Clemson rallies twice to beat Seminoles

CLEMSON, S.C. - Freshman Terrence Oglesby hit three of his six 3-pointers in the second overtime as No. 18 Clemson ended a two-game losing streak with a 97-85 victory over Florida State on Saturday night.

Oglesby, who earlier in the game had a four-point play, finally put a away a contest where the Tigers (13-2, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) needed buzzer-beating shots to tie things in regulation and the first extra period.

Trevor Booker's last-ditch shot from behind the arc with time running out tied the game at 67-all. Then with the Seminoles (12-5, 1-1) up 78-76 in the first OT, James Mays followed up K.C. Rivers miss to square things one last time.

Rivers started the barrage with a 3-pointer for an 83-80 lead. Then Oglesby stepped up with two straight long-range shots for a 9-point lead.

After Toney Douglas brought Florida State to 91-85 with his three, Oglesby did it one last time.

Booker had 29 points with three 3-pointers. The sophomore had only made one long-range shot in his career before this.

Florida State was trying for just its second 2-0 ACC start since joining the lead 16 years ago.

Uche Echefu led the Seminoles with a career high 24 points.

Clemson seemed destined to lose its second-straight ACC OT heart-breaker in less than a week. Last Sunday night, it was Wayne Ellington's 3-pointer and the top-ranked Tar Heels who did it in a 90-88 victory.

This time, Douglas made a 3-pointer from nearly the same spot in Littlejohn Coliseum as Ellington's to put Florida State ahead 67-64 with 16.7 seconds to go in regulation.

Then in the first overtime, Echefu made just his seventh 3-pointer of the year from the right corner for a 78-76 lead with 15 seconds left in the first OT.

Oglesby and the Tigers made sure Florida State didn't get a third chance at victory.

Clemson had an opportunity to move in front in the final minute of regulation. But with the shot-clock running down, Cliff Hammonds pushed the ball to Mays, who had trouble grabbing it with his heavily bandaged left hand.

Mays fractured a bone in warmups before Clemson's overtime loss to North Carolina.

Mays blocked Jason Rich's attempt with about 25 seconds left. However, Rich chased it back down for the Seminoles to set up Douglas' three.

Booker found himself with the ball and time winding down. He smoothly threw up the tying shot to buy the Tigers another five minutes.

Oglesby's four-point play helped the Tigers to a 56-45 lead with 9:47 to play. However, Florida State went on a 17-5 run to retake the lead on Isaiah Swann's bucket.

Neither team took more than a 3-point lead until the final overtime period.

The Tigers have won seven straight games over the Seminoles at Littlejohn.

Clemson honored about 60 of their past players at this one. And they could've used some help from those ex-Tigers early on.

The Seminoles made four of their first six shots on the way to an 18-12 lead. Echefu was a big reason why, scoring 10 points in Florida State's quick start.

Clemson didn't help its cause, with four turnovers during the stretch. If not for Booker's seven straight points including his second career 3-pointer the Tigers would've been in a bigger hole than they were.

Suddenly, it was the Tigers who got hot and Florida State which could not find the basket.

The Seminoles went nearly 10 minutes without a basket as Clemson went on a 16-3 run.

Jason Rich finally broke through for Florida State with a basket with 2:37 to go before the half. The bucket seemed to energize Rich's teammates, who held Clemson without a point the rest of the way to trail 28-25 at the break.