Virginia 65, Virginia Tech 60

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Posted 4:20PM on Saturday, February 12, 2005

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) Gary Forbes scored 17 points in the last 13:09 of the second half Saturday and Virginia rallied to beat Virginia Tech 65-60, the Cavaliers' third consecutive dramatic victory. Forbes scored 14 points of Virginia's 16 points in a span of 6.5 minutes when the Cavaliers (13-9, 4-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) turned a 38-32 deficit into a 48-46 lead with 6:32 remaining. Sean Singletary's 3-pointer made it 51-46, and Virginia led by at least three thereafter. The Hokies (12-10, 5-6), who beat the Cavaliers 79-73 in Blacksburg 16 days earlier, closed to 62-58 on Coleman Collins' dunk with 33.9 seconds left. Forbes hit a free throw, then blocked Jamon Gordon's shot, but Collins stuffed it back it to make it 63-60 with 22.8 seconds left. The Hokies fouled T.J. Bannister with 21.4 seconds to go, and he made them both before two stops close to the Hokies basket sealed the outcome. The Cavaliers, coming off late victories against North Carolina State and Florida State, will have a tougher time keeping it going in their next game, when they travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., to play No. 3 North Carolina. Forbes led the Cavaliers with 21 points, Devin Smith had 16 and Singletary had 10 points, six rebounds and seven assists. Zabian Dowdell led Virginia Tech with 20 points and Collins had 19, but the Hokies' No. 2 scorer, Carlos Dixon, sat out most of the first half in foul trouble and finished with four, 10 below his average. The Hokies used a 12-4 run to take a 19-11 lead with 8 minutes left in the first half. Virginia immediately scored 13 of the next 17 to take its first lead at 24-23, and the teams were tied 26-all at the break. Only four Hokies scored, with Dowdell (11) and Collins (10) accounting for all but five of the points. Smith had 10 to lead the Cavaliers. Virginia also celebrated its 100 years playing basketball at halftime with about 50 former players and a triple-decker cake at center court.