Disappointed after another injury and frustrated by another slow start, Florida State's men's basketball players admit they started feeling sorry for themselves this past Saturday at North Carolina.

They were on their way to a sixth straight loss, and leading scorer Caleb Mills had just gone down with an ankle injury. The result was a blowout of epic proportions, with four of FSU's best players hobbled on the sideline.

Looking back on it, head coach Leonard Hamilton said Tuesday night, it was as if the Seminoles were "overwhelmed" about their predicament. And instead of rallying around each other and coming together, they fell apart and lost in convincing fashion.

Two days later, the Seminoles were slapped back to reality with a heaping helping of perspective.

As they prepared Monday for their looming home game against Clemson, Hamilton and his players found out that one of the team's student managers, Jared Lynn, had been diagnosed with cancer.

Instead of staying with the team for Tuesday's contest, Lynn flew home to Cincinnati, where he is expected to begin treatments later this week.

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Suddenly, being short-handed on the court didn't feel like as much of a burden. And for the first time in nearly a month, Florida State came out on top, securing an 81-80 victory against the visiting Tigers.

"Obviously, I was very proud of our guys tonight," Hamilton said. "We had a lot we were playing for."

Hamilton's voice cracked, and he appeared to get emotional when describing Lynn's situation to reporters. Partly because of his concern for Lynn, but also because of the way his players responded.

Despite being incredibly short-handed -- the Seminoles are missing three of their top four scorers and a very talented center -- they rallied from a four-point halftime deficit and pulled out an 81-80 victory. It snapped a six-game losing streak, which was the program's worst slide since 2005.

"I thought our guys played for him," Hamilton said. "They wanted to make sure they put a smile on his face. ... We were playing for something bigger than just us. Playing for our brother who's fighting a dreaded disease."

In one way or another, cancer has touched every college basketball program in the country. But it is an all-too-familiar villain for the Seminoles.

Hamilton has lost several family members, including two brothers and his father, to the disease, and he has participated in several charity events to raise funds and awareness.

More recently, senior point guard RayQuan Evans has missed several games this season following the November death of his brother, Tye Oldelk Lafranier, from a rare form of leukemia.

"I think that's another reason I played so hard," Evans said following the win. "It kind of triggered emotions from my brother passing because of cancer. So I just wanted to dedicate this game to him (Lynn), and I think everyone did as well. And just played our heart out."

Evans personified that mindset.

Though not known as a prolific scorer -- he had reached double-figures in just five games this season -- Evans absolutely took the game over Tuesday night.

He repeatedly drove the ball into the heart of Clemson's defense to make tough shots or draw fouls and free throws, and he also hit 2 of 3 shots from 3-point range. By the end of the night, he had a career-high 28 points and looked absolutely drained as teammates hugged him on the court.

"This young man is gonna fight for his life," Evans said of the Seminoles' student manager. "The least we can do is dedicate this game for him and play hard every night for him."

Even with a career performance from Evans and impressive efforts from guards Cam'Ron Fletcher and Matthew Cleveland, who scored 17 and 13 points respectively, Florida State found itself trailing by four points in the final minute.

Clemson star P.J. Hall had scored 10 of his career-high 28 points down the stretch, and the Tigers claimed an 80-76 advantage.

But Evans drew a foul with 52 seconds left and hit both free throws. Then after getting a defensive stop, Evans again drove into the paint and rose up to drain a mid-range jump shot while getting fouled. That tied the score at 80 and gave him an opportunity to do something he had done twice already this season -- win the game at the free-throw line.

After hitting clutch free throws to knock off both Miami and then-No. 6 Duke, Evans did it again on Tuesday, hitting the "and-one" to give the Seminoles an 81-80 advantage.

"He knew we needed something extra tonight, and he provided it for us," Hamilton said of Evans. "It says a lot about his character. He willed us to victory. He put us on his shoulder and he made play after play."

The game wasn't quite finished, however.

With 14.4 seconds remaining, Clemson brought the ball up the court and eventually called timeout with four seconds left. The Tigers set up a final play, and then the Seminoles called timeout once they saw Clemson's personnel take the court.

Then the Tigers called another timeout to avoid a five-second violation while inbounding.

Finally, Clemson inbounded the ball to Hall, but before he could attempt a shot, he was surrounded by three FSU defenders and had to kick the ball out to junior guard Alex Hemenway in the corner.

It was virtually a wide-open look, and Hemenway is a 41-percent 3-point shooter, but he went 2-for-8 from long range on this night. And his final attempt was off the mark.

If that last shot had gone in and dealt the Seminoles a seventh straight loss, it would have been a crushing defeat. But it wouldn't have diminished what Hamilton thought was an impressive overall effort without leading scorer Caleb Mills (ankle), senior guard Anthony Polite (wrist surgery), senior forward Malik Osborne (ankle surgery) and junior center Naheem McLeod (hand surgery).

"I wanted them to, at the end of the game, be able to look themselves in the mirror and say they gave it all they had," Hamilton said. "You're going to have challenges in life. And the true test of a man's character is how do you respond in adversity. It's easy to be happy-go-lucky and playing at your best when everything is going well. How do you handle adversity?

"And I thought our guys showed true character. They played with a lot of pride. They demonstrated their Unconquered spirit. Because this was a big hill for us to climb."

FSU's players were embarrassed following their performance at North Carolina -- a game that saw them trail by 38 points at halftime. Even before they heard the news about Lynn's diagnosis, Evans said the Seminoles were looking at themselves "in the mirror" and changing their outlook.

On Tuesday, they played with more energy, focus and determination, and they came out with a victory at home. But even that illustrates the challenges they face right now as a team.

The Seminoles needed Evans' heroics to win by one point at home against a Clemson squad that is now 4-11 in ACC play. Now, they go on a three-game road trip, starting with a battle Saturday at No. 9 Duke, which leads the conference with a 12-3 mark.

There is no question more wins will be difficult to come by. But with Lynn's diagnosis still fresh in their minds, the Seminoles insist motivation and effort won't be either.

"We're gonna continue to fight to the end," Evans said. "Just because we went through a little losing streak doesn't mean our season is over. ... There's still a lot of basketball left to play."

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