The men’s basketball team escaped with a 69-66 win against host Florida State on Saturday as freshman center J.J. Hickson hit two free throws and blocked a shot late to lift the team out a 66-66 tie.

Hickson had 12 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks in the contest.

But it was junior guard Courtney Fells’ long 3-pointer with less than a minute left that tied the game and gave N.C. State a chance to pull off the win. Fells led the team with 16 points, including a 4-for-7 effort from behind the 3-point line.

Junior forward Ben McCauley started for only the fifth time this season, as redshirt sophomore forward Brandon Costner didn’t start for the first time and only played 12 minutes in a scoreless effort.

N.C. State recovered from a 31-19 deficit by going on a 17-0 run to take a 36-31 halftime lead. From there, it was a back-and-forth contest until the final moments.

The Pack held the Seminoles to 36.8-percent shooting from the field. N.C. State hit 9 3-pointers in the victory, the Pack’s second in three games.

The team is now 13-6 overall and 2-3 in the ACC, a game out of third place. Next up is Thursday’s 9 p.m. game at Duke.