Josh Lawson
As Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser called a timeout with 14:07 remaining in the first half, senior forward Justin Clark let out an emphatic scream that led the RBC Center crowd to erupt as he approached the celebrating N.C. State bench.
In the first half alone, Clark more than doubled his career minutes, hit on both of his shot attempts, dropped two assists and collected a steal for the Wolfpack (15-13, 5-10) on senior night.
A walk-on player from Charlotte, Clark started his first game ever in a State uniform, and was all smiles as he exited the court with six points, four assists, one steal, a rebound and a win.
According to sophomore center Ben McCauley, Clark’s play, particularly in the opening minutes, sparked the Pack to its 73-66 victory over Wake Forest (13-15, 4-11) Wednesday night.
“We fed off him a lot,” McCauley said. “Senior night, obviously, is really important to us. To our seniors, to send them off on a good note like that, we want to do everything possible.”
Coach Sidney Lowe started Clark, senior guard Bryan Nieman, and veteran guard Engin Atsur in honor of senior night, alongside McCauley and junior guard Gavin Grant. Lowe said he admired Clark’s play, as well as that of Nieman as they stepped into a starting role.
“The nice thing about tonight was that two other seniors [Clark and Nieman] were in the starting lineup,” Lowe said. “They gave us a huge lift with our energy and our defense. They got it in and got it done.”
Lowe said he was somewhat surprised with Clark’s offensive output, yet knew he was capable of helping the team. His effort, Lowe said, helped State control the momentum and lead for most of the game.
“I didn’t know he was going to play as well as he did,” Lowe said. “I couldn’t even tell you that. But the one thing we knew was that he was going to play hard and that he wasn’t going to make mistakes.”
According to Lowe, the win rewarded the hard work and commitment of his seniors. And aside from edging Wake in the conference standings with the win, Lowe said his team found a bit of added depth Wednesday night.
“Clark showed he was ready to go,” Lowe said. “When he came out the first time, he sat close by so I would know he wanted to go back in. Tonight was really a tribute to Justin and Bryan because they work their tails off, and having this game go the way it did was perfect.”
Clark said the chance to start and contribute in such an emotional game still hasn’t sunk in with him yet. And though Clark said his head was in the game, he admitted that the excitement drove him a bit “crazy.”
“I’m going to need to see some tape on it because it’s sort of surreal that I was out there,” Clark said. “To be productive out there was pretty amazing. Definitely it was exciting, and I was just going crazy out there.”