North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State
Fairleigh Dickinson
Wolfpack Drills Farleigh-Dickinson, 104-65
12/21/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec 21, 2002
By Tony Haynes
Raleigh, N.C.--Still smarting from Tuesday night's ugly loss to Gonzaga in the Jimmy V Classic, NC State was ready to rid of itself of the demons that had been hanging over its head since its first defeat of the season. The sacrificial lamb on Saturday afternoon at the RBC Center was Fairleigh-Dickinson of the Northeast Conference. Julius Hodge scored 19 of his game-high 24 points in the first half as the Pack (6-1) jetted out to a big early lead and went on to demolish the Knights, 104-65.
"We're very happy with our performance," said Hodge, who made his first six shots in the opening half. "We came off a loss to Gonzaga in which we struggled. We got back to the basics in practice... shooting, blocking out and running our offense. We did all of those things today and we had guys coming off of the bench contributing to our success."
The bench did provide a spark, especially freshman Cameron Bennerman. Getting his first significant playing time of the season, the 6-4 Greensboro native scored the first two points of his career in the first half and went on to tally 14 points on a 4-of-5 shooting touch. Bennerman also showed off his impressive "hops" on a couple of crowd-pleasing "Cam-jams."
"I was not surprised because he's probably had the two best days of practice in his career these last two days," Sendek said of Bennerman, who got the most of his 12 minutes on the floor. "He's had two things on his plate: One, learning how to play hard all the time. Secondly, he had to learn the entire system. Each day out, he's more comfortable with that as well."
Bennerman and his teammates looked plenty comfortable in the first half, running out to a to a 25-10 lead in the first nine minutes on 11-of-14 shooting from the floor. During the opening flurry, NC State got nine points from Hodge, and a pair of threes by Scooter Sherrill, who finished with 11 points.
Leading 55-31 at the break, the Wolfpack smothered the Knights (4-3) with full-court pressure to start the second half, forcing numerous turnovers in a 12-0 blitz that made the score 67-31. Playing without starting point guard Marcus Whitaker, who did not make the trip from New Jersey because of back spasms, Fairleigh-Dickinson had 23 turnovers that resulted in plenty of easy transition baskets for the Pack.
Often the triggerman in the NC State break, senior guard Cliff Crawford had seven assists and no turnovers in the first half, and finished with eight assists for the game. Some of Crawford's passes went to forward Marcus Melvin, who hit 6-of-9 from the field to finish with 15 points. Josh Powell (12) was the fifth player in double figures for the Wolfpack, which will take a Christmas break before entertaining Wofford next Saturday.
In Tuesday's loss, Hodge, Melvin and Powell were a combined six of 37 from the floor. Against Fairleigh-Dickinson, they were 18-of-27. Lionel Bomayako, who finished with 20 points, led the Knights, while Matt Hammond and Gordon Klaiber added 11 apiece.
The upcoming holiday will be a welcome respite for an NC State team that had sandwiched four games around a testy exam break.
"We've been through a grueling schedule the last two weeks," Sendek said. "Final exams at NC State are very intense. Our guys were studying long hours and we had some games and practices mixed in. Even today, I thought our guys were a little tired. We've really been through a heck of a stretch and I think it's good that we'll be able to take a couple of days for Christmas before we return to practice."
The schedule has even taken a toll on Sendek, who was bed ridden with flu symptoms on Friday. But on Saturday, he got well and so did his team, which shot 57.8 percent from the floor and outrebounded Fairleigh-Dickinson 35-28. The Pack also did a better job running its offense, an attack that produced 26 assists on 37 baskets.
