Clemson Falls to FSU in Overtime Thriller

March 4, 1999

By DAVID DROSCHAK AP Sports Writer

Box Score

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Adrian Crawford scored nine of his 20 points in overtime as Florida State rallied after blowing a 16-point second-half lead to beat Clemson 87-85 in the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament Thursday night.

The No. 8 seeded Seminoles (13-16) snapped a seven-game losing streak with the win and will now face second-seeded and No. 5 Maryland on Friday.

Florida State was up 67-51 with 7:10 left behind Terrell Baker’s 28 points and seemingly in control of the game, but the Tigers (16-14) closed with a 20-4 run to send it into an extra five-minute period.

The Seminoles started the overtime with a dunk by Damous Anderson and a 3-pointer by Crawford to take a 76-71 lead, but had to hang on at the end despite leading by eight with 54.9 seconds left.

Terrell McIntyre, who finished with 28 points and 10 assists for Clemson, missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have given the Tigers the win.

Harold Jamison added 16 points and 20 rebounds for the Tigers. Jamison’s rebound total was an ACC tourney record for a Clemson player and was three off the all-time tourney record of 23.

Early on, seventh-seeded Clemson couldn’t stop Baker, who was 1-for-9 from the field for two points in Florida State’s humiliating 33-point loss to the Tigers on Feb. 14.

But he fouled out after going 10 for 16 from the field, along with four other Seminoles – who played the final 3:18 of overtime without their three top scorers.

The Seminoles, who started 5-2 in the ACC but had lost nine straight league games coming in, snapped a seven-game ACC tourney losing streak with the win.

Baker’s 28 points broke the single-game ACC tourney scoring mark for a Florida State player. That was previously held by Bob Sura, who had 24 points in a quarterfinal loss to North Carolina in 1994.

Florida State led 43-41 with 15:10 left before going on a 12-1 run. The 6-foot-5 Baker started the spurt with a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws, while Ron Hale added a 3-pointer and two free throws.

The lead grew to as many as 16 before the Tigers mounted their comeback.

Neither team led by more than five points in a first half filled with 21 combined turnovers – 13 by the Tigers.

Baker missed his first 3-point attempt of the game, but scored his team’s first 11 points and finished with 19 in the first 20 minutes. His 18-foot baseline jumper 3.6 seconds before intermission gave the Seminoles a 32-31 lead.