North Carolina State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Records Exhibition Win
11/4/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By Tony Haynes
After competing with each other for the last three weeks, NC State's basketball players got a chance to go up against some unfamiliar faces for a change on Saturday night. The result was a hard-fought 86-82 victory over Interhoop, a collection of veteran players from Eastern Europe and the United States.
Interhoop bombarded the Pack with 41 three-point shots, 17 of which went in. The Wolfpack countered with a 24-point advantage at the free throw line. And while Interhoop bombed away from the outside, NC State answered with a stout inside attack led by senior forward Kenny Inge, who finished with 21 points and 19 rebounds.
"I think [Kenny] is in a position to have a spectacular senior year," said Wolfpack head coach Herb Sendek.
Inge was indeed spectacular on Saturday as he threw his 6-8, 240 pound body around with reckless abandon. Inge's effort on the front line was complimented by senior center Ron Kelley, who added 17 points and nine rebounds. Forward Damien Wilkins and guard Anthony Grundy also scored in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
After trailing by as many as seven points early in the first half, NC State rebounded to grab a 40-39 lead at the half. Inge already had 15 points and nine rebounds by intermission.
Wilkins' three-point shot off of a nice feed from point guard Cliff Crawford completed a 12-5 run that gave the Wolfpack a 52-44 advantage at the 16:46 mark of the second half. From that point on, it was a battle. Every time NC State seemed ready to put the game out of reach, Interhoop would answer with a big three-point shot.
With NC State leading by 10, former Louisville star Kip Stone nailed a long three to keep Interhoop in it with 3:53 remaining. Another Stone bomb with 34 seconds showing made it a two point game. But the Wolfpack, which had gotten to the one and one bonus situation with 10 minutes left, made enough big free throws down the stretch to close it out. NC State connected on five of its last six free throw attempts in the final 34 seconds to seal it.
"This was great to be able to do this against a quality team," Sendek said. "Interhoop had great size and they really shot the ball well. I was pleased with our overall effort. But I told our team that we've really got to improve on defense in the next two weeks."
Andrejs Kapinos hit four of six three-pointers and led Interhoop with 22 points. Stone, who was 6-of-12 from beyond the arc, added 20.
Overall, Interhoop converted on 44.3 percent of its field goal attempts while NC State shot 40.6 percent from the floor. The Wolfpack had a huge 55-to-31 advantage on the boards.
