Posted by BillFromTampa

By Bill From Tampa

Try telling Florida State fans that Toney Douglas is not the ACC Player of the Year.

And if those who have a vote leave him off their ballot, well then they just aren’t paying attention.

Especially after Douglas hit a pull up runner in the lane with six seconds left to give FSU a 67-65 win on the road against Virginia Tech.

Leading by as much as 14 points, 25-11, after shooting 50% in the first half, the ‘Noles could not hardly buy a basket. Shots that fell in the first twenty minutes (8 of 19 three pointers) weren’t dropping in the second twenty. With 11:12 remaining in the game the Seminoles were just 2 of 15 from the floor.

Meanwhile the Hokies overcame a 10 point halftime deficit with an 18-4 run in that span to hold a 51-47 edge over the Seminoles prompting Leonard Hamilton to call timeout to stop the onslaught.

FSU responded with back to back baskets by Solomon Alibi tying the game at 51.

For the next five minutes it was toe to toe with three ties and four lead changes. It became a case of which team would make the crucial defensive stop.

It looked like that team was Florida State.

After Uche Echefu’s two free throws gave the Seminoles a 63-62 lead, Hamilton’s defense stymied Tech forcing a shot clock violation with 2:38 left to play.

Jeff Allen’s missed on a three ball attempt and seconds Douglas increased FSU’s lead with two from the stripe.

AD Vassallo could not tie the game with his three point attempt. Thirty seconds later though Vassallo saved the ball from going out of bounds on the missed second free throw attempt by Cheick Diakite. That led to another missed three attempt by Mike Delaney that was put back by Allen tying the game at 65.

With twenty seconds left, Hamilton called timeout to set the play. Was there any doubt that Douglas would be the player to take the last shot?

Inbounding the ball into the backcourt, Douglas calmly walked the ball up the floor with Delaney guarding him. Alabi flashed out to set a high post screen at the top of the key. As Douglas turned on the jets leaving Delaney picked off by Alabi, the rotation by any other Tech player was slow leaving Douglas alone for the pull up jumper to give FSU a 67-65 lead with 6.2 seconds left.

Seth Greenberg called his last timeout and called a well designed play. But unlike the heartbreaker three pointer by Ty Lawson earlier in the season, Vassallo’s three ball from above the key clanged off the rim that was rebounded by FSU as time ran out.

“That’s ACC basketball”, Hamilton said afterwards. “Fortunately we came out of this game with a victory,” he added.

Speaking about the second half Hamilton commented, “We didn’t execute all that well. We had to grind it out. But for a young team to contribute and make stops ….. We got the stops we had to have when they counted.”

Douglas, as he has done all season long, led the Seminoles in scoring with 22 points. It was a quiet 10 first half points for the senior guard and he had a stretch in the second half where he could not connect. But when the team needed him, “He made the most important shot of the game,” said Hamilton.

Douglas also added 4 assists against no turnovers thus extending a string of 110 straight minutes without committing a turnover.

Also in double figures was Derwin Kitchen, who Hamilton praised, with 19 points and 6 rebounds and Echefu’s 12 points and 6 boards as well.

Hamilton called it a game that wasn’t pretty. But one aspect of the game that had to please him, other than the final score of course, was just the 10 total turnovers the team had.

While Delaney finished with a  game high 25 points, FSU’s defense did just enough against Virginia Tech’s other top scorers holding Vassallo to 15 and Allen to 12 points. No other Tech player had more than five points.

With the win, Florida State at least temporarily moves into second place all alone in the ACC with an 8-4 conference record and 21-6 overall.

Assured of finishing no less than 8-8 in ACC play, the Seminoles’ bid to earn an invite into the NCAA tournament were greatly enhanced by its fourth conference road win of the season.

Obviously the ‘Noles do not wish to settle for 8-8. Flying straight to Boston after the game, FSU will look to secure a winning record by attempting to defeat Boston College on Tuesday night. Tip off is set for 9:00 PM.