Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 14, 1993 TAG: 9303140162
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: LARRY KEECH LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
GEORGIA TECH TURNS BACK CLEMSON 69-61
Saturday was "the day after" for Georgia Tech and Clemson, two basketball teams nursing emotional hangovers.Tech hung on to beat the Tigers 69-61 in an semifinal struggle that earned the Yellow Jackets a chance at No. 1-ranked North Carolina in today's 3 p.m. ACC Tournament championship game.
"The night before" for Tech and Clemson was Friday, when they rode emotional highs to upset wins of nationally ranked Duke and Florida State.
However, it is axiomatic in tournament basketball that upsets in the early rounds lead to less-than-inspiring matchups, and Saturday's Tech-Clemson game was no exception.
"Our game against Duke was a war, and it wore us out," Tech coach Bobby Cremins said of the 69-66 victory that ended barely 16 hours before Saturday's game began.
"With their defense keying on Sharone Wright inside and Chris Whitney [outside], somebody had to step up and make some outside shots, but our legs weren't there," said Clemson coach Cliff Ellis, whose Tigers had ripped FSU 87-75 Friday night.
"When you only score 61 points in an up-tempo game, it's something less than an offensive masterpiece."
Their teams played a game in which Tech, powered by James Forrest's 26 points, led most of the way but never could pull away from the Tigers.
The Jackets (18-10) made enough free throws at crunch time to stay ahead.
There was one dicey moment for Cremins' team. The Jackets led 64-59 when Clemson's Whitney found his mark with a lean-in jump shot from somewhere near the 3-point circle with 30.7 seconds left.
The officials hesitated momentarily before Rick Hartzell raised his arms to signal a 3-pointer, and referee Dick Paparo relayed Hartzell's message to the scorer's table and the public-address announcer.
Cremins called a timeout to question the verdict of three points instead of two. Then relief official Sam Croft reversed the 3-point call, perhaps using the TV replay in front of him in violation of prescribed procedure.
Cremins and Ellis agreed the reversal could have been pivotal but that Whitney's foot probably was over the line.
Ellis: "I hoped it was a three but feared it was actually a two. I have no complaint with the reversal."
Cremins: "I thought there was no way Whitney's shot could have been a three. Apparently there was a TV at the scorer's table and instant replay was available. They saw that his foot was obviously on the line and corrected it."
Croft: "I'm empowered to reverse the call, and I did without watching TV."
As Tech retained its three-point lead, Clemson fouls, turnovers and missed shots enabled the Jackets to add five free throws to their total.
The key tactical maneuver for Cremins was to curb Whitney's 3-point shots early in the second half with a 1-3 zone defense with a chaser in Travis Best, who hounded the Clemson bomber.
Whitney scored only four of his 21 points and made no 3-pointers in the last 15 minutes, shifting Clemson's offensive burden entirely onto the tall, broad shoulders of Wright.
It wasn't enough.
Wright got no inside scoring help from forward Devin Gray, a normally solid performer who had burned Florida State for 23 points.
Against Tech, Gray missed all 15 of his shots.
In all, the Tigers made 33.3 percent (22-of-66) of their field-goal attempts, including a 9-for-29 effort from 3-point range. Tech's percentage was an even 50.0. \
see microfilm for box score