Dec. 11, 1999
By TOM SALADINO
AP Sports Writer
ATLANTA (AP) - Unbeaten No. 3 Stanford hadn't played in two weeks, and itshowed.
The Cardinal shot only 31 percent (20-of-65) from the field but managed tohold off Georgia Tech when Mike McDonald hit a pair of free throws with 32seconds left Saturday in overtime to give Stanford a 64-61 victory.
"We obviously looked a little bit like we've been in the library for acouple of weeks, which we have (due to final exams)," said Stanford coach MikeMontgomery.
"The game will help us in the long run," he said. "It's not as good as wecan play. It's not as good as we need to play."
Tech's Tony Akins, who hit a 3-point basket with one second remaining inregulation to send the game into overtime, had a chance to tie the game withsix seconds left in OT, but his driving layup rimmed out.
Jason Collier, who led the Yellow Jackets (3-4) with 17 points, grabbed therebound, but his follow spun out with two seconds left. Jarron Collins ofStanford (6-0) got the rebound and was fouled with .03 seconds left.
Collins made one of two free throws to send Tech to its fourth straightloss.
"It was like they say - close, but so far," said Yellow Jackets coachBobby Cremins. "I thought that before the game that we had a chance to win.This was a great opportunity for us. If we could have held on and won here, itwould have turned us around, given us the confidence we need."
Stanford's David Moseley had given the Yellow Jackets a life in regulation,making only 1-of-2 free throws for a 57-54 lead with 7 seconds left, beforeAkins canned his 3-pointer to tie it.
Moseley, who had 13 points, made up for that miss in OT, hitting a basketand both free throws with 1:29 left to give Stanford a 61-59 lead. Tech tied iton a free throw by Alvin Jones with 1:20 left and another by Jon Babul with35.8 seconds left.
McDonald scored only six points in the game.
Casey Jacobsen came off the bench to lead Stanford with 15 points. JarronCollins added 11, 10 in the second half, and twin brother Jason Collins had 10.
Akins added 16 points for Tech, Jason Floyd had 11 and Alvin Jones 10.
Because of final exams, Stanford hadn't played in two weeks, since beatingNo. 8 Auburn 67-58 on Nov. 27.
Tech, which fell behind 10-2 in the opening minutes, led 24-23 at halftimeon a jumper by Akins 11 seconds before intermission.
Collier, held scoreless for nearly 15 minutes, scored seven straight to givethe Yellow Jackets the lead at 18-16 with 4:54 left before halftime.
Jarron Collins, Stanford's leading scorer at 13 points a game, took onlythree first-half shots and scored one point.
Georgia Tech and Stanford had met only once before, a 67-65 Yellow Jacketsvictory on Nov. 28, 1986, which was Montgomery's debut with the Cardinal.
Stanford played without senior forward Mark Madsen, who averaged 13 pointsand 9 rebounds last year, but injured his hamstring in Stanford's opening gamevictory against Duke and hasn't played since.
The game was part of a Delta Air Lines Classic doubleheader at PhilipsArena. No. 18 Wake Forest met Georgia in the other contest.