The men's basketball barely beats the State Florida – The Cavalier Daily in the last home game

The game was bound with two minutes on the clock with 55-55.

Florida State missed his first opportunity, and Virginia reacted with a three pointer from Summer, who faded from Junior Guard Andrew Rohde, who only had a minute.

This shot demonstrated the difference maker. The Sophomore Guard Dai Dai AMES struck a few free throws a minute later, and an inbound ended with an sprint-Rohde and the Cavaliers (15-15, 8-11 ACC), which to take the remaining seconds for a 60-57 victory against the Seminols (16-14, 7-12 ACC) in their last home games.

After the game, Interims coach Ron Sanchez, who has criticized the efforts of his team in the color in the past few weeks, only had praise. At the beginning of the conference game, he pointed to the unfortunate road trip in California as proof of how much this team has grown.

“The group showed Grit – they didn't break down the route,” said Sanchez. “This is what growth looks like. This is how trust looks. This is what learning looks like from her previous experiences. “

Florida State and Virginia have built up a little rivalry over the years – almost every year when two legendary trainers were together with contradictory styles.

This era ends – Tony Bennett retired before the season, and the Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton will do the same after Florida State played his last game. In a homage to this story, however, this game was defined by strong defense, granular criminal offense and a one-people's profit of the victory.

After the game, Hamilton was unable to restore his time in Charlottesville to a best memory-old game winner, a big basketball and an always entertaining rivalry with Bennett, with which he said he spoke before the game.

“When you get older, if you sit near lemonade, there were some games that you might want to see,” said Hamilton. “Because they were games that I thought that both teams were really to be won.”

Under the direction of Watkins '18 points and some excellent depths, the seminols played from the start to the end of physical basketball, which exceeded the Cavaliers 37-33 and forced 14 sales. Virginia in turn had an excellent game from beyond the Bogens-11-24 from the distance from the distance, apart from a handful of errors.

The first half ended with the Seminols 28-27. A back and forth matter from tip, not a team that was listed with more than five points, with six points being achieved in the last five minutes. The Cavaliers held their opponents from beyond the arch to 22 percent and forced six sales, while they limited the State of Florida to just 12 points.

The leadership of Virginia and the game at half -time was Rohde. He scored the last 11 points of the Cavaliers halfway and was half the team's only scorer in the team in the last eight minutes. Supplemented by Ames nine points, the two shot a combined 5-12 from the field and 4-6 from Deep.

“We trust [Rohde]Because he has experience, ”said Sanchez. “He can handle this moment. He can make a mistake and still come back and put down a shot. “

As in many youngest games, Virginia was overwhelmed inside in the first half – Florida State has registered 20 boards in the 13 Cavaliers 13 and scored 20 points in color. The loss of 50-50 balls and the abandoning of punches of points in the interior is for Sanchez 'team, which has a young front square that is bullied consistently by larger, physical teams.

Virginia had a strong start in the second half and made an 11: 3 run through the first four and a half minutes. Some strong efforts by Ames, Saunders and the second striker Blake Buchanan led to 11 points of the second chance in the first eight minutes and nine rebound for the three of the opponent.

However, the state of Florida quickly started to warm up and prevent the cavaliers from ever building a two -digit lead. Almost the rest of the way remained a one-lashing game. The seminols forced sales after sales and stopped their strong back rash, while Virginia kept the game.

The senior striker Jamir Watkins alive – 14 points in the second half – certainly dissolved a new dimension for the State Florida. Rohde felt pretty uncomfortable in the first half, but the leading scorer of the Seminols used his NBA-capable sportiness and his strong grip to enable his teammates and plunge the boards.

What the cavaliers kept in the game was an almost perfect second half of Saunders. With a cutting chin, he made three shots all out of the distance and made them all. Strong rebound and flawless basketball for the San Diego State Transfer, paired with excellent defense, was supplemented by seven rebounds in half and a large binding from Buchanan and continued to achieve the production of Rohde and Ames.

In addition to 13 of his teammates, Buchan's rebound was a necessary development. The Junior Guard Isaac McKney shot 3-11 from the field, and the team had no banking points, so that an effective second half on the boards Saunders, Ames and Rohde put points on the board on the way to the close victory.

“The news at halftime was easy,” said Sanchez. “It was: 'Let's return to the transition and better pick us up. Let us give you nothing in the transition and we try not to give you any points for the second chance. “”

His team did exactly that – this Seminoles team is not easy with athletes and playmakers from the top of their squad down to the bottom. A great effort on the glass and a strong defense in the transition made the difference in such a close game.

With a regular game of the season – an away game on Saturday against Syracuse – the victory against Florida State May for Virginia in the conference tournament is a good sign of Virginia next week. The Cavaliers are now in ninth place in the conference and were connected to Virginia Tech, with which they shared the head-to-head of the season.