Forward Zach LeDay came off the bench to score 23 points Wednesday night as Virginia Tech shrugged off bouts of sluggish play to bounce Maryland-Eastern Shore 75-59 at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg, Va.

Playing their first home game since Nov. 19, the Hokies (7-1) appeared to turn this one into a runaway when they outscored the Hawks 29-7 over the first half's last 10 minutes to take a 38-16 lead into halftime.

But UMES guard Ryan Andino led his team into contention after halftime with a barrage of 3-pointers. Andino finished with seven 3-pointers, one off Tech's all-time opponents' record, and was his team's lone double-figure scorer with 23 points.

His fourth 3 in a span of just under nine minutes capped a 27-9 run by the Hawks (1-8), drawing them within 54-45 at the 7:57 mark. But LeDay converted a 3-point play with 7:02 remaining to restore a double-figure lead.

Justin Bibbs' 3-pointer at the 4:11 mark finished a 13-6 spurt that built the Hokies' lead back to 67-51, pushing them safely out of bad loss range. It was their first game since notching a 73-70 win Nov. 30 in the ACC/Big 10 Challenge at Michigan.

Justin Robinson added 12 for Tech, while backup guard Seth Allen contributed 11 points and guard Justin Bibbs tallied 10. The Hokies converted 26-of-57 field goals for 45.6 percent and were 15-of-19 at the foul line.

Fueled by Andino's long-distance assault, UMES canned 47.1 percent of its field goals and drew assists on 17 of its 24 buckets. But it was outrebounded 34-25 and coughed up 17 points off 15 turnovers.

Tech scored 16 fast-break points while yielding none.