Scott Calls Meeting, Then Delivers Game-winner |
CLEMSON - It was the perfect scenario. Ed Scott - the Clemson captain who just the night before called a player's-only meeting with the Tigers in the midst of a four-game losing streak and the season in danger of slipping away - had the ball in his hands with a chance to provide the ultimate lesson in leadership by example. He didn't disappoint. Scott's off-balance 12-footer with :21 to go Tuesday night snapped a 67-67 tie and sent Clemson to a 69-67 victory over Georgia Tech in Littlejohn Coliseum. The win improves the Tigers to 12-6 overall, 2-8 in the Atlantic Coast Conference. More importantly, it provides a glimmer of hope for the Tigers' postseason hopes with half the conference schedule yet to be played. "It would have been a perfect ending no matter who hit the shot," Scott said. "It just happened to be me." That Scott even had a chance to hit the game-winner came courtesy of yet another controversial call by official Larry Rose. Rose, whose blown call at the buzzer cost Clemson a 60-59 defeat at Florida State last month, awarded Clemson a timeout with :28.4 seconds to go with players from both teams in a mad scramble for a loose ball near the top of the key on the Tiger end of the floor. Scott, standing beside Rose, asked for the timeout as teammate Sharrod Ford got a hand on the basketball, and Rose awarded the call even though at least one of the other two officials was signaling jump ball. Georgia Tech (11-8, 4-4) coach Paul Hewitt's body language in the postgame press conference indicated he felt Rose missed the call, but he was diplomatic with his words. "Obviously I wanted the jump ball and (Clemson head coach) Larry (Shyatt) wanted the timeout," Hewitt said. "They got the timeout. That's how close these games can be on the road." Clemson still had to defend a final Yellow Jacket assault to tie or win the game. Ford thwarted one opportunity by batting away a pass to the lane and forcing a jump ball with :07 to go. But Tech's final effort - a 25-foot 3-point attempt by Marvin Lewis with Scott defending - missed everything as the final buzzer sounded. Hewitt - again with body language - indicated he thought Lewis was fouled on the final attempt. But Scott denied there was any contact. "No, not at all," Scott said. "He actually shuffled his feet and traveled. He came into me. Believe me, that's the last thing I was thinking about. The final few possessions were the culmination of good defensive effort by the Tigers. Clemson held Tech to just 13.3 percent (2-of-15) from the 3-point line, and held a 34-32 edge on the boards. They also forced 13 turnovers while committing just 12, an impressive turnaround from recent efforts. "Down the home stretch we were able to get some serious and important stops," Shyatt said. "A lot of them were going to the floor for balls...They play hard. They continue to play hard." The victory also came courtesy of a small rally down the stretch. The Yellow Jackets - trailing since 16:42 of the first half when they led 6-4 - finally took the lead again, 55-54, on a pair of B.J. Elder free throws with 6:55 to go. Tech would lead by as many as four points over the next few minutes, the last time coming when Jarret Jack completed a 3-point play with 3:03 remaining for a 65-61 lead. But Scott - who finished with 18 points - scored four quick ones on a jumper and two free throws on Clemson's next two possessions to tie the game at 65-65. Ed Nelson's two free throws with 1:14 to go gave Tech a short-lived 67-65 lead, but Tomas Nagys tied it 12 seconds later with a pair of his own from the stripe, setting up the final sequence of events. "I've never seen this team fold," Shyatt said. "The last four or five minutes at the end of the Wake Forest game after it appeared we were out of time to win the game, I thought the shoulders dropped a bit. (But) I've never seen this team fold in a tight game. "This ball club has not experienced that and I don't expect them to." Chey Christie, benefiting from an up-tempo approach to the offense, led Clemson with a career-high 25 points. Chris Bosh and Jack each scored 15 for the Yellow Jackets, while Elder added 10.
VISITORS: Georgia Tech 11-8, 4-4 ACC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 Elder, BJ........... f 4-11 0-4 2-2 0 1 1 4 10 2 1 0 0 29
04 Bosh, Chris......... f 6-7 0-1 3-3 3 6 9 2 15 0 3 1 0 34
32 Nelson, Ed.......... f 3-6 0-0 3-4 2 5 7 3 9 0 1 1 1 34
03 Jack, Jarrett....... g 6-9 1-2 2-5 0 4 4 3 15 1 6 0 1 33
24 Lewis, Marvin....... g 4-9 1-5 0-0 1 0 1 2 9 0 0 0 0 29
02 Muhammad, Isma'il... 1-5 0-1 2-2 0 2 2 1 4 0 1 0 1 11
12 Schenscher, Luke.... 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 4 2 0 1 0 0 8
34 Brooks, Robert...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
44 Tarver, Theodis..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
55 McHenry, Anthony.... 1-5 0-2 1-2 2 3 5 4 3 4 0 0 2 19
TEAM................ 2 2
Totals.............. 26-54 2-15 13-18 9 23 32 23 67 7 13 2 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-31 41.9% 2nd Half: 13-23 56.5% Game: 48.1% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 1-10 10.0% 2nd Half: 1-5 20.0% Game: 13.3% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-10 60.0% 2nd Half: 7-8 87.5% Game: 72.2% 1
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HOME TEAM: Clemson Tigers 12-6, 2-6 ACC
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
12 Babalola, Olu....... f 1-4 0-1 0-0 0 0 0 2 2 1 0 0 2 23
43 Hobbs, Chris........ f 1-5 0-0 0-1 3 6 9 5 2 2 2 0 1 25
05 Ford, Sharrod....... c 1-4 0-0 2-5 2 4 6 1 4 0 1 0 0 19
10 Scott, Edward....... g 6-13 1-2 5-6 0 1 1 2 18 6 1 0 1 39
14 Christie, Chey...... g 9-15 3-6 4-7 2 3 5 2 25 1 2 0 3 36
01 Betko, Julian....... 0-2 0-2 0-0 0 0 0 2 0 1 1 0 0 11
03 Nagys, Tomas........ 2-2 0-0 5-6 0 4 4 3 9 1 1 0 1 23
21 Henderson, Ray...... 1-4 0-0 2-2 1 2 3 3 4 0 2 0 0 13
22 Robinson, Shawan.... 2-3 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 1 5 1 2 0 1 11
33 Akingbala, Akin..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0+
TEAM................ 3 3 6
Totals.............. 23-52 5-13 18-27 11 23 34 21 69 13 12 0 9 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-26 46.2% 2nd Half: 11-26 42.3% Game: 44.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 2-7 28.6% 2nd Half: 3-6 50.0% Game: 38.5% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 10-16 62.5% 2nd Half: 8-11 72.7% Game: 66.7% 4
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Officials: Mike Wood, Larry Rose, Rick Crawford
Technical fouls: Georgia Tech-None. Clemson Tigers-None.
Attendance: 7800
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Georgia Tech.................. 33 34 - 67
Clemson Tigers................ 36 33 - 69
Points in the paint-GT 32,CLEM 20. Points off turnovers-GT 10,CLEM 9.
2nd chance points-GT 13,CLEM 8. Fast break points-GT 2,CLEM 2.
Bench points-GT 9,CLEM 18. Score tied-8 times. Lead changes-3 times.
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