NC State
Virginia
Wolfpacks Hold Off Cavaliers, 66-64
2/1/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 1, 2006
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Cameron Bennerman had a great view of both shots that decided the outcome Wednesday night. The first was his own attempt from in close that bounced off the rim into his waiting hands, and he put it back up and in to give No. 18 North Carolina State the lead for good.
The next one was a 35-foot heave from Sean Singletary that would have won it for Virginia at the buzzer.
"All I could think about was, 'I hope he doesn't make that,"' Bennerman said.
Singletary didn't, allowing the Wolfpack to escape with a gritty 66-64 victory.
Tony Bethel led the scoring with 16 points, Bennerman had that all-important basket with 74 seconds remaining and N.C. State solidified its hold on second place in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Singletary's last-gasp effort never really had a chance to go in, but it still was too close for Wolfpack coach Herb Sendek.
"Your heart always stops," he said. "Every night, SportsCenter is filled with those shots."
Cedric Simmons had 15 points and three blocks for the Wolfpack (17-4, 6-2 ACC), who lost to Seton Hall in their previous home game to fall to 11-1 at the RBC Center. They trailed by four with 3 1/2 minutes remaining in this one and appeared headed toward another loss before a furious comeback.
"We didn't win the game in the prettiest fashion, but it was a tough game," Bennerman said. "We need to get some wins like this under our belt. Sometimes, you get wins by big margins and you get a little comfortable."
The margin still was three when J.R. Reynolds converted 1-of-2 at the line for Virginia (10-8, 4-4), then Ilian Evtimov swished a 3-pointer after a nice pass from Engin Atsur to tie it at 62 with 2:07 on the clock.
On the other end, Atsur knocked the ball away from Reynolds, then dove to the floor to grab it. Just as he corralled it, Evtimov alertly called timeout to keep possession.
"We had to get stops, and I had the opportunity to get on the floor and get one," Atsur said. "We, as a team, made a big play there."
N.C. State patiently worked the clock until the 6-foot-4 Bennerman posted up the 6-foot Singletary in the paint. His first attempt bounced off the rim, but Bennerman quickly jumped up for the putback to give the Wolfpack a 64-62 lead.
"Short-range shots, you're going to know where it's going to come off, so I just stayed with it," Bennerman said.
Reynolds then missed a 3 for the Cavaliers and Atsur worked inside for a layup to increase the margin to four. With 3.6 seconds left, Singletary somehow leaped high for a tip-in to make it 66-64, and when Atsur missed the front end of a 1-and-1, Virginia and Singletary had one final chance.
It didn't work out.
"Like I've said 100 times, it is never pleasing to lose," Cavaliers coach Dave Leito said. "We didn't do the things we needed to."
Evtimov and Bennerman each had 12 points for N.C. State, and Reynolds needed 20 shots to get his 16 points for the Cavaliers.
"We had multiple chances to take control of the game, but we just didn't do it," said Singletary, who scored 13 points. "Bottom line, we didn't deserve to win."
The Cavaliers missed their first nine shots before patiently cutting into the margin, and it was down to three at halftime. The first tie came at 32 early in the second half, but the Cavaliers needed another 10 1/2 minutes to move in front for the first time on a layup by Singletary.
