March 2, 2005

Virginia Tech-Clemson box score

Clemson 66, Virginia Tech 64

 

CLEMSON, S.C. - Virginia Tech got a huge game from senior Carlos Dixon, but Clemson senior Sharrod Ford saved the day for the Tigers, throwing down a one-handed slam at the buzzer to give the Tigers a 66-64 Atlantic Coast Conference victory over the Hokies in front of 7,400 fans at Littlejohn Coliseum on Tuesday night.

With the loss, the Hokies fell to 14-12 overall, 7-8 in the ACC. Clemson, which avenged a 59-57 loss in Blacksburg on Jan. 15^th, improved to 15-13 overall and 5-10 in the league. The Tigers became eligible for postseason play with the victory.

Tech trailed by as many as 12 in the second half and by seven with 5:45 left in the game. But the Hokies gradually pecked away at the Clemson lead and took their first lead of the second half, 59-58, on a short jumper by Dixon with 1:30 left in the game. Later, with 16.1 seconds left in the game, Dixon hit two free throws to give the Hokies a 64-61 lead.

But Clemson came down and Olu Babalola hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 9.4 seconds left to tie the game at 64 - Babalola's 13^th 3-pointer of the season. Tech came down and tried to get the tying shot, but Jamon Gordon's pass was stolen by Shawan Robinson. Robinson kicked the ball ahead to Ford, who slammed it home just before the horn sounded to give the Tigers the win.

"Dumb pass," a distraught Gordon said after the game. "I should have shot it. It was a dumb decision on my part. I'll take the blame."

"I blame myself because I didn't do a good enough job of communicating," Tech coach Seth Greenberg said. "I should have communicated to our guys to keep the ball in front of them. Instead, a guy drives and kicks it out to Babalola and he hits the 3.

"At the end, we wanted to push the ball up [after Babalola's 3-pointer]. If we didn't have anything, I would have called a timeout. But that's what we wanted to do. We wanted to push the ball."

Dixon, a redshirt senior from Salisbury, N.C., hadn't scored in double figures in Tech's previous two games (at N.C. State and against Miami). But against the Tigers, he tied his career high with 25 points, hitting 7-of-18 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from beyond the 3-point arc and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line. Deron Washington and Zabian Dowdell added 12 each for the Hokies, who shot 38.6 percent from the floor.

Clemson, which shot just 33.3 percent from the floor (but out-rebounded Tech 48-39, including 20-9 on the offensive end), got 18 points and 11 rebounds for Ford, a senior playing in his last game. Vernon Hamilton added 11 for the Tigers.

Tech now returns home for the regular-season finale. The Hokies take on Maryland this Saturday at Cassell Coliseum. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m.