College basketball

Tigers D does in 'Noles

FSU's seven-game win streak ends as Clemson overcomes poor shooting for a 61-55 win in an ACC opener.

CLEMSON, S.C. - Clemson made 10 of 16 free throws in the final 71/2 minutes and hung on to beat Florida State 61-55 in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both Wednesday night.

Clemson (12-2) snapped a two-game losing streak and ended a seven-game winning streak by the Seminoles (9-2).

The Tigers scored five field goals in the second half, one in the final 13:30, but managed to pull out its fourth victory in its past five games against FSU.

"To shoot just 21 percent in a half is an amazing stat," Clemson coach Oliver Purnell said. "Have I seen that before? I've been at this a long time.

"We're going to have to hang our hat on defense. We're not a high-powered offensive team. We're going to have to get some wins like this."

The Tigers snapped another skid, having lost seven straight ACC openers.

"We got beat by a team that did the things they needed to do to win the game," FSU coach Leonard Hamilton said. "Clemson overcame a challenge. They did the little things. We didn't."

Shawn Robinson led Clemson with 12 points and added five rebounds. Troy Mathis and Vernon Hamilton scored 10 each for the Tigers.

Al Thornton had 12 points and Alexander Johnson 11 for the Seminoles.

The Tigers opened the second half by increasing a six-point lead to 41-30 with 18:45 left. Jerel Allen's bank shot with 12:55 left cut the deficit to 46-42.

The Seminoles got within 47-44 with 9:26 left, but the Tigers scored five straight on two free throws and Cliff Hammonds' 3-pointer for a 52-44 lead with 7:22 left.

Thornton's inside basket got FSU within 53-51 with 2:55 left, but the Seminoles got no closer.

"We stopped the turnovers in the second half and it made it more difficult for them to score," Purnell said. "We've got to cut back on the turnovers. We're changing as we're going along. We're going to struggle some offensively."

FSU, trailing 33-22 with 2:18 left, outscored Clemson 8-3 in the final two minutes to cut the Tigers' halftime lead to 36-30. The Tigers aided the run with three turnovers in their final four possessions. Mathis sank a 3-pointer at the horn.

After a tie at 12 with 10:04 left in the first half, Clemson used a 14-6 run to take a 26-18 lead with 5:04 left.

"They put us on defense in the first half," Hamilton said. "They executed their offense and took us out of our rhythm. We were very impatient. We took a lot of quick shots."

[Last modified January 5, 2006, 01:18:19]