Posted by NoleCC

Wanting to make up for the loss on Sunday to North Carolina, Florida State showed poise down the stretch to come away with its second ACC road win of the season. The Seminoles sent a subdued Joel Coliseum crowd home in beating a struggling Wake Forest team 75-68.

Obviously pleased with the result Leonard Hamilton said his team showed toughness throughout the entire game. “Especially the bench” Hamilton commented. That bench was lead by Andrew Wilson. With his season high 18 points, the 6th year senior was praised by Hamilton not only for his scoring, but his leadership among other things. “He moved the ball well and he made the extra pass for us tonight” added FSU’s head coach.

It was Wilson’s poise with the game on the line that provided the impetus for the ‘Noles to some away with the victory. With just 49 seconds left and ahead 69-66, Wilson calmly sank two free throws that forced Wake Forest to play too quickly losing their poise instead of making the plays.

Earlier Wilson chased down a loose ball calling timeout before sailing into the scorer’s table. That one play exemplified Wilson’s hustle all game long.

That hustle was apparently infectious as Hamilton said “There were a lot of team heroes out on the floor tonight.” Among them he named Diego Romero, Jerel Allen, and Isaiah Swann in particular his defense in the second half on Justin Gray.

Gray picked up 16 points in the first half but was held to just one three pointer in the second despite Swann’s hand in his face.

The intensity and focus the Seminoles played with all game long seemed to take even the coaching staff by surprise. “We didn’t expect that kind of effort for 40 minutes” said the elated head coach.

Other Seminoles in double figures were Alexander Johnson (14 points, 6 rebounds), Al Thornton (13 points, 7 rebounds), and Allen (11 points).

But it just wasn’t the points scored. Romero and Johnson’s defense on the Deacons’ big man Eric Williams was tremendous. With the help of frequent double teaming, the duo combined to hold Williams to just 12 points even though both fouled out of the game.

Add in unselfish play reflected by 17 assists led by Todd Galloway’s five complimented by taking care of the ball with just 9 turnovers.

The Deacons took an early 13-7 lead on Gray’s three pointer from the top of the key. Five three pointers later by the Seminoles, three by Wilson, FSU held a 26-15 advantage. Gray’s free throws closed the gap to 28-22. Wake Forest lost track of Allen and he answered with back to back threes both from the same spot on the right wing.

FSU took its largest lead, 39-26, when Allen nailed another three from the same exact spot

Despite numerous and frequent whistles from the refs that sent Gray to the line 10 times, FSU held off Wake to take a 42-34 halftime lead.

Wake duplicated FSU’s shaky first half start with three turnovers in the first two minutes. FSU maintained mostly a ten point margin until the 7:40 mark when Wake began to chip away at the lead

Trent Strickland’s three ball followed a Harvey Hale offensive put back to pull the Deacons to within three, 62-59 with 6:30 to play. A cross court pass found a wide open Wilson in the left corner and the co-captain smoothly knocked down the three.

Again Wake made a run to trail 65-61. FSU however did not panic and patiently ran its offense resulting is Swann’s bank of the glass with just one second on the shot clock. Gray answered with his only points in the second half and Wilson responded with a layup off a nice assist by Johnson. Michael Drum’s jumper made it a three point game again at 69-66 with 2:10 to play.

FSU tried to run the clock again but Thornton’s shot was after the shot clock had expired. The defense stiffened however forcing Wake to call timeout during the ensuing possession. On the inbound pass Swann made a key play knocking the ball away from Drum. Swann looked to bounce the ball off Drum as he was going out of bounds. It missed however but ended up in the hands of Jason Rich.

Wilson was fouled and he swished both attempts to make it 71-66. Wake began to rush resulting in a traveling turnover on Gray. Wake was now forced to foul and Rich and Ralph Mims made four from the stripe that sealed the win for the ‘Noles.

FSU’s defense turned in a strong performance holding the Deacons to just 35% from the floor. More importantly the perimeter defense atoned for Sunday’s poor outing in allowing just 6 of 17 from behind the arc.

With the win, FSU matches its win total from last season and improves to 12-4, 3-3.

Next up for the ‘Noles is a 4:00 PM contest on Sunday in Tallahassee with Miami. The ‘Canes are coming off a 71-51 road loss to the Virginia Cavaliers.