Virginia Tech shakes off pesky Delaware State behind Lawal's 23 points in 83-60 win

BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) — Toibu Lawal scored 23 points and Mylyjael Poteat scored 14 points and Virginia Tech beat Delaware State 83-60 in a season opener for both teams on Monday night.

Jaydon Young added 13 points for the Hokies.

Martaz Robinson scored 30 points for Delaware State with the help of a 16-for-17 shooting effort from the foul line.

Raymond Somerville made a jump shot with 14:19 remaining and Robinson followed with a pair of free throws and Delaware State reduced its deficit to 49-43.

But Ben Burnham, Poteat and Patrick Wessler each sank a pair of free throws in succession and Tyler Johnson converted a layup and Virginia Tech extended the lead to 57-43 with 10:08 left. The Hokies led by double digits the rest of the way.

Virginia Tech pushed the lead to 20 — 71-51 — for the first time when Poteat made 1 of 2 free throws with 5:02 remaining.

The Hokies raced to a 21-6 lead in the game's first 6:50 before the Hornets got back in it and closed the gap to 40-32 at halftime.

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