They live to fight another day. Beyond anyone’s expectations, the Yellow Jackets were able to push ahead and stay ahead of Clemson to get an 86-81 victory in the first round of the ACC tournament. Once again the man of the hour was senior Lewis Clinch, who poured in 32 points, including five 3-pointers. “He’s in midseason form right now,” said coach Paul Hewitt of Clinch. “Everyone else is getting to the end of the year. He’s just getting cranked up right now.”
The Yellow Jackets jumped out to a 16-9 lead behind nine quick points from Clinch. However, Clemson stormed back to even the score at 17 on a K.C. Rivers jumper at the 10-minute mark of the first half. Both teams battled back and forth for the remainder of the first half with Trevor Booker getting nine of his team-high 17 points during the stretch.
Then something happened that hadn’t been happening at Alexander Memorial all year, the Jackets went on a second-half run. At the 11:13 mark of the second half, an Alade Aminu lay-up ignited a 13-2 run that pushed Tech to a 67-55 lead. Aminu had six points during the run and Clinch hit a three.
Not to be denied, Clemson went on a run of their own, coming to within four, twice on three-pointers by Terrence Ogelsby. An Andre Young three-pointer made it 84-81 with nine seconds remaining. However, Clinch scored five points in the final minute of the game, including two late free throws to seal it. “Swish Game. It’s a free throw game that we play. In order for a basket to count, it has to go straight in, no rim. That’s all I think about,” said Clinch of his clutch free throw shooting.
Now the Jackets move on to face Florida State and ACC Defensive Player of the Toney Douglas. The Seminoles, who received a first round bye for first time since joining the ACC, will look to use Douglas to shut down Clinch. They will also look for the front line of Uche Echefu, Solomon Alabi, and Dunwoody’s Chris Singleton to slow down Aminu and Gani Lawal, who had 20 points and 14 rebounds yesterday.
Crosskey can be reached at jcrosskey@scoreatl.com.
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