ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 11, 1996 TAG: 9603110062
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: GREENSBORO, N.C.
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY STAFF WRITER
One minute, Wake Forest had an 18-point lead over one of the hottest teams in men's college basketball. The next, point guard Tony Rutland was headed to the locker room, with no sign of a return.
Coach Dave Odom, whose first ACC title ended a 33-year Wake Forest drought, might have known a repeat title would not come easily.
Georgia Tech, taking advantage of Rutland's injury, staged a furious comeback and had a shot to win the game before falling 75-74 at the Greensboro Coliseum.
``Some of you are going to be quick to judge and say, `If the game had lasted another minute, Georgia Tech surely would have won,''' Odom told the media after the game. ``But, don't be so quick to say that.''
Indeed, Wake (23-5) seemingly had responded favorably to Rutland's absence when it took a 71-60 lead on a 3-point field goal by Rutsy LaRue with 2:23 left. But, that's when a combination of turnovers and missed free throws turned it into a game.
The Yellow Jackets (22-11) scored 10 points in a row to make it 71-70 with 52 seconds left. Then, Tim Duncan missed a pair of free throws with 18 seconds left and everyone in the place knew what was next.
The Yellow Jackets cleared the right side of the court for freshman Stephon Marbury, who made the last in a series of drives toward the lane, veered toward the baseline and put up a fallaway jumper that hit the back side of the backboard.
Talk about anticlimactic.
``I did have a timeout,'' said Georgia Tech coach Bobby Cremins, ``but he had just scored or gotten fouled twice previously, and I thought I'd let him go to the hole.
``I did not want to see him fade away and hit the side of the basket. But that young man has won a lot of ballgames for us, and I know the person who is hurting the most right now is Stephon.''
Marbury finished with a team-high 26 points, including 11 while Tech was falling behind 39-24 in the first half. He scored the Yellow Jackets' last four points, offsetting four free throws by Wake guard Jerry Braswell.
``You can't make what you can't see,'' Marbury said. ``Tim Duncan jumped up in the air and I couldn't see the rim.''
It wrapped up a near-perfect performance by Duncan, who had a game-high 27 points and set an ACC tournament record with 22 rebounds. He also had six assists and four blocks.
Duncan was named the tournament's most valuable player and was joined on the all-tournament team by Rutland, who had made five of seven 3-point shots when he twisted his knee with 14:11 remaining. Wake was up 59-41 at the time.
Rutland first looked as if he would get to his feet without assistance, then walked off the floor. Although he immediately went to the locker room, there was no indication he would not return.
``I just wanted somebody to tell me if he was coming back or he wasn't,'' Odom said. ``We've got other ball-handlers and decision-makers, but we don't practice much without him. I would have taken responsibility for that if we had lost the game.''
Rutland was fitted for a brace and eventually returned to the floor. He checked back into the game with 7:53 remaining, played one possession at the defensive end and left the game at the next dead ball.
``We told him, `If you go in there and there is any sign of a problem, don't try and be a hero,''' said assistant coach Ernie Nestor. ``We were sending Rusty in the game for Steve Goolsby and Tony told him, `Rusty, go in for me.'''
Odom said his fear was that Georgia Tech would become ``bloodthirsty'' with Rutland out of the game and would go after LaRue, who is the quarterback on the Deacons' football team.
``You know what?'' Cremins said. ``I don't even remember him getting hurt. It shows how little I know. How much time was left? Did he come back in?
``I'm just glad we made it a game because I didn't want to see this team embarrassed. I know [the Deacons] were throwing it away at the end, but they were burying us. They were kicking our butts left and right.''
It was the first loss in 10 games for the Yellow Jackets, who had overcome a 6-7 record against non-conference opposition to go 13-3 in the ACC and win the regular-season title. Wake finished second, at 12-4, including a split with Tech.
Wake Forest became the first team since North Carolina in 1981-82 to win consecutive ACC tournament championships. The Deacons have a total of four championships, including consecutive titles in 1961-62.
``They're back-to-back,'' Odom said, ``but they're very separate. It's a credit to our team that it did not revel in last year's successes; rather, they set out to accomplish things on their own.''
NOTE: Please see microfilm for scores.
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. 1. Georgia Tech's Stephon Marbury shoots betweenby CNBWake Forest's Tim Duncan (left), Tony Rutland and Ricky Peral
(right) during the ACC tournament title game in Greensboro, N.C.
color. 2. Wake Forest center Tim Duncan was named tournament MVP
after a 27-point, 22-rebound performance in the Deacons' 75-74
victory over Georgia Tech in the championship game.