The Pack never seems to do things the easy way.
On Saturday afternoon at PNC Arena, N.C. State (18-7, 7-5) outlasted Virginia Tech (11-14, 2-10) in overtime, 90-86, after losing a six-point lead with less than 20 seconds remaining in regulation.
Hokie junior forward Jarell Eddie collected the rebound on a deliberately missed free throw from senior point guard Erick Green and followed with a lay-up with two seconds left to send the game into the extra period.
“[Green’s missed free throw] could not have bounced any better for them,” N.C. State head coach Mark Gottfried said. “They did a great job on that play.”
“We worked on that play … during preseason,” first-year Virginia Tech head coach James Johnson said. “We did a good job executing on that play.”
The majority of the game was a seesaw affair. Tech appeared to take control of the game when the Hokies went on a 7-0 run to take a 60-53 advantage with less than eight minutes remaining.
State responded with a 14-0 ruin of its own through the next four minutes. The Pack then led 67-60 with 3:45 in regulation.
Senior forward Scott Wood led the way for the Wolfpack. The Marion, Ind.-native had 22 points on 6-of-11 shooting, adding three rebounds and three blocks. Wood played 43 of the 45 total minutes in the game and all 11 of his field goal attempts were from behind the three-point arc.
Wood’s senior classmate Richard Howell produced his 15th double-double of the current campaign, good for fourth in the NCAA, by tallying 10 points and 16 rebounds. Junior forward C.J. Leslie nearly had a double-double of his own, finishing with 16 points and nine rebounds on the afternoon.
Lorenzo Brown returned to the starting line-up for State against the Hokies. The junior point guard had 15 points and seven assists with six turnovers in 42 minutes of action.
“I don’t think he is 100 percent yet,” Gottfried said. “At times, even during time-outs, I could see he was holding his ankle.”
Once again, freshman point guard Tyler Lewis provided a spark — this time off the bench. Lewis scored 13 points, including nine in the first half to keep State in the contest, without committing a turnover. The Statesville native hit two huge free throws with 51 seconds left in overtime to give the Pack a lead it would never relinquish.
The Hokies were able to get a more balanced attack than normally Saturday afternoon.
Virginia Tech was led by Green, the ACC and NCAA leader in scoring, with 29 points, eight assists and two steals. The senior connected on 11-of-24 field goal attempts (two for six from three-point range) and made five of his seven free throws.
Eddie finished with 17 points for the Hokies on 7-for-13 shooting, including three-for-five from three-point range.
Freshman forward Marshall Wood was sensational for the Hokies, finishing with 14 points and 16 rebounds in 31 minutes of action, all of which were career highs.
“It was a big game and [Marshall Wood] played with a lot of confidence,” Johnson said. “For a freshman to play as well as he did today after missing six weeks, I thought he did a very good job today.”
N.C. State’s seven league wins this season have been by an average margin of six points. The Pack’s five ACC losses have been by an average of four points.
The Pack will have a short break before returning to action tomorrow night at 7 p.m.in PNC Arena against the Florida State Seminoles in a key match-up that has ACC Tournament seeding ramifications.
