Bohannon’s Last Second Shot Lifts Clemson Past Yellow Jackets

Graduate transfer scorers the game-winner with 14 seconds to play

CLEMSON, S.C. — For the first 35 minutes and 32 seconds Wednesday night, Naz Bohannon did not score a single point. That changed.

Clemson’s graduate transfer scored all nine of his points over the final 6:28, including the game winner with 14 seconds to play, lifting the Tigers to a 68-65 victory over Georgia Tech at Littlejohn Coliseum.

"I was just keeping myself ready," Bohannon said after the game. "Coach looked at us on the bench and said, 'Let's go. We are were chipping away, so keep chipping away.'

"I just got in the moment. We started to come back. The crowd got into it. I don't know. I was just playing hard and I felt it."

With the game tied at 65-65, Clemson got the ball on the low block to Bohannon who went up strong for the layup, while also drawing a foul from Tech’s Michael Devoe. Bohannon made the subsequent free throw for the final three-point margin.

"Going into the timeout, we called two plays. One for zone and one for man, both of which Coach had called my number," Bohannon said. "I was ready to step up to the plate and I delivered."

Kyle Sturdivant’s three-pointer with two seconds left was off the mark, as Clemson hung on for its third straight win.

Clemson (15-15, 7-12 ACC) was led by David Collins’ 19 points and seven rebounds. The transfer from South Florida was 8 of 10 from the floor. Bohannon, who transferred to Clemson from Youngstown State, finished the night with nine points and three rebounds.

Devoe led the Yellow Jackets (11-19, 4-15 ACC) with 15 points, while Sturdivant added 12 points.

Georgia Tech led by as much as 13 points in the second half and held an 11-point advantage, 55-44, with 9:35 to play. But a couple of Al-Amir Dawes’ 3-pointers and layups from Ian Schieffelin and Bohannon sparked a 12-0 run.

Dawes’ three from the left wing gave the Tigers their first lead of the second half, 56-55, with 5:12 to go.

"Give our kids a lot of credit, we just kept playing," Clemson head coach Brad Brownell said. "Tech is hard to play against with the way they play with all their zones. We did not make threes tonight very well. But we got the ball in the middle and did some good things in the middle of the zone. It was good.

"Obviously, Naz made some great plays at the end of the game. That was a huge key. I thought David was excellent, especially early. I thought he was giving us a lot of juice. I think, we just kind of kept hanging in there."

The Tigers' odds of winning the ACC Championship currently sit at +10000 according to Fanduel.

Key Play: With the game tied at 65-65, Clemson got the ball on the low block to Bohannon who went up strong for the layup, while also drawing a foul from Tech’s Michael Devoe. Bohannon made the subsequent free throw for the final three-point margin.

"We had a man-play and a zone-play when we came out of the timeout," Brownell said. "It was not really a play. It was just concepts. There were a couple of things we told our guys to look for, one being Naz in the paint. If we could get it to him, we wanted him to make a play. And he made a great play."

Player of the Game: David Collins led the Tigers with 19 points and had seven rebounds. He was 8 of 10 from the field. He also made both of his free throws.

Stat of the game: Clemson made just 6 of 21 three-pointers (29 percent), but still made 53 percent of its shots overall. The Tigers made 28 of 53 shots from the field.

Injuries: P.J. Hall (foot) missed his third straight game. Hunter Tyson returned from a broken clavicle and saw his first action in nine games. He came in midway through the first half and played 18 minutes overall. He scored eight points and tallied two rebounds. He was 4 of 6 from the field.

Up Next: Clemson will host Virginia Tech Saturday at 2 p.m. to conclude the regular season.