Senior Courtney Fells had 23 points and senior Ben McCauley added 12 as the men’s basketball team took down High Point University 69-56 in its first home game of the season Saturday night in Reynolds Coliseum.
The Panthers got off to a hot start, making several three-pointers to jump to an early 17-13 lead. With the injured Farnold Degand on the sideline with injury, and sophomore Javier Gonzalez in foul trouble early, coach Sidney Lowe was forced to look to freshman Julius Mays as point guard to get the Pack back in the game.
“Julius was solid — just ran the show, took care of the basketball,” Lowe said. “He did what we feel he was capable of doing. Those guys were pretty tough. They put a lot of pressure on him, and he handled the basketball well.”
Mays, who is third on the point guard depth chart behind Gonzalez and Degand, knew it was his opportunity to prove he belonged on the court.
“It was my chance, my opportunity to actually and get on the floor and run the team,” Mays said. “I think I did a pretty good job.”
High Point finished the first half shooting 42.9 percent from behind the arc, but State was also hot — shooting 46.2 percent from the field — and took a 36-29 lead into the locker room.
“They are a volume three-point shooting team,” Lowe said. “That means they’re going to take them. They’re going to take a lot. When you have guys that can shoot the basketball, they’re going to make them.”
According to McCauley, Lowe emphasized the team’s defensive effort at halftime. The strategy must have worked, as State held the Panthers to 29.6 percent shooting from the field in the second half.
“We really got after it defensively,” McCauley said. “In that second half, we went on a run there where we got stop after stop, and guys came up with some great steals and easy baskets — easy transition baskets. That is what was really big for us, the defensive end.”
The 6,200 fans in attendance were treated to some guests of honor at halftime as quarterback Russell Wilson, running back Andre Brown and other members of the football team were honored at midcourt.
“It lit a little bit of a fire underneath us. It was great, great to have them get that win over there in such great form,” McCauley said. “It actually gave me chills because I was excited to see our football team is doing well, and everyone is excited about N.C. State.”
The crowd began “Russell Wilson” chants midway through the first half as the players walked into the coliseum. Lowe said the win over UNC-Chapel Hill inspired his players Saturday.
“I was clapping when I was on the bench. I was still into the game, but you’ve got to acknowledge a win like that,” Lowe said. “That was just outstanding.”
The Pack went 5-9 on three-pointers in the second half extending their lead to as much as 21 with 4:57 remaining in regulation. Fells went 3-of-5 from three-point range in the game while Gonzalez and redshirt junior Trevor Ferguson went 2-of-3 and 2-of-4 respectively.
“I tell my guys all the time — if you’re open, take the shot,'” Lowe said. “We don’t like to take quick shots, but after we’ve moved the game around, we like them to step up and take it.”
