Dec 28, 2018
Ahmed Hill racked up 20 points and led three teammates in double-figure scoring as No. 10 Virginia Tech strolled to an easy 85-40 victory over visiting Maryland-Eastern Shore on Friday in Blacksburg, Va.
Virginia Tech led by 28 after the first half, in which it made 17 of its 23 shots from the floor, and poured it on after halftime to run away from the hapless Hawks while building as much as a 46-point advantage.
The win was the sixth straight for the Hokies (11-1), who have now won 24 consecutive home nonconference regular-season games, establishing a school record.
Kerry Blackshear added 15 points for Virginia Tech in the win, with Wabissa Bede scoring 14 and P.J. Horne adding 11 for the Hokies, who outrebounded Eastern Shore 35-17, had 22 assists to 11 for the Hawks and earned an 18-0 advantage in fast-break points in the rout.
Virginia Tech guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who averages a team-high 18.5 points, missed the game with a sprained ankle he suffered in a recent practice.
Dontae Caldwell led Eastern Shore with 10 points off the bench. No other Hawks player scored more than seven points.
Bede led the Hokies in the first half with 12 points in 4-for-4 shooting with Blackshear adding 10 for Virginia Tech, which outshot Eastern Shore 73.9 percent to 36.4 percent in the half.
Virginia Tech scored the first eight points of the game but led by just 13-9 at the 14:04 mark of the first half after a layup by the Hawks' Gabriel Gyamfi. The Hokies then took control with a 12-0 run, capped by a jumper by Blackshear with 10:11 to play in the half.
A 10-2 run over the final 4:20 of the first half staked Virginia Tech to a 50-22 advantage at intermission as the Hokies canned 11 of their 16 3-pointers over the first 20 minutes of play.
Maryland-Eastern Shore (1-13) has lost eight consecutive games. The defeat Friday was the third this season to an Atlantic Coast Conference team after losses earlier to NC State and Pittsburgh.
It was also the third straight contest Eastern Shore was without leading scorer AJ Cheeseman, who will be sidelined a while longer with an upper-body injury.
Virginia Tech will return to the court on Tuesday when it opens ACC play by hosting Notre Dame. Eastern Shore heads home for a game on Monday against Chestnut Hill College.
--Field Level Media