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Douglas Steals One For Seminoles

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By SCOTT CARTER, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 24, 2008

TALLAHASSEE - One of the most dynamic offensive players in the Atlantic Coast Conference dribbled up the court as the clock ticked toward 30 seconds left in the game, and his team trailing by a point. As Virginia's Sean Singletary bounced up the court, the ACC's leading thief hounded him relentlessly.

And then, in a flash, Florida State's Toney Douglas swiped the ball from Singletary right past midcourt, preventing the ACC's third-leading scorer (18.9 points a game) from ever taking a shot at playing hero. That was a role reserved for Douglas on Wednesday in FSU's 69-67 come-from-behind win against the Cavaliers.

Douglas prepared for it all week.

"I watch a lot of film," Douglas said. "I had to watch film before I played him. I knew he was going to take over the game. He loves going left-to-right crossover. He couldn't really put the ball in his left hand, so I tried to make him go right. I went over a little too far, and I knew he was going to cross-over. I ended up getting the steal."

Douglas converted a pair of free throws on the play after Virginia's Jerome Meyinsse was called for an intentional foul, preventing Douglas from a breakaway layup. At the time of Douglas' steal, FSU led 63-62 on a Douglas free throw with 47 seconds left. By the end of the sequence - FSU also got the ball after Meyinsse's intentional foul - the Noles led 66-62 thanks to Isaiah Swann adding a free throw.

In a game they desperately needed to win, the Noles came to life after falling behind 56-46 on Singletary's basket with 8:58 left. From there, the Noles outscored Virginia 23-11 to snap a three-game losing streak and avoid falling into the ACC basement. They did it mostly with defense, an effort that was helped by Coach Leonard Hamilton using 10 different players.

"This was a game of runs," said Hamilton, who earned his 300th career win on his fourth try. "We didn't have those periods where we just couldn't fight back because of playing guys too many minutes. I didn't see any lack of determination. We executed our best down the stretch."

Douglas finished with a team-high 19 points - he also added a game-high six steals, padding his lead as the ACC's leading steals leader - while Jason Rich added 17 and Swann 16. Sophomore forward Ryan Reid also played a key role down the stretch, hitting a pair of free throws and blocking a shot by Singletary that gave FSU possession and eventually led to Douglas' go-ahead free throw.

"They did a good job of turning up the energy," Virginia coach Dave Leitao said. "As they got points, I thought their defense got energized."

A key to FSU's victory was limiting Singletary to only 11 points on 4-for-11 shooting. Singletary's 3-pointer at the buzzer was all that kept his ACC-leading 39-game streak of scoring in double figures alive.

The play Douglas made on Singletary was the one the Noles will remember the most, especially considering they were on the verge of losing.

"We were facing adversity; we lost three in a row," Douglas said. "We didn't give up. We could have easily folded and given up, but we didn't. Everybody, deep down inside, knew that we couldn't give up and lose this game. That was a big win."

INSIDE THE GAME

PLAYER OF THE GAME: FSU G Toney Douglas finished with a team-high 19 points and made a key steal with the game on the line.

TURNING POINT: Trailing 58-49 late in the second half, FSU closed on a 20-9 run to avoid a fourth straight loss.

KEY STAT: The Noles got 20 points off the bench, led by G Isaiah Swann's 16.

UP NEXT: FSU hosts N.C. State on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.

Reporter Scott Carter can be reached at (850) 294-3088 or scarter@tampatrib.com.

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