Men’s Hoops Comeback Falls Short

Feb. 18, 1998

CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) – No. 2 Duke blew a large lead to Clemson for the secondtime this season before Trajan Langdon’s three-point play lifted the BlueDevils to a 70-66 victory Wednesday night.

A month ago at Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Blue Devils (24-2, 13-1 AtlanticCoast Conference) led the Tigers by 24 points, but watched Clemson miss twogood shots in the final seconds of an 81-80 Duke victory.

This time, Duke blew a 15-point lead down the stretch and trailed 64-63 with1:30 to go. But Langdon, who scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half,converted a free throw after his driving layup with 23 seconds remaining, andChris Carrawell hit his foul shots to keep Duke ahead.

Roshown McLeod scored 15 of his 19 points in the opening period as Duke tooka 40-26 halftime lead.

The Blue Devils made it 45-30 on McLeod’s basket and Steve Wojciechowski’s3-pointer with just over 15 minutes left.

That’s when Clemson (15-11, 5-8) rallied.

Harold Jamison, who led the Tigers with 17 points, had four jams as theTigers grabbed the lead. But it was Langdon again who bailed Duke out.

When Clemson closed to 46-40 with 13 minutes to go, Langdon scored Duke’snext six points.

The Tigers again came back, cutting the lead to 60-57 with 4:12 left asMohamed Woni scored six points and Jamison four in a 17-8 run. But Langdon hithis only 3-pointer on Duke’s next possession.

While Duke’s stars shined, Clemson’s top scorer, Greg Buckner, struggled. Hescored the Tigers’ first three points, then missed the only four shots he tookin the first half.

Buckner finished with 12 points, four below his average.

While Duke has won four of its past five against the Tigers, it was the BlueDevils’ first win at Clemson in four years.

The Tigers were a top five team at season’s start, but have faltered in theACC and likely need to win two of their three remaining games – at Virginia, atNorth Carolina State, home against Georgia Tech – for an NCAA bid.

Since losing its league showdown at North Carolina on Feb. 5, Duke has wonits past three ACC games by an average of 20 points.