Feb. 5, 2013
Box Score | Quotes | GT Photo Gallery
ATLANTA (AP) — Michael Snaer hit a driving layup just before the buzzer, giving Florida State a 56-54 victory over Georgia Tech in the Atlantic Coast Conference on Tuesday night.
Snaer made up for a turnover on the Seminoles’ previous possession, when he let a routine pass slip through his hands and couldn’t save it from rolling out of bounds. After Mfon Udofia missed a 3-pointer to break the 54-all deadlock, Florida State rebounded and called timeout to set up the last play.
Devon Bookert dribbled down the clock before passing off to Snaer. He might’ve gotten away with a push-off – Udofia went flying near the top of the key, and Georgia Tech complained bitterly – but the refs made no call. Snaer spotted an opening down the right side of the lane, darted toward the hoop and banked it in just before the red light went off. The officials took a look at the replay, but didn’t need long to rule the shot was good.
Snaer led the Seminoles (13-9, 5-4 ACC) with 15 points. Daniel Miller and Brandon Reed had 9 points each for Georgia Tech (12-9, 2-7).
Kiel Turpin and Boris Bojanovsky added 10 points apiece for the Seminoles, who raced to a 13-0 lead but couldn’t put away the Yellow Jackets. In fact, Georgia Tech was ahead by halftime, and it was tight the rest of the way.
In the end, it was another Florida State victory. The Seminoles have won eight straight in the series, their longest run of dominance against Georgia Tech.
The Yellow Jackets failed in their bid for a second straight home victory, having rallied in the final minutes to knock off Virginia in their previous game. Georgia Tech got scoring contributions from 10 players but not enough to finally beat FSU.
Florida State raced to its early lead by outrebounding the much-shorter Yellow Jackets 7-1 and taking advantage of five turnovers.
But Georgia Tech began to cut into the deficit, sparked by Reed’s consecutive 3-pointers from nearly identical spots beyond the arc. When Reed hit another trey with 1:44 left in the half, the Yellow Jackets had their first lead of the night, 25-23.
The home team was still on top at the half, going to the locker room with a 27-26 advantage after Udofia ran down the clock, drove toward the lane and got off an awkward pass to Miller. The 6-foot-11 center made a strong move to the hoop, dunking over two Florida State defenders with three seconds remaining.
Georgia Tech kept it going after the break. Miller hit a jumper from the top of the key and Robert Carter Jr. swished a hook shot to give the Yellow Jackets their biggest edge at 31-26.
