BTN.com staff, March 23, 2014
(AP) Rod Hall made a driving layup with 9.3 seconds left to lead Clemson to a 50-49 win over Illinois in the NIT. Tracy Abrams airballed a 3-pointer for Illinois with 1.7 seconds left. The Tigers (22-12) struggled to get the ball inbounds and threw it into the front court. Hall saved the ball from going out on the other endline and the clock ran out.
Clemson will host Belmont on Tuesday and the winner will go to New York for the NIT semifinals.
Illinois (20-15) led just once on Jon Ekey's 3-pointer that put the Illini ahead 49-48 with 2:06 left. Ekey had 11 points, while Rayvonte Rice led Illinois with 15 points.