One for the road: FSU's Trent Forrest cherishes game-winner at Notre Dame

It was the last true road game of his college career.

So Trent Forrest really made it count.

Florida State's senior point guard scored the last five points of the game Wednesday night, including the game-winning putback with 3.9 seconds left, to lift the No. 7 Seminoles to a 73-71 comeback victory over Notre Dame.

"It felt great," Forrest said. "You start thinking about the same things that happened last week (at Clemson). You don't think maybe that the ball is going to go your way. But with M.J. (Walker) and his streak and how he can get hot off of one shot. That kind of gave us life, and we were just able to use that to heat us."

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Walker scored 16 of FSU's 18 points during a critical stretch in the second half. The junior shooting guard was the reason the Seminoles were even still in the game in the final minute.

But it was Forrest who closed it out.

Down three with a minute left, the Chipley, Fla., native got deep into the paint and made a bank-shot while being fouled by Notre Dame star forward John Mooney, a 6-foot-9, 245-pound forward. He then made the ensuing free throw to tie the game.

And then after the Seminoles got a huge defensive stop on the next possession, it was Forrest who delivered the dagger.

"We went to a 1-4 flat just to keep (the defenders) from helping," Forrest said of the game-winning final sequence. "And if they did, they would have to help off of M.J. or Devin (Vassell). It was a good designed play. My goal was just to get into the paint and get the best shot possible."

Of course, that initial shot -- which was contested by two Notre Dame defenders -- didn't go in.

But Forrest made sure the second one did after getting the offensive rebound around Mooney.

"I kind of went into his body and he hit my shooting arm," said Forrest, who finished with 15 points and a team-high seven rebounds. "So I knew it was going to be off a little bit. And it just happened to pop to where I was going, and it was an easy rebound."

The win wasn't secure quite yet, though. Even after the made basket.

Forrest remembered quite well what happened the last time he hit a go-ahead shot in the final seconds. It had occurred just four days earlier.

The senior's floater on Saturday gave the Seminoles a late one-point lead at Clemson, but it was short-lived as the Tigers immediately came down and scored on a running layup by point guard Al-Amir Dawes with one second remaining.

So Forrest made sure history didn't repeat itself twice on Wednesday night.

Notre Dame obviously had less time for its final possession than Clemson did, but the Seminoles' captain still wanted to make sure Irish star Prentiss Hubb didn't get into a dead sprint toward the Florida State basket.

"Once the shot went in, I kind of turned to see who was in my area," Forrest said. "And (Hubb) kind of got the ball on the run. And once he first came toward me, I just kind of tried to stop his momentum at first and then just kind of followed him as he took the shot. I made sure I was there to at least contest it a little bit to throw him off."

The desperation heave bounced off the rim. And Florida State celebrated a 73-71 win that has the Seminoles on the brink of history.

Thanks to a stirring comeback and more Forrest heroics, Florida State now just needs one more victory to secure the first-ever regular-season ACC title in program history. FSU is now 25-5 overall and 15-4 in the ACC.

"We knew what was at stake," Forrest said. "We wanted to do things the right way to get to where we are. And to still be able to get that 1 seed and do something that hasn't been done in school history -- that's what we're playing for now."

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