Amani Hansberry led all scorers with 19 points on Wednesday, helping Virginia Tech earn a convincing 94-59 victory over Saint Joseph’s in Blacksburg, Va.
Reigning ACC Co-Player of the Week Neoklis Avdalas had 14 points and seven assists, while Jaden Schutt added 12 points for the Hokies (3-0), who shot 52.1 percent from the field and held Saint Joseph’s to a 37.3 percent clip. Tobi Lawal finished with 11 points and seven rebounds, Tyler Johnson scored 11 points and Ben Hammond totaled 11 in the win.
Deuce Jones led Saint Joseph’s (2-1) with 14 points off the bench, followed by Jaiden Glover-Toscano’s 10. Derek Simpson chipped in eight points and seven boards for the Hawks, who made just 5 of their 28 (17.9 percent) 3-point attempts.
After leading by 20 at halftime, Virginia Tech’s advantage grew to 58-31 on Jailen Bedford’s triple with 16:18 remaining.
Following Glover-Toscano’s 3-pointer to trim the visitors’ deficit to 26, Avdalas drilled a pair of triples as part of a 10-0 spurt, as the Hokies opened up a 77-41 lead.
After Schutt’s 3-pointer and Hansberry’s layup, Avdalas blocked Glover-Toscano’s layup before Hammond’s lob pass was finished with Hansberry’s dunk, erupting Cassell Coliseum as the Hokies grabbed an 87-52 edge with 5:14 left.
Antonio Dorn’s first career basket gave Virginia Tech its largest lead of the game at 94-54, punctuating a dominant win.
After Simpson’s dunk gave the Hawks their first and only lead at 5-4, Hansberry’s layup stamped an 11-0 Virginia Tech run to put the Hokies ahead by 10 with 13 minutes left in the first half.
The margin ballooned to 16 after Schutt and Bedford’s baskets at the 8:59 mark. Simpson’s layup later trimmed Saint Joseph’s deficit to 41-25, but Johnson’s layup and Hammond’s back-to-back baskets increased the lead to 22.
Glover-Toscano’s layup with eight seconds left cut Virginia Tech’s halftime lead to 47-27. Johnson and Hansberry led all scorers with nine first-half points apiece, while Jones’ eight paced the Hawks.
