NC State
The Citadel
Wolfpack Cruises Past The Citadel
11/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 19, 2005
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Engin Atsur scored 18 points Saturday night to lead North Carolina State past The Citadel 91-59 in the Hispanic College Fund Classic.
Freshman Ben McCauley added 13 and was one of five players in double figures for the Wolfpack (2-0), which earned its second easy victory in as many nights in the round-robin tournament. N.C. State closes play in the event Sunday against Delaware.
Demetrius Nelson scored 13 points for the Bulldogs (0-2), who went 11 minutes without a field goal in the first half to suffer a lopsided loss for the second straight night.
The Wolfpack opened the season with a 91-61 win against Stetson on Friday night, shooting 57 percent and going 9-for-28 from 3-point range. N.C. State got off to a bit of a sluggish start Saturday before its offense roared to life against the overmatched Bulldogs, and it had no trouble once its defense got more aggressive.
N.C. State shot 45 percent and hit 14 3-pointers while holding The Citadel to 26-percent shooting.
The Wolfpack scored 19 straight points in a 35-5 run, closing the run when Atsur tipped in a missed 3 from Andrew Brackman while falling to the ground under the basket for a 45-16 lead with 1:07 left before the break.
During that run, N.C. State hit 12 of 17 shots, including 7 of 11 from behind the arc. And the Wolfpack got contributions from just about everywhere, with freshman Brandon Costner knocking down three 3s and Ilian Evtimov hitting two.
Early in the run, Evtimov and Costner drained 3s on consecutive possessions for a 20-11 lead. The Wolfpack then hit 3s on three straight possessions, with Costner hitting two and Evtimov hitting the third for a 29-11 lead.
Atsur -- who assisted on the last two -- closed the long-distance shooting display with a pair of his own, pushing the advantage to 41-16 with 2:13 left in the half.
While the Wolfpack was hitting from just about everywhere, the Bulldogs couldn't knock down anything. Warren McLendon's inside basket gave The Citadel an 11-10 lead with 11:58 left, but the Bulldogs didn't hit another field goal until Dante Terry hit a 3-pointer with 50 seconds left in the half.
During that drought, the Wolfpack forced the Bulldogs into nine straight misses with 10 turnovers in 19 possessions. The Citadel shot 23 percent on 6-for-26 shooting in the first half, while the Wolfpack went 9-for-17 from 3-point range and shot 54 percent.
