TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) - Virginia coach Pete Gillen is getting
used to these last-second game-winning shots.
"I've had more buzzer shots than Davy Crockett at the Alamo,"
Gillen said Saturday after watching sophomore Roger Mason's
last-second 3-point shot lift the 12th-ranked Cavaliers to a 69-66
victory at Florida State.
"Roger was relaxed, too," Gillen said. "He's a big-time
player and made a big-time shot."
The Cavaliers (18-6, 7-6 Atlantic Coast Conference), scored 10
of the final 12 points, tying it 66-66 with 25 seconds left on two
free throws by Adam Hall.
Florida State (7-18, 2-10) had a chance to put it away in the
final 30 seconds, but Delvon Arrington got trapped under the
basket, forced a bad shot and then fouled Hall.
The Seminoles had another chance with what could have been the
game's final possession, but Monte Cummings took another difficult
shot with 10 seconds left.
Mason was a good 4 or 5 feet and wide open behind the 3-point
arc when he sank the game-winner after getting a pass from Donald
Hand, who had drawn the defensive coverage with a drive toward the
basket.
"I just wanted to get a shot up," said Mason, a sophomore who
said it was his first game-winning basket since high school. "I
like to get the ball in my hands with the game on the line."
And Virginia made sure Mason, who finished with a game-high 19
points, had it for most of the final three minutes.
He hit a 3-point basket with 2:54 left to pull the Cavaliers
within 64-62 and tied it at 64-64 on two free throws with 1:49
left. Mason was perfect on four tries from long range and didn't
miss in five free-throw attempts.
Chris Williams added 15 points, Travis Watson 14 and Hall 10 for
the Cavaliers, who were coming off a two-point victory over No. 3
Duke on Wednesday.
Florida State, which upset Maryland on that same night,
was trying to win its second straight game over a Top 20 team for
the first time since 1993.
"This one was tough," Florida State coach Steve Robinson said.
"So close to having good things happen. There are no magic words
to ease the pain."
The Seminoles led 34-29 at half and were up again by five,
64-59, on Cummings' dunk off Arrington's steal with 3:14 left, but
managed only a pair of free throws the rest of the way.
"Our defense won the game," Gillen said. "Florida State
outplayed us a great majority of the game. We were very
fortunate."
Arrington finished with 20 points and a game-high seven assists,
but committed five turnovers in addition to the critical foul
leading to Hall's free throws in the final seconds.
Cummings and Michael Joiner were also in double figures, with 12
and 11 points respectively for Florida State.
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