THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 10, 1996 TAG: 9603100204
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GREENSBORO LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
Tony Rutland mostly went along for the ride last year when Randolph Childress took Wake Forest to their first ACC tournament title in 33 years.
But Rutland was in a starring role, along with All-American Tim Duncan, Saturday when the Demon Deacons defeated Clemson 68-60 to return to the championship game for a second straight year in the Greensboro Coliseum.
Duncan, a 6-foot-10 junior center who helped push Wake to the top last year, scored 19 points and gathered 19 rebounds.
Rutland, a sophomore guard from Hampton's Bethel High, added 20 points while knocking down 4 of 8 tries from behind the 3-point arc.
Wake Forest (22-5) will play top-seed Georgia Tech (22-10) at 1 p.m. today with the opportunity to become the first team to win back-to-back titles since North Carolina did it in 1981 and '82.
``I wasn't aware of that, but it would be great to do,'' Rutland said.
The 12th-ranked Deacons are ranked ahead of No. 18 Georgia Tech in the AP poll, but finished one game behind the Yellow Jackets in the ACC regular-season standings.
Wake Forest beat Tech 66-63 in Winston-Salem and lost 64-63 in Atlanta.
``Both of those games went down to the end, and I'm sure that is how it will be again,'' Rutland said.
The Deacons led all the way against Clemson, but it took a pair of big baskets by Rutland and Duncan in the final minutes to tame the Tigers, seeking a second upset after beating North Carolina.
Duncan hit a 13-foot running jumper with 2:23 left after Clemson had cut a 12-point Wake lead to 4.
The Tigers closed to within 4 again with 43 seconds left before Rutland stiff-armed them with a 3-point goal just before the shot clock was to expire.
``Both of those were great shots that really hurt our chances,'' Clemson coach Rick Barnes said.
Rutland said he was looking to set up behind a screen when Clemson's Terrell McIntyre backed up a step.
``I just stepped back and shot, and it went in,'' Rutland said.
Clemson, the first team in tournament history to reach the semifinals with four freshmen starters, might have thought the game was tipping its way when Duncan picked up his fourth foul at 6:57.
But Duncan never came out of the game and continued to play aggressively without collecting a fifth foul.
``I had to keep attacking, or they would have attacked me,'' he said.
Odom said he never thought about removing his star player.
``Tim has played enough basketball to know what he can and can't, should and shouldn't do,'' Odom said. ``He is going to stay in the game in that situation and he understands that.''
Still, Clemson made a late-game run, as it had in coming from behind to upset the No. 3-seed Tar Heels on Friday night.
Danny Johnson's 3-pointer cut the Deacons' lead to 4, and the Tigers muffed two shots that would have gotten them even closer.
But that would be it for Clemson after Rutland popped his 24-foot jumper on the other end of the court.
Rutland scored 13 points but missed all four 3-point attempts in Wake Forest's 70-60 victory over Virginia in the quarterfinals.
Saturday, he canned his first one only 14 seconds into the game and came back with another to give the Deacons at 14-8 lead.
``Hitting that first one gave me the confidence I was looking for,'' Rutland said.
Odom said he thought the difference in the game was was defense and rebounding.
``Duncan did an an excellent job on the glass and Rutland controlled the ball and played great defense,'' he said.
``I am still proud of this team,'' Barnes said.
``We fought back and put ourselves in position to win, but we just couldn't do it.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
HUY NGUYEN/The Virginian-Pilot
Wake's Steven Goolsby, left, wins a battle with Clemson's Harold
Jamison. No team has won back-to-back finals in 14 years.
Photo
HUY NGUYEN/The Virginia-Pilot
Clemson's Tony Christie guards the ball against Wake Forest's Steven
Goolsby. The Tigers made a late run; unlike the night before, it
fell short.
by CNB