Blacksburg, VA (Wofford SID) – Wofford men’s basketball couldn’t do enough defensively to cool a hot shooting Virginia Tech team in a 98-76 loss at Cassell Coliseum.

The long ball was a prevalent factor for both Virginia Tech and Wofford with both teams hitting six three-pointers in the first half and both shooting over 40-percent in the second half. Juniors Corey Tripp and Jackson Sivills connected on two long balls each in the first half to keep Wofford within striking distance at the half trailing 43-33.

Tripp connected on his final three of the night on the first possession out of halftime to pull the Terrier deficit to seven, but that was as close as Wofford would make it. Viginia Tech responded with a 13-5 run that ran its lead to 15 at the under 16 media break and rattled off another 14-8 run going into the under 12 media timeout that effectively sealed the game.

Virginia Tech finished their night shooting 56.9% from the floor, 50% from three and 84.6% from the free throw line led by the trio of Lynn Kidd, Sean Pedulla and Hunter Cattoor with 20 points, 19 points and 17 points respectively.

Sivills connected on his final three-pointer in the waning moments of the game to again pull even with Tripp in three-pointers made, both finishing 3-for-8, and leading the team in scoring with 14 for Tripp and 13 for Sivills.

Sivills, however, was more than just a scorer- the junior led the team in assists and blocked shots at three and two respectively, both of which represent new career highs.

Junior Kyler Filewich found his form in the second half putting up six points and eight rebounds, including five on the offensive end, to finish his night just one bucket short of a double-double at eight points and ten rebounds and giving the center his most rebounds in a game since grabbing 11 boards in last season’s season opener against Bob Jones. Filewich also sank four free-throws in the contest- tying a career high the center set back when he played for Southern Illinois in 2021.

Coming off the bench sophomore Chase Cormier continued to provide an offensive spark for the Terriers, adding 11 points on 3-for-4 shooting from three and swiping a career high two steals.

Wofford now has a reprieve from power five competition as the Terriers travel to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to face Canisius out of the Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC), UNC Asheville out of the Big South and Lipscomb from the Atlantic Sun (A-Sun) in the Northern Classic beginning on Friday, November 24, at 4:30 PM against Canisius.

Lipscomb and Canisius are both new opponents for the Terriers while UNC Asheville is quite familiar, having matched up with the Bulldogs 26 times prior to this season, but have never seen UNC Asheville on a neutral court (although three meetings do not have a recorded venue). Streaming options for the Northern Classic are still to be determined, but you can support the Terriers by tuning in on the Wofford Digital Network with Jim Noble and Thom Henson.