The NC State men’s club basketball team competed in an eight-team tournament over the weekend in Carmichael Gym which NC State’s Team Pack won in thrilling fashion. This tournament came after a dominant performance the week before by the team which included an impressive win over Winston-Salem State.
This week, Team Wolf and Team Pack joined UNC-Chapel Hill’s Team Blue and Team White, Campbell, UNC-Wilmington, Wake Forest and UNC-Charlotte in an interstate competition and rivalry tournament.
Team Wolf, led by sophomore shooting guard Jonathan Runymbo, graduate shooting guard BJ Durham and senior shooting guard Riley Edwards, began play against UNC-Charlotte Saturday morning, following with a game against Campbell. Team Wolf won both games, finishing with a plus-34 point differential.
over the weekend by junior point guard Cam Wimbish and junior small forward Dane Palazzo. The team began Saturday morning by taking on UNC’s White Team before playing UNC-Wilmington in the afternoon. Team Pack also went 2-0 in these games, finishing with a plus-31 point differential.
Team Wolf and Team Pack showed out impressively Saturday, being two of three teams to finish 2-0 in pool play, with the other being Wake Forest, who finished with just a plus-16 point differential. Team Wolf and Team Pack finished the day as the first and second seeds respectively, with Wake Forest finishing as the third seed, UNC’s Blue Team finishing as the fourth seed and UNC’s White Team finishing as the sixth seed with a 0-2 record.
Because of its first-seed standing, Team Wolf got to play the eighth seed, UNC-Wilmington, who finished 0-2 with a minus-37 point differential Saturday. Team Wolf defeated the Seahawks in the first round of the playoffs.
Meanwhile, Team Pack played the Campbell Camels, the seventh seed that finished 0-2 with a minus-12 point differential Saturday, and defeated them as well.
Despite starting off the tournament strong by obtaining the first seed and defeating UNC-Charlotte Saturday, the 49ers toppled Team Wolf in the second round of the playoffs by a mere two points, a disappointing loss for a team that had high expectations.
Team Pack fared better in the semifinals, where Team Wolf fell. Team Pack was able to defeat the sixth-seeded UNC White Team, who upset Wake Forest in the first round. The victory brought Team Pack to 4-0 overall on the weekend, and slated the team to match up against UNC-Charlotte.
In what could be considered a revenge game for Team Wolf, Team Pack battled hard against the 49ers in the championship round of the tournament. The game went to six overtimes, but Wimbish was the hero of the afternoon, hitting a go-ahead layup with just around ten seconds left in regulation. Because of the layup, Team Pack was able to hold on and win the championship by a final score of 53-51.
This is the last tournament and set of games for the club basketball team this semester. The games from this semester have no bearing on the outcome of next semester’s schedule, including a potential bid to the national playoffs.
However, winning this tournament and having progressed so far in many tournaments and games this season will have a great impact on the lasting culture of this team moving into the next semester.
