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BLACKSBURG – Jarell Eddie scored a career-high 24 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lift Virginia Tech past Norfolk State 73-60 in a non-conference game played Sunday evening at Cassell Coliseum.
The win marked Tech’s second in a row following a two-game losing streak. The Hokies moved to 7-3 overall on the season, while Norfolk State, predicted to finished fourth in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), fell to 6-4.
“This was a good win,” Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. “They’re a good team. We’re playing the game during finals [exams], and we’ve had limited practice. We just ground it out. That wasn’t an artistic win, but that’s a good win, and that’s what we need to do.”
Eddie, a sophomore, made 6 of 9 from the floor and hit a career-high five 3-pointers. He also connected on all seven of his free-throw attempts. His previous career high came last season against Wake Forest when he scored 17 in a win in Winston-Salem, N.C.
‘’Erick [Green] is a great penetrator, and when he penetrates to the basket, it makes other defenders go to him,” Eddie said. “So him being able to attack the basket like that enables other people to get open shots. I just happened to be the open player today.”
The Hokies trailed for much of the first half, but Eddie scored six points in a 10-0 Tech run late in the first half that gave the Hokies the lead for good. Four of those six points came when Eddie hit a 3-pointer, got fouled and made the free throw.
The Spartans, who have quality victories over Drexel and TCU and lost to nationally ranked Marquette by just two points, kept the game close throughout and cut the lead to 65-59 on Chris McEachin’s 3-pointer with 2:58 left in the game. But Tech’s Dorenzo Hudson hit a free throw with 2:05 left to make it 66-59. After McEachin missed a 3-pointer for NSU with 1:40 to go, Eddie put the game away, draining his final 3-pointer with 1:07 remaining to push the Hokies’ lead back to 10.
“He’s long,” Norfolk State coach Anthony Evans said of Eddie. “He’s a good shooter, and he can attack the basket a little bit. But a lot of our focus was on [Erick] Green, and Eddie got some open looks and he was able to knock them down.”
“We got him the ball with room and rhythm,” Greenberg said. “When’s he’s got room and rhythm, he’s going to make shots. That’s what it comes down to.”
Green finished with 12. Cadarian Raines came off the bench to score 10 points and grab seven rebounds for Tech.
Norfolk State shot 48.9 percent from the floor (22 of 45). But the Spartans hurt themselves with nine second-half turnovers.
McEachin led NSU with 18 points, hitting 6 of 12 from the floor, including two 3-pointers. Kyle O’Quinn and Pendarvis Williams scored 14 each. O’Quinn, NSU’s leading scorer, scored 12 of his 14 in the first half, but spent most of the second half on the bench in foul trouble before fouling out with 4:11 left.
The Hokies do not return to action until next Saturday afternoon when they take on Campbell. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m.
For updates on Virginia Tech men's basketball, follow the Hokies on Twitter (@VT_MBBall).
For updates on the Hokies, follow Jimmy Robertson on Twitter (@jrobIHS).
