Last-Place Yellow Jackets Stun Tigers
Georgia Tech 86, No. 17 Clemson 81
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Thursday, March 12, 2009; 5:02 PM
ATLANTA -- Lewis Clinch set a career high with 32 points and last-place Georgia Tech pulled off the first upset of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, beating No. 17 Clemson 86-81 on Thursday.
Clinch made five three-pointers to carry the Yellow Jackets (12-18), who went 2-14 in the ACC during the regular season -- including a pair of losses to the Tigers. He capped his performance with a pair of clinching free throws, eclipsing his career high of 30 points against Miami just eight days earlier.
Clemson (23-8) is now 0-for-56 in winning the ACC tournament. The Tigers made it to the championship game a year ago before losing to North Carolina, but they were one-and-done at the Georgia Dome.
Gani Lawal added 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Yellow Jackets, who advanced to meet No. 22 Florida State in the quarterfinals Friday.
Trevor Booker paced Clemson with 17 points. Five other Tigers were in double figures, but it wasn't enough to handle the inside-outside attack of Lawal and Clinch.
On their last visit to Atlanta, Clemson overcame a 15-point deficit to beat the Yellow Jackets 81-73. But, playing about two miles from the Georgia Tech campus, the home team finally got the best of the Tigers.
After the teams played to a 39-39 halftime tie, Clinch got the Yellow Jackets rolling with a 3-pointer. When Zachery Peacock followed with a dunk, Clemson quickly called a timeout in hopes of stemming the momentum.
But Clinch kept hitting shots, and Georgia Tech kept stretching its lead. The senior hit another 3 with 3 minutes 50 seconds remaining to give the Yellow Jackets their biggest lead of the game, 75-62.
Clemson tried to rally, closing to 84-81 on Andre Young's long trey with seven seconds remaining. Clinch was quickly fouled on the inbounds, but he calmly knocked down both free throws to finish off the Tigers.
Georgia Tech shot a season-beat 55.7 percent (34-61) from the field, beating Clemson's press for a number of dunks and easy baskets underneath. The Yellow Jackets also controlled the boards, outrebounding the Tigers 38-30, which helped offset 17 turnovers.
It was the third time in four years that the 12th-seeded team won in the opening round of the ACC tournament. The Yellow Jackets are hoping to duplicate the improbable run by state rival Georgia at last year's Southeastern Conference tournament in Atlanta.
The last-place Bulldogs won four straight games to earn an NCAA bid in a tournament interrupted by a devastating tornado that struck the Georgia Dome. The final two days of the tournament were shifted to Georgia Tech's campus arena, where the Bulldogs clinched their title.
