Staff photo by Ethan Hyman
• Photo gallery: Duke 79, Florida State 69
• First Look: See 234 unedited images from the game
ATLANTA — After advancing to its first-ever ACC championship game on Saturday, Florida State point guard Toney Douglas said his team was hungry to win its first league title.
Instead, Duke used a barrage of 3-pointers, plus 27 points from Gerald Henderson and 29 from Jon Scheyer, to win its eighth in the last 11 years, beating the Seminoles 79-69 at the Georgia Dome.
FSU was leading 11-9 with about 13:30 remaining in the first half on a Douglas 3-pointer when Duke pulled away with a series of shots from behind the arc. First, Henderson hit a 3-pointer and a jumper, then the Blue Devils buried five 3s in a row -- including three straight from Kyle Singler -- to take a 29-14 lead. The only Seminoles field goal during the 19-3 run came on a 3-pointer from Chris Singleton.
Duke guard Nolan Smith, who missed the final three games of the regular season with a concussion, showed he's feeling better, too, when he followed a driving field goal with a driving dunk to extend Duke's lead to 33-16 with 3:21 left. He went to the bench after committing his third foul shortly after that, bringing seldom-used-lately senior Greg Paulus into the game for a half-ending.
Douglas, whose team had never played two straight games in the ACC tourney, much less three, looked tired early. After scoring seven points in the first seven minutes, he had only nine at halftime. But early in the second half, he showed renewed energy, scoring seven in a row before teammate Deividas Dulkys and Chris Singleton scored 3-pointers, and Ryan Reid scored on a layup. In all, it marked a 14-3 FSU run, and cut the Blue Devils' lead to 42-36.
But Duke's Scheyer ended it with another 3-pointer, and by the 7-minute mark, another 3-pointer from Singler had given the Devils a 62-43 cushion, again.
Douglas finished with 25 points for FSU, which now must turn its hunger toward the NCAA tournament.
Robbi Pickeral has covered ACC sports for The News & Observer since 2003. She can be reached at 
Comments
Congrats
Sun, 03/15/2009 - 20:06 — the_wb91Congrats to Duke on the ACC tourney... Lets get it on in the NCAA... all the ACC schools in lets put our track shoes on.
The Foulest Team Won
Sun, 03/15/2009 - 19:08 — jeromfitzyes Duke foul their way to another ACC Title and victory as usual. the whole tournament full of pre-fabricators pro-duke project management scheme. Refs even bought out. Refs blew the whistle correctly in the last seven minutes of the game but before that it was not fair. Duke did cash it in at the nets but the between game they play is not amusing. Chunk you around as you make a move to the basket or in the air..
Um...
Mon, 03/16/2009 - 01:05 — richardfocI think your post is derogatory towards Duke but I'm not sure since it is such a nonsensical mish-mash. It's like you just took a bunch of words, threw them up in the air and then typed them out in the order they fell to the ground.
two age-old theories proven today
Sun, 03/15/2009 - 16:36 — saltydawg1(1) the cream rises to the top
(2) the bigger they come....the harder they fall!!
the devils appear to be getting better, game by game, and are peaking at the right time!!
congrats to jpmajor or a nice post, and i will be a big heels fan.....til we meet again!!!
Congrats
Sun, 03/15/2009 - 16:06 — JPMajorCongrats to Duke on a good ACC Tourney.
They played very well today and the better team won.
Now, on to the NCAA Tournament!
GO HEELS!