Feb 20, 2002
By KEITH PARSONS
AP Sports Writer
ATLANTA – Tony Akins scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half, leading Georgia Tech to a come-from-behind 65-59 victory over North Carolina State on Wednesday night.
Clarence Moore had 14 for the Yellow Jackets (12-15, 5-9 Atlantic Coast Conference), and Ed Nelson added 13. Georgia Tech won for the fourth time in six games.
Anthony Grundy had 20 for the Wolfpack (19-8, 8-6), who were denied their 20th victory. They haven’t won 20 games in the regular season since 1989. Miller scored 11 points, all in the first half.
Akins was held scoreless for most of the first half, finally getting on the board with 2 seconds left after hitting a 15-foot jumper to cut N.C. State’s lead to eight.
Georgia Tech scored the first eight points of the second half to tie the game at 35, and it remained close the rest of the way.
N.C. State built a six-point lead at one point, but with the Yellow Jackets down 53-52 with 6:17 left, Akins was fouled on a 3-pointer. He made all three free throws, and after Marcus Melvin missed from beyond the arc, Robert Brooks added two free throws for Georgia Tech’s largest lead of the game.
The Wolfpack got within 61-59 on Archie Miller’s baseline jumper and had a chance to tie when Ed Nelson missed from in close on the Yellow Jackets’ next possession. But Akins intercepted Ilian Evtimov’s pass, and Georgia Tech made four straight free throws to close it out.
N.C. State jumped to a 10-point lead barely 5 minutes into the game and remained in control throughout the opening half with Miller and Grundy leading the way. Miller made 4 of 5 shots, including 3-of-4 from the 3-point line.
