Temple's taller frontcourt players made it tough for Virginia Tech to score inside, but the Hokies sank eight 3-pointers to beat the Owls 60-50 in a first-round National Invitation Tournament game Tuesday at Cassell Coliseum. Carlos Dixon and Zabian Dowdell had three 3-pointers apiece, and freshman Wynton Witherspoon added two.

The Hokies (16-13), who were playing their first postseason game in nine years, led the entire second half. Tech had been 0-9 against Temple (16-13).

"We all know this isn't 1950. This isn't the premier tournament," said Coleman Collins, who had two baskets, 11 points and 13 rebounds. "But anytime you're still playing in the middle of March, there's something to be gained."

"Everyone's goal at the beginning of the season is to get into the NCAAs, but ... as long as we're playing and as long as we're competing for a championship, it's fine with us," said Dowdell, who had 16 points.

Temple's Nehemiah Ingram, a 6-foot-8, 250-pound backup who was referred to as a "goon" by Temple coach John Chaney last month, had two points in four minutes.

Witherspoon, a backup small forward who hadn't played the past three games, tied his career high with nine points in 15 minutes. It was the first time he had scored that many points since a December win over James Madison. Witherspoon hadn't made a basket since Feb.5.

"I just capitalized on the opportunity to go in there and play, and my shot was falling," Witherspoon said. "We knew they was going to play zone the whole time, and you've got to hit shots to open up a zone."

The Hokies had trouble scoring inside against the likes of 7-1, 250-pound Keith Butler and 6-11, 285-pound Wayne Marshall. Tech had only four points in the paint in the first half but beat Temple's matchup zone defense with outside shots.

"They had some ... big, talented guys," Collins said. "But our guards stepped up. ... It's a tough zone. We had trouble cracking it early on."

Tech had six 3-pointers in the first half, including three by Dixon, and led 31-25 at halftime. Dixon had 13 of his 15 points in the first half, when he had five of Tech's 10 baskets.

"They play a good zone, so we just stepped up and made big shots," Dixon said.

"He kept us in the game by making some shots," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said.

Trailing 20-17 with 4:01 left in the first half, the Hokies closed the half on a 14-5 run that included four 3-pointers. Witherspoon had both of his 3-pointers during the run.

Temple cut the lead to 40-37 on a 3-pointer by guard Mardy Collins with 9:58 left in the game, but Tech scored eight straight points to build a 48-37 cushion. Tech did a better job of scoring inside in the second half.

Tech shot only 32.7 percent from the field, but outrebounded Temple 41-37 and had only five turnovers. Collins had 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Owls, who shot 24.1 percent from the field in the second half.

"Our big guys cannot score if you sat them on top of the basket," Chaney said. "They can't rebound, either. ... It's a bunch of players that did not mix well" this season.

Tech will play tonight's Northeastern-Memphis winner in the second round at a date and site to be announced. Tech will bid to host the game.

Tuesday's game drew 7,416 fans, including 2,400 Tech students who got free tickets that were paid for by Greenberg and some boosters.

Tech denied Chaney his 500th win at Temple in what might have been his last game with the Owls.

Chaney was coaching his first game since a Feb.22 loss to St. Joseph's. Chaney put Ingram in that game with instructions to make hard fouls, and Joseph Bryant suffered a broken arm as a result. Chaney had not coached the past five games because of a combination of a school suspension and self-suspensions.

TEMPLE MP FG FT R A F PTRobinson 37 4-7 2-3 3 0 2 14Marshall 23 1-5 0-0 4 0 3 2Butler 18 0-1 0-0 3 0 5 0Tyndale 35 3-12 0-0 6 2 1 7Collins 40 6-19 2-2 13 3 2 16Salisbery 25 2-5 2-3 3 1 3 6Dacons 5 0-0 0-0 1 0 2 0Clark 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0Kirkendoll 9 1-4 0-0 1 1 1 3Ingram 4 0-0 2-2 1 0 0 2Team - - 2 Totals: 200 17-53 8-10 37 7 19 50VA. TECH MP FG FT R A F PTWashington 25 1-4 0-2 4 3 3 2Dixon 38 5-16 2-2 9 3 1 15Collins 36 2-7 7-10 13 0 0 11Dowdell 33 4-12 5-10 2 3 2 16Gordon 40 3-11 1-2 8 3 2 7Ritchie 0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0Harris 4 0-1 0-0 2 0 1 0Witherspoon 15 3-4 1-1 1 0 1 9Krabbendam 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0Calloway 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0King 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0Tucker 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0Team - - 2 Totals: 200 18-55 16-27 41 12 10 60Rebounds include team rebounds

Temple25-25-50

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Virginia Tech31-29-60

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Three-point goals - Tech 8-25 (Dixon 3-9, Dowdell 3-9, Witherspoon 2-3); Temple 8-23 (Robinson 4-6, Tyndale 1-3, Collins 2-7, Kirkendoll 1-4).

Turnovers - Tech 5 (Washington 2, Dowdell 1, Gordon 1); Temple 10 (Robinson 1, Marshall 2, Butler 1, Tyndale 2, Collins 2, Salisbery 1). Blocked shots - Tech 6 (Dixon 2, Gordon 2, Witherspoon 1, King 1); Temple 1 (Salisbery). Steals - Tech 5 (Dowdell 1, Gordon 4); Temple 3 (Marshall 1, Tyndale 1, Salisbery 1).

Officials - Larry Rose, Duke Edsall, Sean Hull. Attendance - 7,416.MORE

INSIDE

Chaney's future still in doubt.

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