James Dews' game-winning shot at the final buzzer went swish. His
celebratory leap into a throng of jubilant teammates was dead
center, too.
After misfiring most of the night, including on an important
free throw in the final minute, Dews made a 15-footer Wednesday to
give Miami a 64-62 victory over No. 20 Georgia Tech.
Dews finished only 3 for 11, and he missed the front end of a
one-and-one with 19 seconds to go. But when coach Frank Haith
called timeout with the score tied and 10 seconds left, he chose
Dews to take the final shot.
"James is a senior. I felt he'd have poise and make the
shot," Haith said. "You look at his numbers and he wasn't having a
great night. But we told him at the timeout, `Hey, you're going to
win the game for us."
The Hurricanes (17-7, 3-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) won for
only the second time in the past eight games.
"We know what we can do and what we're capable of," Dews
said. "Now we've just got to build on this."
Georgia Tech (17-7, 5-5) dropped to 1-4 on the road in the
conference.
"To me this is the toughest league to win road games," coach
Paul Hewitt said. "But these are young kids. I'm sure they'll shake
it off."
Miami led by 14 points at halftime and stayed ahead for the
first 19:50 of the second half. But Iman Shumpert sank a layup for
Tech to tie it with 10 seconds to go.
Following Haith's timeout, the Hurricanes moved the length of
the court and Durand Scott fed Dews, who came off a double screen
to take the pass. He faked out a defender before sinking his shot.
Then came the celebration in front of the Hurricanes' bench.
"It's a great feeling, seeing the excitement in my
teammates," Dews said. "I wanted to do this for them."
Dews ranked the basket as the biggest of his college career.
It was his first game-winner since high school.
Dwayne Collins had 13 points and 11 rebounds for the
Hurricanes. Adrian Thomas scored 12 points, all on 3-pointers, and
Malcolm Grant had 11, all in the first half. Reserve Reggie Johnson
added 10 points and seven rebounds in 16 minutes.
Miami held Georgia Tech to 39 percent shooting.
"We put the game on our defense," Haith said. "We did a great
job trying to control the paint."
Announced attendance was 4,319, but the crowd numbered less
than 500, pep band included, when the Hurricanes took the court a
few minutes before tip-off. Despite the empty seats, the Hurricanes
play their best at home, where they're 11-1.
Brian Oliver scored 19 points off the bench for Tech, and
junior Gani Lawal had 17 points and a career-high 18 rebounds.
Teammate Zachery Peacock, a Miami native, shot 2 for 9 and totaled
only four points.
Free throws have been a problem all season for the Yellow
Jackets, and they made only eight of 16. They also shot 6 for 17
from 3-point range.
Miami fell behind 8-0, then outscored Tech 41-19 the
remainder of the first half.
"We lost our way for a little while," Hewitt said. "And Miami
shot the ball very, very well."
A pair of 3-pointers by Grant put the Hurricanes ahead, and
with a 14-3 run they increased the lead to 29-18. Miami shot 7 for
15 from 3-point range in the opening half but only 1 for 9 the rest
of the way. Tech went to a press in the second half, and that threw
the Hurricanes out of their offensive rhythm.
Oliver sank a pair of 3-pointers during a 13-2 run by the
Yellow Jackets that cut the deficit to 52-50. But Haith managed to
settle his Hurricanes.
"I told them we were going to win the game," he said. "We
just needed to stay together."
Miami rebuilt the lead to 60-52, and Collins' dunk made it
62-58. But Shumpert sank two free throws with 20 seconds left for
Tech, then hit the layup to tie it.
