NC State men’s basketball lost to Tennessee Friday afternoon, 67-58, in the third-place game of the Battle 4 Atlantis in Nassau, Bahamas. The Pack is now 5-2 on the season while the Volunteers improved to 4-1.

State fell behind early and was never able to overcome the Volunteers and get back into the game, which Tennessee led throughout.

The Pack was led by graduate guard Al Freeman, who scored 14 points and had nine rebounds; however, he only shot 4 of 18 and 1 of 8 from 3-point range. Freshman guard Braxton Beverly made his first start of the season and scored 10 points to go along with two steals, two rebounds and two assists. Senior forward Lennard Freeman and sophomore center Omer Yurtseven also scored in double figures with 11 and 10 points respectively, and six rebounds apiece. Senior forward Abdul-Malik Abu had 3 points and eight rebounds off the bench.

Turnovers and 3-point shooting made the difference in this game. As a team, the Pack shot 38 percent from the field, 19 percent from 3 and 59 percent from the free throw line. The Volunteers shot 44 percent from 3 and 68 percent from the line. The Pack had 21 turnovers and only nine assists, while Tennessee had 14 assists and 16 turnovers.

Forward Grant Williams and guard Jordan Bone led the Vols with 13 points each. Forward Kyle Alexander led both teams with 13 rebounds.

With just over three minutes left in the game, State had cut the lead to four with possession of the ball. Sophomore guard Markell Johnson turned the ball over, his fourth turnover of the game, and was called for a questionable foul, which was his fifth of the game. The Pack could never get any closer the rest of the game.

The Pack finishes fourth in the Battle 4 Atlantis with a record of 1-2, and now sits at 5-2 on the season. Next up for State is the Big Ten/ACC challenge on Wednesday night at PNC Arena. Penn State will travel to Raleigh for the game that will start at 7:15 p.m. and air on ESPNU.