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Wolfpack gangs up on Pirates
©2004 The Associated
Press
RALEIGH — Cameron
Bennerman made a late 3-pointer, then threw his arms up in jubilation.
Sure, North Carolina State was way ahead and hardly needed the points,
but the shot put him in double figures.
He didn't want to feel
left out.
Tony Bethel made his first
five shots — including four 3-pointers — and scored 22 points to lead
the 19th-ranked Wolfpack past East Carolina 100-66 Friday night in the
championship game of the BCA Invitational.
That 3 made Bennerman the
eighth Wolfpack player to score at 10 points in the tournament, joining
Bethel, Julius Hodge, Andrew Brackman, Levin Watkins, Engin Atsur,
Jordan Collins and Ilian Evtimov.
``We definitely came out
in these games trying to get everybody involved,'' Hodge said. ``When so
many guys score in double figures on this team, it shows we're
unselfish.''
Hodge and Brackman added
12 points apiece in this one, and Watkins had 11. Cedric Simmons worked
inside for a basket with 41 seconds left to help N.C. State reach 100
points.
``It's important to have
good balance,'' coach Herb Sendek said. ``Guys have been playing
unselfishly and really looking for each other.''
The Wolfpack (3-0) cruised
through the three games, taking big leads early in all of them. They
outscored their opponents by an average of 31 points and shot 57
percent, and their closest margin of victory was 26 points in the second
round against Elon.
Moussa Badiane led the
Pirates (2-1) with 15 points and Mike Cook scored 13.
``I just told our kids in
the locker room, this has been a great three days for our basketball
team,'' East Carolina coach Bill Herrion said. ``If you had told me we
would have been 2-1 coming out of this tournament, I would have been
pleased. We got beat by a really, really, really good basketball team.''
Bethel, a transfer from
Georgetown, had only eight points in each of the first two games,
deferring along with everyone else to Hodge. But Bethel started this one
off with a 3 just 37 seconds in, and he kept shooting.
``I just wanted to come
out and be more aggressive,'' Bethel said. ``I made that first shot and
just got into a rhythm, and they kept going in.''
He had 15 points in the
first half while the Wolfpack shot 59 percent, but it was defense that
gave them another terrific start.
East Carolina missed its
first nine shots and trailed 13-0 barely 3 1/2 minutes into the game.
Everybody seemed to be affected — six players combined for those bricks
— before Cook got inside for a layup. Finally, the Pirates were on the
board.
The good times didn't
last. N.C. State continued to increase its lead with stifling defense
and precision shooting, and the margin went to 37-10 on two free throws
from Bethel.
``We have good group
leadership right now,'' Sendek said. ``Our guys are in the right
mindset, and I hope we continue along those lines. We were ready to play
and that is always a step in the right direction.''
Nearing the end of the
half, the Pirates slowly crept to 48-25 when Jonathan Hart made 1-of-2
from the line.
Then Bethel came through
again. He banked in a 3-pointer — clearly unintentionally — and the
Wolfpack were up 51-25 at the half.
``I thought our young kids
played well, I am very proud of them,'' Herrion said. ``What concerns me
is we are getting behind early in games. If you start slow, then you pay
the price, and we paid the price tonight.''
Hodge, who had 21 points
in each of the first two games, was solid again and was chosen as
tournament MVP. He left to a rousing ovation with about four minutes
left and demonstratively slapped hands with each of his teammates on the
bench.
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BOX
SCORE NORTH CAROLINA
STATE 100, EAST CAROLINA 66
Records: East Carolina 2-1;
N.C. State 3-0.
Halftime: N.C. State 51, East Carolina 25.
EAST CAROLINA
Name Min
FG 3Pt FT Off Reb A TO Stl Blk PF Pts
Kilgore 27 1-5
0-2 0-0 0 1
1 1 1 0
1 2
McNeill 20 0-3
0-1 0-0 1 2
2 2 0 0
3 0
Rouse 27 4-7
0-0 2-3 1 4
0 2 1 0
3 10
Badiane 25 5-9
0-0 5-5 5 7
0 1 0 3
4 15
Cook 28 6-17
0-3 1-1 2 3
6 3 1 0
4 13
Gagnon 2 0-0
0-0 0-0 0 0
0 0 0 0
0 0
King 20
3-6 3-6 0-0 0
0 0 0 0
0 1 9
Hammonds 23 4-9 1-4
1-1 0 2 0
1 0 0 2
10
Hart 8
2-3 0-0 1-3 2
2 0 0 1
0 0 5
Castro 20 0-5
0-1 2-4 4 7
1 3 0 0
3 2
Totals 200 25-64 4-17 12-17
15 28 10 13 4
3 21 66
Percentages: .391 .235 .706 Team Rebounds: 30
NORTH CAROLINA STATE
Name Min
FG 3Pt FT Off Reb A TO Stl Blk PF Pts
Atsur 25 2-6
1-4 1-2 1 4
2 0 1 0
1 6
Watkins 18 3-6
1-3 4-4 0 3
0 2 0 0
1 11
Bethel 30 8-10
4-6 2-2 1 5
3 0 2 0
1 22
Hodge 29 3-6
0-1 6-8 1 3
4 2 1 0
1 12
Collins 16 2-3
1-2 4-4 0 2
2 2 0 1
3 9
Evtimov 18 4-5
0-1 0-0 1 4
4 0 1 0
3 8
Albritton 1 0-0 0-0
0-0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0
0
Grant 11 0-1
0-1 2-2 0 1
3 0 0 0
1 2
Bennerman 21 4-6 2-3
0-0 1 2 0
1 0 1 1
10
Simmons 9 4-5
0-0 0-1 1 3
0 2 0 1
3 8
Brackman 22 2-3 1-1
7-8 2 5 1
1 0 3 2
12
Totals 200 32-51 10-22 26-31
8 32 19 11 5
6 17 100
Percentages: .627 .455 .839 Team Rebounds: 36
Technical Fouls: None.
Officials: Curtis Blair, Dwayne Gladden, Steve Gordon.
Attendance: 13,852.
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02/23/07 10:56 AM
From Associated
Press and ECU reports with Bonesville.net staff contributions. Copyright 2004. All
rights rights reserved. This material may
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