Virginia Tech beats Bryant 78-61 behind Lawal's 18 points, 13 rebounds

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Tobi Lawal scored 18 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead Virginia Tech to a 78-61 victory over Bryant on Wednesday night.

Christian Gurdak added 15 points for Virginia Tech (5-0), which shot 52% (30 of 58) from the floor. Ben Hammond and Neoklis Avdalas scored 11 points apiece and Tyler Johnson had 10.

Virginia Tech (5-0) took the lead for good with about five minutes remaining in the first half and had a 10-point lead early in the second. Bryant used an 11-4 surge, capped by Keegan Harvey's 3-pointer, to pull to 38-35 with 17:11 remaining.

The Bears stayed within single digits for most of the next 12 minutes before Hammond converted a three-point play to make it 62-52 and the Hokies cruised from there.

Quincy Allen scored 13 points, Harvey added 12 points and Timofei Rudovskii finished with 11 for Bryant (1-4).

Virginia Tech closed the first half on a 15-4 run for a 32-24 lead. Johnson scored seven points and had five rebounds for the Hokies. Rudovskii scored six first-half points for Bryant.

It was the 110th win at Virginia Tech for coach Mike Young, who surpassed Chuck Noe to move to third place in the program.

Virginia Tech, which is 5-0 for the first time since 2022-23, will play Colorado State next Wednesday in an opening round game at the Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise Island, Bahamas.

Bryant plays at third-ranked UConn on Sunday.

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