Cavaliers Edge Seminoles In Final Seconds, 56-55

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Feb. 9, 2005

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By HANK KURZ Jr.
AP Sports Writer

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Devin Smith hit a 3-pointer with 5.2 secondsleft to give Virginia its only lead Wednesday night and the Cavaliers beatFlorida State 56-55.

Virginia (12-9, 3-7 Atlantic Coast Conference), coming off a 64-62 victoryat North Carolina State that was just their 11th in 53 ACC road games underPete Gillen, badly needed the victory. The Cavaliers got it because Smith hithis last two shots, both 3-pointers, in the final 4{ minutes.

The Seminoles (11-12, 3-7) led throughout after scoring the first ninepoints. They built their advantage as high as 14 early in the second half, thendidn’t make a field goal in the final 8:08 of play and didn’t score after VonWafer hit a pair of free throws with 3:54 to go.

An acrobatic layup by J.R. Reynolds got Virginia within 55-52 with 3:04left, and Smith hit 1 of 2 free throws with 2:13 to play to make it 55-53.Several scoreless possessions later, after Wafer was called for a charge with31.3 seconds left, the Cavaliers rebounded their own miss, found Smith on theright wing and his high-arcing swish won it.

Elton Brown led Virginia with 13 points despite not starting for the secondstraight game. Reynolds added 12 and Smith had 11 and, in the first half,became the 39th Virginia player to reach 1,000 points.

Wafer led the Seminoles with 16 points.

Trailing 41-27 after Florida State started the second half on a 10-4 run,the Cavaliers used an immediate 9-2 run to close within seven, cut it to fiveat 46-41 on Sean Singletary’s 3-pointer with 9:26 left and to within 53-50 with4:23 to play on Smith’s first 3-pointer in six tries.

The Seminoles led throughout the first half after opening the game on a 9-0run. Smith’s layup 21 seconds before halftime made it 31-23 and drew cheersbecause it put him over the 1,000-point career mark.