SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- A.D. Vassallo made a triumphant return to his homeland of Puerto Rico on Thursday, scoring 24 points to lead Virginia Tech to a 74-57 victory over Fairfield in the first round of the Puerto Rico Tip-Off Classic.

Vassallo grew up about 20 minutes from San Juan, and played for the Puerto Rican national team last summer. His father played pro basketball in Puerto Rico for two decades.

"It was good, every time I hit a shot, to look up into the stands and see my parents smiling," said Vassallo, who made three 3-pointers.

Vassallo left Puerto Rico for Virginia seven years ago to play high school basketball, and was hoping to play well in this tournament to show people back home how much he had developed his game.

Tech (3-0) will face Xavier, a 75-71 winner over Missouri, today at 1:30 p.m. in the semifinals.

"A tournament like this helps you for postseason," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "Fairfield has the chance of being an NCAA [tournament] team. ... I want to use this tournament to find out who we are.

"We have to get ready for something special, but we have to take care of the games we are supposed to win and see how much better we can get."

The Hokies were 9-of-21 from 3-point range. The big surprise from long range was forward Jeff Allen, who was 4-of-5 from 3-point territory and finished with 18 points. Allen also totaled eight rebounds, three assists and five blocks.

Tech freshman center Victor Davila also enjoyed a successful homecoming, scoring nine points off the bench on 3-of-3 shooting. He also had two rebounds.

Davila grew up about 40 minutes from San Juan. He left Puerto Rico as a teenager to play four years of high school basketball in North Carolina.

"Davila has a chance to be really special," Greenberg said. "He just has a real good feel of how to play. When he gets more aggressive, where he can help Jeff rebound the ball, he has a chance to be really good.

"I feel better about our team and I'm excited about the potential of Victor Davila playing with Jeff. Victor can pass and Jeff can pass, and now we have two post players who can pass."

Down 45-31 with 17:47 left, the Stags (1-2) went on a 16-6 run to cut the lead to 51-47 with 12:38 to go.

The Hokies answered with a 9-0 run to build a 60-47 cushion with 7:29 to go. The run included a 3-pointer and dunk by Allen, and a jumper and two free throws by Davila.

The Hokies shot 56.3 percent from the field and turned the ball over just 10 times.

Malcolm Delaney had 10 points for Tech.

Fairfield MP FG FT R A F PT

Han 34 6-2 0-0 4 5 4 5

Hawkins 17 4-0 0-0 3 0 0 0

Allen 34 7-4 2-1 2 4 2 11

Johnson 30 10-5 0-0 5 0 4 10

Evanovich 22 9-3 0-0 3 1 2 9

Turner 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0

O'Sullivan 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Jordan 1 0-0 2-1 0 0 0 1

Grzeck 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Edney 27 11-3 2-2 2 0 0 8

Sisca 5 0-0 0-0 1 1 0 0

Olander 3 1-0 0-0 0 0 2 0

Nero 21 6-3 8-6 6 1 1 13

Totals 200 54-20 14-10 26 12 16 57

Virginia Tech MP FG FT R A F PT

Allen 33 10-7 0-0 8 3 3 18

Hudson 19 2-0 0-0 2 1 3 0

Delaney 36 8-2 5-4 4 4 1 10

Diakite 21 3-3 2-1 4 1 1 7

Vassallo 33 16-9 4-3 4 2 2 24

Bell 20 3-2 0-0 3 3 1 4

Thorns 14 3-1 2-0 3 0 2 2

Davila 17 3-2 3-3 2 1 1 9

Vinson 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 1 0

Witcher 5 0-0 0-0 2 0 1 0

Debnam 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

Totals 200 48-26 16-11 32 15 16 74

Rebounds include team rebounds.

Score by periods:

Fairfield 31 26 -- 57

Virginia Tech 40 34 -- 74

Three point goals: Fairfield 7-25 (Evanovich 3-8, Allen 2-4, Nero 1-2, Han 1-3, Hawkins 0-2, Olander 0-1, Edney 0-5) Virginia Tech 9-21 (Allen 4-5, Hudson 0-1, Delaney 2-5, Vassallo 3-8, Bell 0-1, Thorns 0-1).

Turnovers: Fairfield 11 (Han 4), Virginia Tech 10 (Delaney 3, Vassallo 3)

Blocked shots: Fairfield 1 (Hawkins), Virginia Tech 8 (Allen)

Steals: Fairfield 3 (Han 1, Nero 1, O'Sullivan 1), Virginia Tech 3 (Delaney 2)

Officials: Adams, Cassell, Oglesby

Attendance: N/A