LEXINGTON, Va. - Levar Joseph scored 19 points and Matt Coward added 15 points and eight assists to lead VMI to a 72-68 upset win over Virginia Tech Saturday afternoon before 3,120 spectators at Cameron Hall.
It was VMI's first win over an ACC opponent since a 95-75 win over Virginia on December 9, 1964. It ended a string of 37 straight losses to ACC foes.
Tech was handed its first loss of the year and fell to 4-1.
VMI hit 13 of 28 three-point shots on the day including four each by Joseph and Coward, and three by freshman forward Reggie Williams.
The Keydets shot just 39.3% from the field for the game, but 46.4% (13-28) from beyond the arc. VMI drained 15 of 22 free throws for the game.
The Keydets led 35-34 at halftime and never relinquished the lead after the break. A Joseph triple at the 3:27 mark pushed the lead to nine points, 66-57, but the Hokies scored six straight points to and cut the lead to three when Chris Tucker rammed in a 3-pointer from the right corner with :37 left. But the Keydets hit 6 of 10 free throws in the final :36 to weather the charge.
The Keydets, who fell at Old Dominion 86-38 Wednesday, rebounded by holding even on the boards with the Hokies, 41-41, and dishing out 18 assists. Junior forward Preston Beverly led the Keydets on the boards with 10, matching his career-high set against Davidson in 2002-03.
Virginia Tech placed four players in double figures scoring and were led by Deron Washington with 15 points and nine rebounds. Zabian McDowell and Carlos Dixon each scored 13 points and Jamon Gordon added 12 second-half points before fouling out.
Williams scored 16 points for the Keydets with four rebounds and three assists.
It was VMI's first win over Virginia Tech since December 31, 1997 (73-65 in Blacksburg) and it was also VMI's first basketball win over the Hokies in Lexington since a 81-78 win in January, 1959.
The first half saw seven lead changes and six ties and the Keydets took the lead into the locker room behind seven of 15 three-point shooting (46.7).
The Keydets (3-1) face Longwood in Farmville, Va. Wednesday night at 7:00 p.m. The Hokies next play at St. John's on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
HEAD COACH BART BELLAIRS - I was so happy for our ball club, it means so much. The fan support, the corps was great. Our guys just play so much better when there's enthusiasm. This is the toughest place to play in Virginia and maybe one of the toughest in the country. It was a great team effort. What a huge rebound there at the end by Preston Beverly who goes up and gets that. We had kids come off the bench and just play great. I'm just really ecstatic. I don't know what happened at Old Dominion. I was dumbfounded, it was a different team. And today we came out against a team that plays so much pressure, and plays so hard and we matched their intensity. Matt (Coward) was incredible. He struggled a little bit at Old Dominion but for him to come back against pressure, I just thought he did a fantastic job. You can't single out 1-2 players. Levar came off shooting the 3 well, Reggie shot some big three's. We had a good inside-outside game today, and that's what I was really pleased with."
