Florida State let a 9-point halftime lead slip away in Atlanta on Saturday, but the Seminoles finished strong, scoring the game’s final nine points in a 57-53 victory over Georgia Tech.
FSU leading scorer Xavier Rathan-Mayes bounced back from a 5-point effort against Duke to lead Florida State (14-12, 6-7 ACC) with a game-high 20 points including 15 in the first half to propel the Seminoles to a 32-23 halftime lead.
Marcus Georges-Hunt, who led the Yellow Jackets with 17 points and 9 rebounds, and Charles Mitchell spearheaded a 15-2 run to open the second half and give the Yellow Jackets a 38-34 lead. Neither team led by more than five points the rest of the way.
Boris Bojanovsky hit four straight free throws to cut what was a 53-48 Georgia Tech (11-14, 2-11 ACC) lead down to one before a Rathan-Mayes jumper with a minute to play put the Seminoles ahead for good.
With FSU clinging to a 55-53 lead and eight seconds remaining, Georges-Hunt went to the foul line with a chance to tie the game. Georges-Hunt, who came in shooting over 78 percent from the charity stripe, missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and Devon Bookert put the game away with a pair of makes on the other end.
Florida State was more efficient than the Yellow Jackets from the field, free throw line and from deep. The Seminoles even held a slight rebounding advantage, but 18 FSU turnovers allowed the Yellow Jackets to stay in the game.
Aside from Rathan-Mayes, sophomore Jarquez Smith was the only Seminole in double-figures with 15 points and a game-high tying 3 blocks. Bookert added 7 points after a career-high 23 against Duke and a game-high 6 assists.
Demarco Cox was the only other Yellow Jacket in double-figures, finishing with 12 points.
Florida State has now won three of its last four games on the road and 10 straight overall against Georgia Tech, but will look to halt a 2-game home losing streak when it hosts Boston College on Wednesday. Georgia Tech will remain home to face Clemson on Monday.
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