ORLANDO, Fla. -- It's probably just as well that the Virginia Tech men's basketball team's next game is in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, because it certainly didn't have much success against mid-majors down here.

The Hokies fell to Southern Illinois of the Missouri Valley Conference 69-64 on Sunday in the fifth-place game of the Old Spice Classic at Disney's Wide World of Sports complex.

Tech (3-2) went 1-2 in the tournament, including a 71-68 loss to Western Michigan on Thursday. Tech squashed Montana 77-56 on Friday.

"It's been a great experience for our players, excluding the games," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said.

Sunday's loss wasn't as humbling as the Western Michigan defeat; the Salukis (4-1) return all five starters from their 2006 NCAA tournament team. But what irked the Hokies was that for the second time in three games -- and in a repeat of last season -- they failed to win a close game. Tech lost 12 games by six points or less last season.

"We have to be able to close out games," said Zabian Dowdell, who had 16 points. "We should be able to do that by now."

"We've got to perform better in late-game situations," fellow senior Coleman Collins said. "It's just like last year. ... Same song. We've got to change the tune."

Dowdell said the Hokies need to play better on defense.

"We had a couple of lapses at the end of the game that cost us," Dowdell said. "A lot of guys are worrying about offense too much right now. ... Defense wins games. Our sophomore season, that's the only thing we thought about. Our freshman season, that's the only thing we thought about. We've kind of gotten away from that."

Greenberg wasn't happy with his defense in situations when the shot clock was running down.

"The end of the clock killed us," he said. "The last 10 seconds of clock, you've got to get a stop and get a rebound."

For the second time in three games, Collins didn't play well. He didn't score and had one rebound in 15 minutes. Greenberg kept Collins on the bench for the first 9:35 of the second half, and played him only three minutes in that half.

Sophomore center Cheick Diakite had nine points and nine rebounds off the bench.

"Diakite gave us good energy and some toughness," Greenberg said. "Cheick was getting it done on the court and you need to reward him. Playing time isn't a given. ... [Collins] has got to play better. He's got to play better in practice."

"I spent all summer ... working hard, lifting weights," Diakite said. "I'm definitely ready this year to play."

Deron Washington had 18 points for the Hokies, who trailed 41-30 with 15:25 left.

A.D. Vassallo, who was just 2-of-12 from the field, sank a 3-pointer to give Tech its first lead of the game at 55-53 with 7:05 to go.

Diakite dunked to tie the score at 64 with 50 seconds left, but Jamaal Tatum hit a 3-pointer to give the Salukis a 67-64 lead with 22.9 seconds left. Vassallo missed a 3-pointer with four seconds left.

After Tatum missed two foul shots, Washington threw a pass the length of the court with 2.9 seconds left. But Jamon Gordon stepped out of bounds as he came up with the ball.

Greenberg wasn't happy with the officiating. Tech was 7-of-10 from the free-throw line to SIU's 17-of-27.

"I just wish we could get to the free-throw line," he said.

The Missouri Valley Conference is making a splash again this year. MVC members Missouri State and Wichita State upset ranked foes Wisconsin and LSU, respectively, last week. So it was no shock that the defending MVC tournament champs beat Tech.

"We expect to win now," Tatum said. "We like to put ourselves on the same playing field as the high majors, like to consider ourselves a high major."

Robert Krabbendam and Lewis Witcher each missed the game with a sprained ankle.

It was Tech's seventh loss to a team from a mid-major league in Greenberg's four seasons.

Virginia Tech MP FG FT R A F PT

Washington 24 7-10 2-4 5 1 5 18

Vassallo 30 2-12 0-0 5 2 3 6

Collins 15 0-1 0-0 1 0 1 0

Dowdell 30 6-10 2-2 2 0 3 16

Gordon 36 4-10 0-0 5 4 4 8

Munson 22 3-8 0-0 2 4 3 7

Sailes 11 0-0 0-0 0 2 1 0

Diakite 25 3-4 3-4 9 0 2 9

Tucker 7 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0

TEAM - - - 0 - - -

Totals 200 25-55 7-10 29 13 22 64

So. Illinois MP FG FT R A F PT

Falker 38 6-12 1-5 5 1 2 13

Shaw 33 6-7 3-5 6 2 2 17

Tatum 38 4-11 6-9 8 5 1 16

Mullins 30 4-6 1-2 0 5 3 11

Young 31 2-6 2-2 3 0 3 8

Green 5 0-1 0-0 2 0 0 0

Clemmons 15 0-0 2-2 2 1 1 2

Boyle 10 0-0 2-2 1 1 1 2

TEAM - - - 2 - - -

Totals 200 22-43 17-27 29 15 13 69

Rebounds include team rebounds.

Virginia Tech 23 41 -- 64

Southern Illinois 28 41 -- 69

3-point goals: VT 7-20 (Washington 2-4, Dowdell 2-4, Vassallo 2-6, Munson 1-4); SIU 8-15 (Shaw 2-2, Mullins 2-3, Young 2-4, Tatum 2-6). Turnovers: VT 18 (Dowdell 4, Gordon 4); SIU 21 (Shaw 5). Blocked shots: VT 2 (Washington, Diakite); SIU 2 (Falker 2). Steals: VT 9 (Gordon 5, Washington 3); SIU 10 (Young 4, Tatum 3, Mullins 3).

Officials: Tom O'Neill, Dan Chrisman, Steve Olson.

Attendance: 1,785.