National Championship Game
6 seed Florida State vs 5 seed Georgia Tech
This matchup marked the 3rd time this season that
these two teams have face each other with each team picking up a win in the
previous matchups. They met first during
the regular season at Florida State where the Seminoles easily handed the
Yellow Jackets by a final score of 63-41 (the only two players to score in
double figures were both on the FSU roster, Keith Don and Michael Garland). The
second matchup happened in the quarterfinals of the ACC conference tournament
which takes place at a neutral site. This time it was Georgia Tech who came out
the victors by the final 49-43 (leading scorers were Keith Don for FSU and Jon
Defilippo and David Rogers for GT). This
title game is shaping up to be a great battle between two powers in the college
basketball landscape.
For the first time in the Final Four/Title game, this one
started off as a back and forth affair as the teams were trading scores and
reclaiming and subsequently losing the lead to each other over the games first
5 minutes until someone went on the first run.
That distinction falls on Georgia Tech whom (trailing 6-5 with 15:50
remaining) went on a 9-2 run to take an early 14-8 lead about 8 minutes into
the contest. They maintained a 4-6 point
lead over the next 10 minutes until FSU found their own little spurt and turned
a 22-15 deficite with 6 minutes remaining in the half to a tied game at 24-24
with 1:28 to go. Georgia Tech was able
to close out the half with the last two scores to send the teams to the break
with a 28-24 Georgia Tech lead.
The second half started much the way the first ended. Both
teams going on mini-runs back and forth. Georgia Tech clinging to a 4-6 pt
leads while FSU chips away. Finally
about 8 minutes into the 2nd half FSU is able to do something they
hadn’t done since the game’s opening minutes, they took the lead on two Keith
Don FT’s to make the score 38-37. Unfortunately for Seminole fans, they gave up
a 7-2 run immediately after those FTs and found themselves back in that
familiar 4-6 pt hole this time with under 10 minutes remaining. Despite a few superb efforts, FSU is never
able to reclaim the lead and Georgia Tech slowly builds their lead over the
final 5-6 minutes to eventually claim a 62-51 victory and be crowned the new
National Champion. Congrats are in order
for Georgia Tech and their coach hoosierchap.
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