David Tracey
Sophomore guard Braxton Beverly takes a shot against Saint Peter’s on Tuesday, Nov. 20 at PNC Arena. Beverly scored 10 points as the Wolfpack won 85-57.
The NC State men’s basketball team took down Penn State 89-78 in the Boardwalk City Classic in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Saturday.
The Wolfpack (9-1) was led by sophomore guard Braxton Beverly’s season-high 18 points. Beverly put together his best game of the season by a large margin, shooting 7 of 10 from the field and 3 of 4 from behind the arc against the Nittany Lions (5-5).
NC State had five players score in double figures in the game.
Things started off with Penn State taking an early 9-5 lead at the first media timeout, but that didn’t last for long.
Redshirt senior guard Torin Dorn slammed home a dunk to start an 8-0 run for the Pack, giving it a 13-9 lead.
After starting the game 2 for 6 from the field, the Pack responded by hitting 8 of its next 10 shots with 9:42 left in the first half. This gave it a 22-18 lead at the 12:00 mark.
The Pack would see its biggest lead of the first half at 30-23, however the Nittany Lions answered and closed the gap to 40-37 going into the half.
At the half, junior guard Markell Johnson and Beverly led the Pack with 8 points each. As a team, NC State shot 53.1 percent from the field.
In the second half, each team had its big men struggle with foul trouble as Penn State forward Lamar Stevens and redshirt sophomore DJ Funderburk played three quarters of the second half with four fouls each. This played a key role for the Nittany Lions in the scoring department.
At this point in the game, the Pack was struggling to keep possession of the ball which lead to a 6-0 run for the Nittany Lions, giving them a 56-55 lead. This was their first lead since the 15:12 mark of the first half.
However, Johnson provided the energy the Pack needed, knocking down a 3-point shot in the defender’s face to give the team the lead back at 58-56 and the momentum.