AJC > Sports > Tech > Blog > Archives > 2009 > January > 31
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Wake and Tech, 43-41 at the half, 74-76 at the buzzer!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
At the half:
The last ten minutes of the first half between the Jackets and Deacons were a showcase of everything that has been lacking from Tech basketball this season. During that stretch, Tech cut into a double digit deficit and actually tied things up with about a minute left in the period.
How’d they manage to do that?
Its simple…they are playing the tough, physical, intimidating, and infuriating defense that Paul Hewitt teams are normally known for. They are contesting every board and battling hard in the paint. We’ve seen hard fouls go both ways and technical fouls go both ways.
The Jackets are playing the style of defense that got them to San Antonio in 2004. As a result, they are playing Wake toe to toe and the crowd is really into the game. The only real question at this point is whether or not they can keep up the intensity and pace for a second period against a very good Wake team.
This game has been old school Paul Hewitt basketball…the defense and physicality that causes opposing fan bases to hate the Jackets. This is how the Jackets MUST play in order to win big games in the ACC.
The crowd is going to have to be a factor in the second half…it should be fun to watch…
At the end!
The Jackets defense continued to play hard and despite the offense going extremely cold down the stretch, the Jackets had a chance with the game close at the very end.
A key defensive stand resulted in a shot clock violation with under a minute left to play, the Jackets tied the game up at 74, and then the Deacons threw an inbounds pass away with about 7 seconds left to play.
Iman Shumpert calmly brought the ball up the court with the clock ticking, scrambled Wake’s Jeff Teague about three different directions, and drained a short jumper with one second left on the clock.
The Jackets intercepted the Wake inbounds near midcourt, the clock ran out, and the Jackets had notched their first ACC conference win over a Deacons team who had just upset Duke.
What a game…what an effort…this is the Tech team we’ve been hoping to see all season.
Go Jackets!
THWG!
