Hokie ClubBLACKSBURG - The Virginia Tech men's basketball team dropped an exhibition 83-81 to Duquesne Saturday afternoon at Cassell Coliseum.
In what was the final tune up before the regular season, Tech came out on the front foot scoring the game's first points on a thunderous dunk from Jailen Bedford. From there the Hokies would go on to establish a 10-point lead by the under-12 timeout.
Tech went cold in the final three and half minutes of the first half, and the Dukes took advantage, finishing the frame on an 8-0 run to close the gap in the contest to five points.
The Hokies also started the second period with a dunk, this time from Jaden Schutt, two of his 11 points in the ballgame.
Duquesne wouldn't relent, using 12 different athletes throughout the game to cause havoc on the floor. The Dukes got out in transition, scoring 15 points to the Hokies' six in that category. Timely 3-point shooting from Jimmie Williams, kept the A-10 club in the game and down the stretch the ball was in the hands of Tarence Guinyard who posted 21 poits, eight rebounds and six assists.
Free throw shooting hurt the Hokies, as they collectively went 16-for-29 from the line.
Ben Hammond, Tech's sophomore guard led all scorers in the contest with 22 points in 31 minutes of action. He connected on three of his four 3-point field goal attempts and also contributed a few assists, blocks and steals.
Tech's top scorer a season ago, Tobi Lawal, scored 20 on an efficient 7-for-9 shooting and led the team with eight rebounds.
Game Notes
•Tech's starters for the contest were Jailen Bedford, Tobi Lawal, Tyler Johnson, Amani Hansberry and Neoklis Avdalas.
•The Hokies' bench produced 39 points Saturday, led by Hammond (22). Schutt added 11, Christian Gurdak had six and Hansberry scored four points.
•Tech committed 19 turnovers in the game and were outrebounded by one.
Up Next
The Hokies will begin the 2025-26 season at home on Carilion Clinic Court at Cassell Coliseum on Monday, November 3 against Charleston Southern. That matchup will tip at 7 p.m. and can be seen on ACC Network Extra.