February 3, 2002

Tech once again came close, but once again faltered down the stretch as the Hokies lost to St. John's 72-63 in front of 3,215 fans Sunday afternoon at Cassell Coliseum.

The loss marked the Hokies' 10th straight and 13th in their past 14 games. Tech is now 6-15 overall and 0-9 in BIG EAST play. St. John's, which avenged a loss to the Hokies last season at Cassell Coliseum, is now 14-7, 5-5 in the league.

The Hokies led by nine, 39-30, after a Terry Taylor basket with about 18 minutes left in the game. But after that, the Hokies simply fell apart.

St. John's went on a 16-3 run, taking a 46-42 lead on a Marcus Hatten 3-pointer with 12:12 left in the game. The Red Storm took the lead for good and Tech never came closer than two the rest of the game. St. John's made 9-of-10 from the free-throw line in the final 1:12 and connected on 24-of-30 from the free-throw line for the game.

"The first couple of possessions, we executed and scored," Tech head coach Ricky Stokes said. "From that point on, we didn't play well. They were terrific on the offensive glass and the beat us off the dribble. They did a good job of penetrating and finding the open man.

"All we can do is continue to work and do the best we can. The losses are frustrating, but the good thing is we have seven more games left."

The Hokies were led by Brian Chase, who scored 16 points. Terry Taylor added 15 points and Carlos Dixon finished with 10 for Tech, which shot 44.4 percent from the floor - but just 36.7 percent in the second half. The Hokies also turned the ball over 19 times and were outrebounded 33-26 - only the third time this season that has happened.

Hatten led the Red Storm with 19 points. Eric King added 16 and Donald Emmanuel finished with 10.

Tech next plays BC on Wednesday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.