THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, March 11, 1996 TAG: 9603110137
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: GREENSBORO LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
Tim Duncan gave one of the greatest performances in ACC tournament history Sunday, and Wake Forest needed every bit of it for a 75-74 victory over Georgia Tech that gave the Demon Deacons their second consecutive league title.
The win earned Wake Forest a No. 2 seeding in the NCAA tournament's Midwest Region. The Deacons will play 15th-seeded Northeast Louisiana at Milwaukee on Friday.
Georgia Tech, the No. 3 seed in the Southeast Regional, will face No. 14 Austin Peay at Orlando, Fla., on Friday.
Duncan, a 6-foot-10 junior from St. Croix, had 27 points and also grabbed 22 rebounds, only three less than the entire Tech team. In the process, however, it became clear that Wake Forest is not a one-man team.
The Deacons had an 18-point lead with 14 minutes left when sophomore guard Tony Rutland went down with a knee injury. With Rutland on the bench, Tech came all the way back, and had two shots in the final three seconds to win the game.
Duncan's performance was enough to convince Tech coach Bobby Cremins his team had been manhandled by ``the best big man'' ever to play in the ACC. But while Duncan was the unanimous choice as the tournament's most valuable player, Rutland's absence almost cost the 12th-ranked Deacons the game.
Rutland, from Hampton's Bethel High, watched from the bench with an ice bag wrapped around his aching knee while Drew Barry's last-second shot from midcourt slammed harmlessly off the backglass to seal the victory.
A team official said Rutland, who was named to the all-tournament team, is expected to play when the Deacs begin NCAA play.
``Tony's injury was unfortunate and we tried to handle the situation as best we could,'' Deacons coach Dave Odom said. ``But we were a little shaky with our ball-handling.''
So shaky that No. 18 Tech, the ACC regular-season champion, was right there at the end. With three seconds left, splendid freshman Stephon Marbury's shot from the right side of the goal hit the side of the backboard and flew out of bounds.
Marbury said his view of the goal was blocked by Wake's Jerry Braswell and Duncan, who jumped in his face.
``I couldn't see the rim when I shot,'' Marbury said softly.
Tech fouled immediately and Wake Forest's Steven Goolsby missed two free throws with 2.3 left to give the Jackets a final opportunity.
``I really thought Barry's shot was going to go in,'' Tech coach Bobby Cremins said. ``It was a good shot.''
Cremins didn't shed a tear when he saw it hit the glass about a foot above the rim, though.
He was just happy his team had avoided a rout in the title game.
``I did not want to see this team embarrassed,'' Cremins said. ``This is a special team, one that got Georgia Tech back in the Top 20 after two very frustrating years.''
Odom was so delighted with the Deacons becoming the first ACC to win back-to-back titles since North Carolina in 1981-82 that he didn't complain about their near-fatal collapse, either.
``I am not sure this game would have ended any other way than by one point,'' Odom said graciously. ``It's the way ACC tournament games should be played.''
Still, if either shot by Barry or Marbury had hit its mark, Duncan's performance would have been wasted.
He finished the tournament with a record 68 points and 56 rebounds in victories over Virginia, Clemson, and Tech. By halftime Sunday, he already had 13 points and 15 rebounds as the Deacons held a 39-24 lead.
Rutland played a key role, too, hitting four of five 3-point attempts to prevent Tech from collapsing its defense on Duncan. He and Duncan were joined on the all-tournament team by Marbury and Matt Harpring of Tech and Greg Buckner of Clemson.
Cremins claimed he did not know Rutland left the game early in the second half, but he compared Rutland to Randolph Childress, who was the Deacons' MVP in last year's tournament win and a NBA first-round draft choice.
``I thought when Childress left that it would really hurt Wake Forest this season,'' Cremins said.
``But watching Rutland, he's just like Childress and only a sophomore. It blows my mind.''
Most of Cremins' compliments, though, went to Duncan.
``He is a real winner,'' Cremins said.
Duncan would not say if he had played in his last ACC tournament. He could be the No. 1 draft choice if he elects to skip his senior season.
After looking at Odom and asking, ``Should we tell them now?'' Duncan smiled and said he had not made a decision.
Later in the locker room, he indicated his side remark to Odom had been a joke and he really has not decided on his future. ILLUSTRATION: HUY NGUYEN\The Virginian-Pilot
ACC tournament MVP Tim Duncan helps cut down the nets after
accounting for 27 points and 21 rebounds in Sunday's final.
by CNB