Florida State men use dominant late-game run to finish off Georgia Tech, 91-78
It was closer than it should have been. Florida State was clearly the better team. And had been for most of the game.
But still, after Georgia Tech’s Lance Terry drained an open 3-pointer, the Seminoles’ once-16-point lead had been cut all the way to four with 5:09 left.
And the Seminoles were in real danger of blowing a must-win game. Instead, they wound up blowing the visiting Yellow Jackets out down the stretch.
Led by Malique Ewin, Florida State went on a 16-3 run over the next three minutes and eventually knocked off short-handed Georgia Tech 91-78 on Saturday afternoon at the Tucker Center.
Florida State is now 13-5 overall and 4-3 in the ACC. The Yellow Jackets drop to 8-11 and 2-6.
The Seminoles led by as many as 16 in the first half and were up 37-24 at the half.
But what looked like it might be an easy Saturday afternoon win over a slumping team that has been beset by injuries quickly turned serious in the first two minutes of the second half. That’s when the Yellow Jackets took advantage of a sluggish FSU start to immediately go on a 10-0 run out of the locker room.
Florida State steadied itself after that and pushed the lead back to as high as 12 later in the half. But Georgia Tech wouldn’t go away and kept hitting enough 3-pointers to stay in contention, culminating with that Terry jumper that cut the lead to four with five minutes left.
That’s when the game-clinching run started for the Seminoles.
It began with a turnaround bank shot by Ewin, then freshman guard Daquan Davis converted a three-point play off a nice pass from Jamir Watkins. Ewin then made two free throws, found Taylor Bol Bowen underneath with a slick pass for a dunk, and then got a steal and a dunk of his own.
Top 10
- 1New
Miami tampering
Wisconsin accuses Canes, threatens action
- 2
Dick Vitale accident
Return to ESPN mic delayed
- 3Hot
NFL, CFP scheduling
Roger Goodell commits to collaborate
- 4
Chip Kelly shot at Oregon
Ohio State OC rips Ducks
- 5
Steve Sarkisian extension
Texas HC re-ups amid NFL interest
Get the On3 Top 10 to your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
When Watkins followed that steal and dunk with one of his own moments later, the Seminoles were up 86-69 win two minutes remaining.
During that run, the only points Georgia Tech got were a banked-in 3-pointer at the shot-clock buzzer. The Yellow Jackets did miss four straight free throws on one possession to help open the door for the Seminoles to pull away.
Bol Bowen led Florida State offensively with a career-high 20 points in 28 minutes. Ewin had his fourth straight double-double and finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and two blocks. Watkins also had 17 points to go along with five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
The Seminoles had 19 assists and just eight turnovers and shot 52.2 percent from the floor overall. They were 9 of 27 from 3-point range and 26 of 40 from 2-point range.
Georgia Tech was just 2 of 14 from 3 in the first half but 7 of 15 in the second.
The Seminoles have now won six of eight games overall and will head to California for the next two games. They play Cal on Wednesday night at 9 p.m. and then Stanford on Saturday at 7 p.m.
SIGN UP: Join Warchant’s FSU Community for $1 today
***Talk about this story with passionate FSU Basketball fans on the Seminole Hoops***
