CHARLOTTE — It sat there, so tantalizingly close.
Georgia Tech stormed into the ACC Tournament quarterfinals with all kinds of emotion and momentum. After falling behind by as many as 19 points to Wake Forest in Friday night’s quarterfinal game, the Jackets used up every last ounce of those reserves in a furious comeback.
Eight times, Georgia Tech found itself trailing by five points or fewer.
Eight times, the Demon Deacons responded, finally pulling out a 92-83 victory.
“We’ve had a lot of games like this, but I think more often than not we’ve had the wherewithal to pull it out,” Wake head coach Skip Prosser said.
“That’s a real credit to our players.”
The win, sparked by 23 points and 12 rebounds from Josh Howard and 22 points from Darius Songaila, sent Wake into today’s 4 p.m. semifinal matchup against Duke. The victory by the fourth seed also marked the first time since 1995 the top seeds all survived the first day.
For Tech, the loss was just its third in the last 11 games. After opening the ACC season 0-7, the Jackets finished 7-9 and needed one more win to top the .500 mark — and perhaps extend its season for senior Tony Akins with an NIT bid.
“I’m sad we didn’t win this game, primarily for Tony,” Tech head coach Paul Hewitt said of Akins, who led his team with 22 points. “Tonight he stepped up. It’s difficult for me to see this thing end.”
Wake survived to play another day despite committing eight turnovers in the second half and cooling considerably from the field. The Deacs couldn’t have played much better in the first half, turning the ball over just three times, holding the Jackets to 39-percent shooting and firing away at a near-record pace.
Wake used a 20-4 run midway through the opening period to build a 52-35 halftime lead. The Deacs got 3-pointers from five different players and made eight of nine attempts in that stretch. Overall, Wake ended the half shooting 64 percent.
The tides changed, however, and quickly. Antwan Scott opened the second half on a foreboding note for Wake: His offensive foul got Tech started on its way to an abundance of free-throw attempts and was the first of a slippery slope of Deacon turnovers.
The foul also was Scott’s fourth. In short order, Vytas Danelius, Broderick Hicks and Songaila joined him on the bench in serious foul trouble.
The Jackets feasted. B.J. Elder’s 3-pointer narrowed the gap to 64-54 with 16:31 remaining. His next 3 cut the lead to 56-48, and an Akins three-point play made it 58-54.
“When you’re down like they are, you play with a tremendous sense of urgency and desperation,” Prosser said. “We were much less efficient offensively.
“We’re not going to shoot the ball 64 percent most halves, but we turned the basketball over, had poor possessions. That allowed them to get some easy baskets.”
Every time Tech threatened to take the lead, though, Wake responded. Hicks nailed a huge 3 with 7:53 to play that stretched it to 72-65. Wake got hot again and ran off to an 81-71 margin, but seven straight Tech points, capped by Clarence Moore’s 3-pointer, pulled the Jackets within three with 1:50 to play.
It was time for someone else to step up. This time, Songaila answered with a power move in the post. Craig Dawson added a fastbreak layup and finally, Wake had the win.
“They kept coming. We had to eventually step up and stop them,” Howard said. “Offensively we continued to execute until we got the open shot and knocked it down.”
“We were able to get out on the break and get some easy baskets,” confirmed Dawson, who added 14 points as one of five Deacs in double figures. “When we play good defense, good things happen for us.”
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Contact Steve Hanf at 704-797-4256 or shanf@salisburypost.com
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