Peegs.com - Douglas, FSU win on the road again

February 21, 2009

Senior point guard Toney Douglas hit a running jumper with 6.2 seconds remaining to give Florida State a 67-65 road victory over Virginia Tech on Saturday night.

"Toney Douglas didn't shoot quite as well, he had some good looks," Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton said. "He made the most important shot there at the end. I was glad to see that."

The Hokies had one final shot at the victory, but a three-point attempt by A.D. Vassallo at the buzzer missed off the back of the rim.

"This is Atlantic Coast (Conference) basketball," Hamilton said. "It seems as though all the games are going this way. Fortunately for us, we are just happy to get out of here with a victory."

Douglas, an ACC Player of the Year candidate, led the Seminoles with 22 points, including 12 in the second half, despite not having his best shooting night.

The Seminoles also got double-digit scoring from sophomore guard Derwin Kitchen, who contributed a career-high 19 points. Senior forward Uche Echefu also chipped in with 12 points.

After leading by as many as 14 points in the fist half, Florida State went into the locker room with a 43-33 lead. A big reason for the 'Noles' early advantage was 50 percent shooting and three double-digit scorers ? Kitchen (13), Douglas (10), and Echefu (10).

"It was big," Kitchen said of the first half start. "We knew we had to come out with intensity because it is a tough place to play and we knew they were going to be ready."

The Hokies made five of their first eight shots of the second half and used a 14-2 run to take their first lead when guard Malcolm Delaney drained a three-pointer with 14:15 left in the game. Despite scoring only four points in the first 11:16 of the second half, Florida State never trailed by more than four points and regained the lead on a pair of Douglas free throws with just over five minutes remaining.

Delaney made a trio of free throws with 3:39 remaining to give the Hokies the lead once again. With 3:14 remaining, a pair of free throws from Echefu gave the Seminoles the lead back again at 63-62. Virginia Tech would tie the score at 65 on a Jeff Allen layup with 37 seconds remaining. The final basket of the game was Douglas' running jumper, which came following a Florida State timeout.

"It was one of those things where we just had to grind it out," Hamilton said. "A lot of guys stepped up and gave us some big plays. Derwin Kitchen came alive. Toney hit a big shot. We had some big rebounds. This was an outstanding game for us to win and it put us in a pretty good position."

"It was a dog fight," Hamilton added. "Fortunately for us, we got the stops when it really counted."

The Hokies (16-10, 6-6 ACC) got 25 points from Delaney and 15 from Vassallo.

With the win Florida State (21-6, 8-4 ACC) is now in sole possession of second place in the league standings and will travel to Boston College to face the Eagles on Tuesday evening at 9 p.m. While the 'Noles are in prime position to end their decade long tournament drought, the coaches and players insist they aren't looking ahead.

"Boston College, that is it," Kitchen said when asked about the tournament. "We will talk about the tournament if and when it comes, we are just worried about Boston College right now."