North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Opens ESA With Comeback Win
11/19/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Tony Haynes
Most ACC basketball historians can tell you without hesitation that NC State defeated Washington & Lee in its first game in Reynolds Coliseum in 1949. Now they have the answer to another trivia question.
On Friday night, the Wolfpack christened its new basketball home-the Entertainment and Sports Arena-with a thrilling, come from behind 67-63 win over Georgia.
With the game tied at 63 apiece, Archie Miller nailed a clutch three-point basket with 58 seconds remaining to give NC State the lead for good. The Miller three put the Pack out in front for only the second time all night.
It's rare that noteworthy events live up to their advanced billing. This one did.
Kenny Inge battles
for a rebound in the first half of the Wolfpack's 67-63
win over Georgia (AP Photo/Grant Halverson). |
"I thought it was a real gusty performance by both teams," said Wolfpack head coach Herb Sendek. "You have to give Georgia a lot of credit. They came in and did a superb job of executing their half court offense. Their UCLA high post offense was tough to guard and they did a good job of getting the ball inside."
Especially in the first five minutes. The early roar and enthusiasm of the crowd was quickly silenced when the Bulldogs stunned the Pack with a 10-0 run to start the game. From that point on, NC State found itself fighting from behind most of the night. Georgia led by as many as 12 in the opening 20-minutes.
"We were hit with a punch right out of the gate," Sendek said. "To our men's credit, they received that punch and didn't wilt on a night when there was a lot of pageantry and a lot of excitement."
The Bulldogs couldn't have played much better in the first half. They led 38-31 at the break after knocking down five of seven three pointers. Georgia also shot a blistering 56.5% in the opening frame.
Meanwhile, NC State was scrapping for all it was worth just to stay in the game. The Pack could muster only 39.3% shooting in the first half. Had it not been for 11 Georgia turnovers, NC State could have been facing a double-figure deficit at halftime.
Trailing 53-47, the Pack put together a six to nothing run to pull even for the first time all night. A Kenny Inge free throw tied the game with 8:15 left.
Less than a minute later, the Wolfpack took its first lead at 55-53 when Ron Kelley stuck a pair of free throws.
That set the stage for a nail-biting finish featuring two teams who were playing as if their lives depended on the outcome.
An Inge tip of a Justin Gainey miss with 3:45 left tied the game at 61-61. Georgia's Anthony Evans came right back with a driving lay-up to put the Dogs up by a bucket. A huge Anthony Grundy steal, his seventh of the night, helped to tie the score, 63-63. Although Grundy missed his dunk attempt, Gainey was fouled on the follow and converted both free throws.
That set the stage for Miller's game-winning three pointer moments later.
"What a great shot by Archie Miller," Sendek said. "On a night when he wasn't shooting well, he came back and showed a lot of courage."
Miller, who was just two of seven on the night, missed the same shot on the exact same play just moments earlier. Grundy delivered the pass on both occasions.
"He's (Miller) a great shooter and he doesn't miss too many shots," Grundy said. "I was kind of surprised when he missed the first one, honestly. But he came back and made the second one. He's not scared of stepping up and making big shots. We need guys like that on our team."
NC State shot just 37.5% percent from the floor. Georgia cooled off in the second half and ended up hitting 47.9% of its shots. Although it was just 19 of 31 from the free throw line, the Pack outscored the Bulldogs by eight points at the charity stripe.
Grundy, on five of 14 shooting, led NC State with 13 points. Gainey finished with 12, Damon Thornton reached double figures with eleven and Inge had ten points.
Georgia's Adrian Jones led all scorers with 16. Two Bulldog big men, Shon Coleman and Rob Dryden, fouled out.
Coleman's foul trouble really hampered Georgia. The 6-6 junior college transfer had ten points in just 18 minutes, and it times, he was an unstoppable force in the low post.
The 19,507 fans who packed the ESA answered the one question that just about everybody had been asking since NC State announced that it would be leaving Reynolds Coliseum for a new arena.
"For all of those who were wondering if we could recreate the Reynolds environment, I think the answer is a resounding 'yes' with an exclamation point," Sendek said. "You would have to be in a different zone not to have been touched by the electricity in that building tonight. It was amazing."
Reynolds was great, but the ESA already feels like home sweet home to the Wolfpack.
