Final four minutes the difference as Florida State tops Tech, 69-59
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Toney Douglas scored 28 points and Ryan
Reid's three-point play broke open a tie game as Florida State
pulled ahead in the final four minutes and held off Tennessee Tech
69-59 Tuesday night.
The Golden Eagles (6-3) return to the Volunteer State to take on
Vanderbilt Saturday at 5 p.m. in a regionally televised game in
Nashville.
Reid's three-point play with 3:59 left broke a 55-55 deadlock as
the Seminoles closed the game with a 14-5 run to improve to 10-1,
equaling the best start in school history.
It was not easy. The Golden Eagles overcame a six-minute scoreless
stretch and a 53-44 deficit in the second half. Consecutive
3-pointers by freshman Kevin Murphy, followed by Daniel Northern's
putback basket keyed an 11-2 Golden Eagle run. DJ Lindsay's runner
down the lane with 4:25 remaining tied the score.
Douglas was the lone double-figure scorer for the Seminoles, who
won despite committing a season-high 24 turnovers. He was 8-for-16
from the field and converted 9-of-11 free throw tosses. As a team,
the Seminoles shot 70 percent at the line (14-for-20), while the
Golden Eagles managed only 52.9 percent accuracy at the charity
stripe, going 9-for-17.
Florida State owned a one-point lead at halftime, 32-31, and Tech
grabbed the lead early in the second half before the Seminoles
appeared ready to pull away while taking the nine-point lead, the
largest of the game until the final margin.
Northern led the Golden Eagles with 14 points and tied his
career-high with 15 rebounds. Will Barnes and Murphy added 13 each,
a career-high for Murphy.
A crowd of 5,055 was on hand for only the second meeting between
these two teams, the first since 1957.
