Tigers lose ACC opener to FSU |
Tallahassee, FL -- The Florida St. Seminoles got 13 second-half points from Deividas Dulkys and hit six consecutive free throws in the final 38 seconds to hold off the visiting Clemson Tigers 75-69 in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.
The game was also the first ACC game for new Clemson head coach Brad Brownell, who saw his Tigers drop to 5-4 in a game in which the defense kept Clemson in the game for most of the night. “We were in a position to steal one on the road,” Brownell said. “We played well enough at times to put ourselves in position to win. But this one hurts a little bit. We should have done better. Our guys need to do better. We had chances to win and didn’t get the win.” The final 4:34 proved to be the Tigers’ undoing. Junior swingman Tanner Smith scored four straight points to give the Tigers a 61-57 lead with 4:34 left on the game clock, and junior guard Andre Young threatened to widen the advantage with a 3-pointer following a Devin Booker rebound. His 3-pointer was off the mark however, and Dulkys completed what amounted to a six-point swing when he nailed a 3-pointer from the left wing to give the Noles a 62-61 lead with 3:36 left. Booker followed that with a turnover, and FSU’s Chris Singleton hit a putback – following three consecutive offensive rebounds - for a three-point Seminole lead. Booker hit two free throws to make it 64-63 Florida St., but Dulkys hit another trey to make it 67-63. Guard Demontez Stitt, who led the Tigers with 18 points, scored on a drive to trim the margin to two, but another jumper by Dulkys pushed the lead back to four. The Seminoles then hit all six of those free throws to seal the victory. Dulkys finished with a team-high 17 points. Singleton added 13 points for the Seminoles while senior guard Derwin Kitchen chipped in with nine points, nine rebounds and seven assists. Stitt led Clemson with 18 points, while Smith added 13 points, Jerai Grant 12 and Young 11 for the Tigers, who led 34-28 at halftime and still had a six-point lead at 57-51 with 7:24 remaining. "We had a chance to win this game and just didn't get it done," Brownell said. "We gave up too many easy baskets in the second half." The score was tied four times and the lead changed hands on 10 occasions, the last one at 62-61 on the Dulkys shot. FSU shot 43.5 percent (27 of 62) after a 51.6 percent second half (16 of 31) while Clemson hit 40.7 percent of its shots (22 of 54) despite and 0-for-10 performance from sophomore Milton Jennings.
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