BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Robert Brown came off the bench to score all 12 of his points in the second half to lead Virginia Tech past cold-shooting East Tennessee State 64-53 Saturday in the season opener for both teams.
The Hokies, who used a 9-0 run to lead 24-21 at halftime, made it 37-28 on a basket by Victor Davila. After the Buccaneers cut it to 40-36, Brown connected on back-to-back 3-pointers. ETSU again got within four points, at 55-51 with 1:49 remaining, but Brown sank two free throws with 1:16 to go and the Buccaneers got no closer than six the rest of the way.
Ty Garland, making his first career start in place of injured point guard Erick Green (strained Achilles), led the Hokies with 13 points.
ETSU, which missed its first 12 3-pointers and shot 29.7 percent from the floor (19 of 64), got 13 points from Adam Sollazzo.
