Clemson wins classic over Wake Forest

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Posted 7:07AM on Thursday, February 14, 2002

CLEMSON, S.C. - Clemson's Chris Hobbs couldn't keep up with how many times he went from goat to hero. Hobbs would end up hitting the free throws that sealed the Tigers' 118-115 double-overtime win over No. 19 Wake Forest. But that was after he called a time-out Clemson didn't have a second before, allowing the Demon Deacons to cut their deficit to one. He hit the shot that tied the game at 101 in the first overtime, but missed the foul shot that could have given the Tigers the win. ``Things swung around so quickly. I thought we had it won in regulation,'' said Hobbs, who finished with 24 points and 17 rebounds. ``I guess people got their money's worth.'' Clemson (12-13, 3-9 Atlantic Coast Conference) looked to have the game wrapped up in regulation, leading by 11 points with 1:03 left. But Wake Forest (17-8, 7-4) hit five 3-pointers down the stretch and Taron Downey's runner with 0.6 seconds left capped the run and tied the game at 94. Players on both teams shattered personal bests. Clemson's Edward Scott had career-highs of 30 points and 16 assists and Tony Stockman also scored 30, a career-high, and tied his personal best with six assists. Wake Forest's Craig Dawson, who hit three of his school-record 11 3-pointers in the run to close regulation, finished with a career-high 38 points. The win broke an eight-game losing skid for the Tigers that began when they lost by 41 to the Demon Deacons on Jan. 12. ``Since this streak started when we lost to them, we wanted to get back on the winning track,'' Scott said. ``Plus, they're the only team to really blow us out this year.'' The turning point for the Tigers came with 1:20 left in the first overtime when Wake Forest's Darius Songaila, who scored 24 points, fouled out with the Demon Deacons leading 101-98. With Songaila gone and Scott nursing a floor burn on his left hand, the Tigers started pounding the ball inside. Hobbs and frontcourt mate Ray Henderson took advantage of Songaila's absence to score 13 of the Tigers' 17 points in the second overtime. They also dominated the boards in the second extra period. ``The most disconcerting thing was in the second overtime they would miss their free throws and then come up with the offensive rebounds,'' Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser said. The 233 points were one off the record for an ACC game set Dec. 20, 1978, when Maryland beat North Carolina State 124-110. In the earlier loss to Wake Forest, Stockman and Scott were a combined 2-of-17. On Wednesday night, they were 19-of-34. ``Their perimeter guys played really well. But that's twice in the last two games I've said that,'' said Prosser, whose team lost to No. 6 Cincinnati 103-94 on Saturday. Wake Forest finished 19-of-42 (45.2 percent) from behind the arc. Clemson shot 23-of-45 from the foul line, but missed four of eight foul shots in the final 41 seconds of regulation. ``We made it tough on ourselves by missing so many free throws,'' Tigers coach Larry Shyatt said. ``If there ever was a time for a group of young people to give in, this was it. But they did not.'' It was Shyatt's first win over Wake Forest in eight games as Clemson's coach.