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Virginia Tech Wins Squeaker At Line

Associated Press

NIT

Shawn Smith, who struggled from the free-throw line this season, made the two biggest foul shots of his career Wednesday night.

Smith, a 67 percent free-throw shooter, made two with less than a second left in overtime to give Virginia Tech a 65-64 victory over Marquette for the NIT championship at Madison Square Garden.

“I wasn’t trying to be a hero. I just wanted to win the game,” said the junior forward, who made 10 of 12 from the line.

Smith, voted the tournament MVP after getting 24 points and 12 rebounds in the final, was fouled by Faisal Abraham as he went up for a shot under the basket with seven-tenths of a second remaining. He made his first free throw to tie the game, then sank his second after Marquette called a timeout.

It was the second NIT title for Virginia Tech, which also won the final in overtime over Notre Dame in 1973.

“If you want national exposure, this is how you’re going to do it,” Tech coach Bill Foster said.

Va. Tech 65, Marquette 64, OT

MARQUETTE (21-12)

Abraham 0-1 0-2 0, Eford 3-10 1-4 8, McCaskill 5-12 3-4 13, Miller 5-13 1-4 15, Pieper 4-9 0-0 9, Crawford 1-6 0-0 2, Hutchins 6-12 1-2 15, Joseph 1-2 0-0 2, Shaw 0-0 0-0 0, McCall 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-65 6-16 64.

VIRGINIA TECH (25-10)

Custis 2-9 5-6 9, Smith 7-17 10-12 24, T.Jackson 2-5 0-1 4, Good 5-10 4-5 14, Watlington 3-7 1-2 9, D.Jackson 0-3 0-0 0, Gulliory 2-4 0-0 5. Totals 21-55 20-26 65.

Halftime-Marquette 27, Virginia Tech 21. Regulation- Marquette 57, Virginia Tech 57. 3-Point goals-Marquette 8-24 (Miller 4-7, Hutchins 2-5, Pieper 1-3, Eford 1-7, Crawford 0-2), Virginia Tech 3-5 (Watlington 2-3, Gulliory 1-1, D.Jackson 0-1). Fouled out-Abraham, McCaskill, Crawford. Rebounds- Marquette 51 (McCaskill 15), Virginia Tech 42 (Smith 12). Assists-Marquette 10 (Miller 6), Virginia Tech 9 (Good, Watlington 3). Total fouls-Marquette 21, Virginia Tech 16. A-8,549.

Penn State 66, Canisius 62

Dan Earl scored 17 points, including two free throws with 6.4 seconds left, as the Nittany Lions survived a late Golden Griffins rally in the consolation game.

Penn State led 58-46 with 7:55 left, but Canisius fought back to tie it at 62 on a steal and dunk by Craig Wise with 1:56 remaining.

John Amaechi hit two foul shots with 46 seconds left to give Penn State a 64-62 lead.

PENN ST. (21-11)

Carlton 2-6 2-2 6, Sekunda 5-9 1-2 11, Amaechi 6-10 5-8 17, Earl 5-7 4-4 17, D.Williams 2-3 0-0 4, Lisicky 2-6 0-0 6, P.Williams 2-2 0-0 4, Bartram 0-1 1-2 1, Joseph 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-44 13-18 66.

CANISIUS (21-14)

Barley 8-15 1-4 17, Wise 4-13 0-0 9, Meeks 3-8 3-4 9, James 4-10 2-2 11, Moore 1-5 0-0 3, Collins 1-3 0-0 2, Thompson 0-0 0-0 0, Young 4-9 0-0 11, Frazier 0-1 0-0 0, Gorman 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-64 6-10 62.

Halftime-Penn St. 40, Canisius 29. 3-Point goals-Penn St. 5-12 (Earl 3-4, Lisicky 2-4, Sekunda 0-1, Bartram 0-1, Carlton 0-2), Canisius 6-23 (Young 3-7, Moore 1-1, James 1-5, Wise 1-6, Barley 0-1, Meeks 0-1, Collins 0-1, Frazier 0-1). Fouled out- None. Rebounds-Penn St. 34 (Sekunda 8), Canisius 31 (Meeks 9). Assists-Penn St. 13 (Earl 4), Canisius 16 (Wise 6). Total fouls-Penn St. 14, Canisius 11. A-NA.