Aluma scores 19 and Virginia Tech opens with 77-62 win

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Keve Aluma scored a career-high 19 points in his debut with Virginia Tech and the Hokies pulled away in the second half to beat Radford 77-62 in a season opener on Wednesday.

Aluma, a Wofford transfer who sat out last season, was 7 of 10 from the field, including three 3-pointers. Nahiem Alleyne added 14 points and Hunter Cattoor had 12, all on 3-pointers. The Hokies shot under 50% overall but made 11 of 26 from the arc for 42.3%. Alleyne and Cattoor are returnees to a program that has nine newcomers.

Justyn Mutt scored with two minutes left in the first half to give the Hokies the lead for good and Alleyne scored seven of the Hokies' next nine points for a 37-31 halftime lead. Virginia Tech and went up by 17 with just over three minutes left in the game after a 15-7 run.

Radford, the defending regular-season Big South champion, lost all five of its starters from last season. Dravon Mangum and Josiah Jeffers scored 12 points each and Fah'Mir Ali added 10 for the Highlanders.

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