HEADED NOWHERE

BLACKSBURG, Va. – As Virginia Tech coach Seth Greenberg raised his arms late last night, bringing the crowd in Cassell Coliseum to its feet, the prospects of the Terrapin men's basketball team's season plunged even further.

After falling in yet another gut-wrenching loss that they were good enough to stay in but not pull out, the Terps' postseason prospects have descended to undesired realms.

Their 91-83 loss to the Hokies effectively put the Terps' NCAA Tournament hopes on life support, proving once again just how close — and also how far — they are from the kind of opponent they have succumbed to all season.

"That's been the story of the year, trying to get over that hump," forward Jordan Williams said. "We're trying to play 40 minutes, that's the most important part, and we didn't do that tonight."

Despite a career-high 25 points from freshman guard Terrell Stoglin, the Terps (16-10, 5-6 ACC) didn't quite have enough to grab a much-needed victory on the road. With the loss, their second straight, they fell to 2-8 in single-digit games this season.

"We're a team this year that has to do a lot of things right to win these games," coach Gary Williams said. "But I'd take that effort every night from our team. I think we'd win a lot of games playing like that."

After a 7-0 run midway through the second half by Virginia Tech (17-7, 7-4 ACC), the Terps found themselves in another back-and-forth battle right up to the final buzzer. With more than five minutes remaining, they regained what proved to be a tenuous lead.

A stretch of five missed shots, including two looks by Williams and forward Dino Gregory from in close, allowed the Hokies to take a lead they kept for the remainder of the night. The Terps had their moments late, forcing two turnovers off their full-court press and benefiting from a rare Gregory 3-pointer, but not enough. Guard Adrian Bowie missed a layup off an inbounds pass with 30 seconds remaining that would have pulled the lead within two.

Soon after, Hokie guard Malcolm Delaney quashed any hopes of a comeback with four straight points from the charity stripe.

"We were in pretty good shape for a good part of that game," Gary Williams said. "We just couldn't make the easy shots."

With no significant contributions off the bench, Virginia Tech relied heavily on its starters to carry the load. Delaney played all 40 minutes, while each of the four other starters logged at least 31 minutes on the floor.

Perhaps most importantly, Hokie forwards Jeff Allen and Victor Davila both found a way to stay out of foul trouble and in starring roles despite holding three fouls early in the second half.

Allen finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Davila hit his first seven shots to finish with 14 points. Their inside play made life difficult for forward Jordan Williams, who finished with 16 points and nine rebounds — his third straight game without a double-double.

"We had size just as much as their size," Williams said. "They got some rebounds that we should have got. Besides that, I thought we did pretty well."

Despite playing an effective 3-2 zone for a large portion of the game, the Terps allowed a season-high 91 points to the Hokies. Delaney finished with 22 points despite 3-for-14 shooting from the field, and guard Erick Green added 20 points.

Still, Stoglin's career night (7-for-12 from the field, 10-for-10 at the free-throw line) kept the team within grasp until the final seconds.

"I just wish we could have won," Stoglin said. "A couple of the guys were down, but we just have to keep our confidence."

With a chance at another quality win down the drain and a conference record treading dangerously below .500, the Terps are nearly out of the NCAA Tournament picture altogether.

"The main thing we have to do now is play 40 minutes," Jordan Williams said. "We just have to figure out why we're not playing those 40 minutes."

ceckard@umdbk.com