North Carolina State University Athletics
Men's Basketball Tops Fort Valley State, 94-65
11/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH, N.C. Courtney Fells, becoming more comfortable in his role as NC State’s small forward, scored 21 points to lead the Wolfpack to a 94-65 victory over Fort Valley State Thursday night at historic Reynolds Coliseum.
The senior from Shannon, Miss., made seven of his 10 field-goal attempts on the night. He also had two 3-pointers including one four-point play and made all five of his free throws.
“Courtney played really well,” said Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe. “That’s the way he has been all summer. He is letting the game come to him. He is not forcing anything. Playing at the [small forward spot] gives him a slight advantage at times.
“He knows who he is and what his game is. He is not putting himself in a position that he shouldn’t be in. If he continues to do what he is doing, he is going to have a very good year for us.”
Senior Ben McCauley pumped in 12 points in the contest and sophomore Tracy Smith came off the bench to score 10 points.
The Wolfpack led 50-32 at the half, with Fells leading all scorers with 15 points. Lowe’s team made 46.9 percent of its shots from the field, while limiting Fort Valley State to just 33.3 percent.
For the game, the Pack shot 51.6 percent from the field, thanks to 18-for-32 shooting (56.3 percent) in the second half.
The biggest surprise of the night might have been Lowe’s starting lineup, which included a young backcourt, with freshman C.J. Williams starting at shooting guard and sophomore Javi Gonzalez starting at the point. But the starting frontcourt had three four-year players: seniors Fells and McCauley and redshirt junior Brandon Costner.
Lowe played two full groups throughout the game, with juniors Farnold Degand, Trevor Ferguson, Dennis Horner, sophomore Tracy Smith and redshirt freshman Johnny Thomas coming off the bench as a group early in the first half.
“The nice thing about right now is we have enough guys,” said Lowe, who has faced limited options off the bench his first two seasons as the Wolfpack’s head coach. “These guys have been playing together as a group all summer. I wanted to see how they would play all together. I thought they did a good job.
“We won’t do that every game, but it gave me the opportunity to see those guys in there together.”
Smith, who made four of his six shots playing behind McCauley at center, continues to impress the coach with his hustle. In the first half, he blocked a shot to teammate Degand, turned upcourt and out-raced everyone for a dunk on the other end.
“That was a basketball play,” Lowe said. “He didn’t just sit there and admire his block. He wanted to get on the other end. That’s the kind of play we have to make more of.”
Freshman Julius Mays also saw action in both halves, and Simon Harris contributed nine points and a team-high seven rebounds off the bench, all in the second half.
“Simon was outstanding,” Lowe said. “He came in and did what he does. He was on the offensive boards, the defensive boards. He is hustling and defending. There are not a lot of people his size that can jump like him, that is as strong as he is.
“If he goes that way every time, he will have a successful season for us.”
Thomas, who missed all of last season following surgery on his left knee, suffered a minor sprained ankle in the first half and did not return to action.
Ferguson, who made all three of his 3-point shots from the newly extended bonus arc in the Red & White Game, made all three of his 3-point shots in this game as well.
“I thought overall it was a very good effort on our guys’ part, especially for the first time out,” Lowe said. “We did a lot of things well, pushed the ball well. We had spurts where we were really good. We had 26 assists on 33 baskets. That’s pretty good.”
The Wolfpack returns to action on Tuesday night to play Catawba College in its final exhibition game of the preseason. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. in Reynolds Coliseum. Tickets, which are not included in the regular season-ticket package, are $15 each and are available on the GoPack.com Ticket Center.
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
