Singleton, Alabi boost Florida State to 68-66 win over No. 19 Georgia Tech

Florida State beats No. 19 Ga Tech 68-66

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Chris Singleton scored a career-high 23 points and Solomon Alabi made two go-ahead free throws with 22.8 seconds left, giving Florida State a 68-66 victory over No. 19 Georgia Tech on Sunday.

Alabi finished with 14 points and was perfect in six trips to the foul line for Florida State, (15-4, 3-2 ACC), which has won its last five against Georgia Tech. Deividas Dulky added 11 points for the Seminoles.

Alabi’s free throws made it 67-66, and Brian Oliver missed a 3-point try and Gani Lawal and Iman Shumpert both missed opportunities to tie the game for Georgia Tech. Jordan DeMercy added a free throw in the closing seconds for the final margin.

Freshman Brian Oliver hit six 3-pointers and scored a career-best 20 points for the Yellow Jackets (14-5, 3-3 ACC), while Derrick Favors added 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Aside from Alabi, both teams shot poorly from the free-throw stripe. Florida State was 16 of 27 and Georgia Tech was 11 of 22.

In addition to 20 lead changes, there were 10 ties in the game, including 34-34 at halftime.

It was a game of runs by both schools in the opening half with the lead changing eight times and the score tied another five occasions.

A trio of 3-point baskets by Oliver in a span of 71 seconds sparked a 14-2 Georgia Tech run, after the Seminoles had opened the game on their own 10-2 spurt.

Georgia Tech’s biggest lead in the first half came at 23-16 on a Shumpert’s layup.

Florida State defeated the Yellow Jackets 66-59 in an overtime thriller Dec. 20 at Atlanta in the ACC opener for both teams.