By Ken Cross
FT. MYERS, Fla – Michigan and Xavier will meet for the championship in the Fort Myers Classic on Wednesday evening after both teams came form behind to stop Virginia Tech and South Carolina in the openers on Monday.
Michigan 75, Virginia Tech 63 – Tobi Lawal gave Virginia Tech a 44-40 lead as he hit a three-pointer with 15:54 to go, but Michigan’s Tre Donaldson ignited a 13-3 run as the Wolverines took a 53-49 lead. From there the Wolverines controlled the game as they built the lead to 73-57 late and stopped the Hokies, 75-63 on Monday evening.
“Tonight was a little choppy as it has been all year, but I feel personally like, and the staff feels the same way that we are learning a lot through these experiences,” said Michigan head coach Dusty May. “Until you have been through these battles, you don’t know how they are going to respond to certain things.”
Virginia Tech was only 1-of-13 from the floor over an 8:30 minute stretch which Saw the Wolverines outscore them 17-4 and accentuate the lead when Vladislav Goldin scored on back-to-back possessions.
“I do think we tightened our defensive coverages up the last 15 minutes,” said May. “Our guys communicated and adapted well on the fly.”
Roddy Gayle, Jr., led all scorers with 20 points as they outscored Virginia Tech, 15-9, off the fast break.
The Hokies had an early 10-0 run to take a 12-5 lead as Mylyjael Poteat scored four points in that run. Virginia Tech led throughout the first half until rubin Jones hit. a three to allow Michigan to retake the lead at 32-30 with 2:54 left in the first half. Lawal led the Hokies with 14 points and Jaydon Young added 12.
“You can’t turn the ball over 19 times,” stated Virginia Tech head coach Mike Young. “I don’t care what level you are at, what league you are in, shot selection and ball handling go had in hand with transition defense, so if your taking bad shots and kicking the ball and making poor fundamental plays That other team in Michigan is really good in that part of the game.”
Xavier 75, South Carolina 66: Xavier’s physicality and defense led the Musketeers to their sixth win in a row in their first game away from Cintas Center. Xavier hit South Carolina with a 13-3 run to take a 57-48 lead on a three-pointer and a transition layup by Marcus Foster and that stretch put the Musketeers in position to post the win.
“That first four minutes of the second half was a different story,” said Xavier head coach Sean Miller. “We used our defense to create points, turnovers, and deflections. I thought that first four minutes set the tone and settled us. We qwew a much better team in that second half.”
Zach Freemantle led five Musketeers in double figures with 16 points and Dailyn Swain added 14. Xavier scored 20 points off of 12 Gamecocks turnovers and maintained a 41-31 advantage on the backboard.
Collin Murray-Bowles and Jamarii Thomas combined for 11 points as South Carolina answered a 7-0 Musketeers start with it’s own 17-0 run as Thomas capped that run with a layup and a pair of free throws.
Xavier held South Carolina to 1-of-11 from the floor in the second half which helped Xavier take control in the second half.
“I thought we played well in the second half once we got down 7-0, but we played pretty well in that first half and probably deserved to be in a better spot than what we were at halftime,” said South Carolina head coach Lamont Paris.