North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
EA Sports (Exh.)
NC State Sinks EA Sports on Final Shot
11/13/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 13, 2002
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C.--After coming up short on a potential game-tying shot in NC State's NCAA Tournament defeat to Connecticut last March, Julius Hodge vowed that he wouldn't miss again the next time a similar situation presented itself. He wasn't lying. Hodge's running 17-foot jumper just before the horn on Wednesday night gave the Wolfpack a 60-58 win over the EA All-Stars in an exhibition game at the RBC Center.
Hodge's dramatic jumper capped a night on which he scored a game-high 27 points to go along with eight rebounds, six assists and just one turnover. The 6-6 sophomore also scored his team's last nine points over the last 2:17 of a game that was tight throughout.
"Coach put us in the best situation to win the game, and he wanted me to come off and get the ball and do kind of like I did at the end of the Connecticut game," Hodge said. "I happened to dribble the ball a couple of feet closer to the basket and made the shot."
Said NC State head coach Herb Sendek: "[Julius] is just a passionate competitor and he's a winner. When the ball left his hands, I never for once blinked; I had confidence it was going in."
NC State was forced to call on Hodge's heroics after former Montana State star Mike Elliott had tied the game by drilling a long three-pointer from the right wing with 5.1 seconds left.
Following a timeout, Hodge took an inbounds pass from Levi Watkins and drove virtually the entire length of the floor to nail the game-winner.
Benefiting from the hot shooting of former Georgia Tech guard Fred Vinson, who finished with 26 points, the All-Stars led at the half 28-25. NC State's players were visibly disappointed after starting forward Ilian Evtimov went down with a season-ending knee injury in last Friday's exhibition game, and the hangover appeared to continue in the early stages on Wednesday. The Pack was also missing senior guard Cliff Crawford, who didn't even dress after spraining an ankle in practice on Tuesday.
"I think our energy level needed to be better at the beginning," Sendek said. "Our timing in our offense isn't what it needs to be and I didn't think we started with the kind of energy that we ideally need to have."
The energy level picked up in the second half as the Wolfpack received outstanding play from Hodge and sophomore center Josh Powell, who finished with 10 points and five boards.
There were a total of 14 lead changes and neither team led by more than three points in the second half. Although it was just an exhibition, the end of game situations NC State faced closely simulated many of the same pressure-packed scenarios the Pack will encounter throughout the upcoming ACC campaign.
"We really couldn't have drawn it up any better," Sendek said. "It was perfect. It was a hard-fought, physical game against a quality team. We were able to play a close game and have to go to a lot of special situations down the homestretch, which is exactly what you want in an exhibition game. I thought our end of game execution was excellent. On three consecutive possessions, the guys came out and executed what we wanted done."
NC State managed to hit 43.8 percent of its field goal attempts after knocking down 50 percent in the second half. EA Sports, which owned a substantial 39-29 advantage on the boards, shot 40.3 percent from the floor.
Just before stepping to the line for a couple of critical free throws late in the game, Hodge was unable to avoid a few discouraging words from Vinson.
"He said, `young boy you aren't ready for this, your shoulders are too little,'" Hodge said. "He's a great player and he made some big-time plays for his team, but I'm happy to say I got the last laugh."
The last laugh before the season begins for real against Mount St. Mary's on November 22.
