North Carolina State University Athletics
BACK TO '83: Free Throws Save Pack Against Furman
2/4/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BY TIM PEELER
CHARLOTTE, N.C. With all the bad things that have happened to NC State head coach Jim Valvano losing two of his players to illness and injury, suffering a hernia that will eventually need surgical repair, losing five of six games during one stretch in January something wonderful happened Friday night in the first round of the 25th-annual North-South Doubleheader.
His NC State basketball team played awful and still won.
“We played well at
The Wolfpack, clearly weary of switching back and forth between two sets of game rules, was unable to get into an offensive flow against Furman’s pressure man-to-man defense.
“We struggled to do everything,” Valvano said. For the coach, who has been suffering through his painful injury for two and a half weeks, that included walking up and down the sidelines.
With his team in foul trouble most of the night, Valvano had to rely on a three-guard rotation that included freshman Ernie Myers and sophomore Terry Gannon. Myers, who entered the game as the team’s leading scorer, struggled with his shooting touch, making just two of his 11 field goal attempts for nine points.
Gannon made his best contributions at the free throw line, where the Wolfpack produced most of its offense in this game. The sophomore from
Bailey scored 16 points before fouling out, hurting the shorter Paladins with a series of short jumpers late in the game.
The Pack’s free-throw shooting was a big help. Valvano’s team scored 26 points on 13 field goals and made 25 free of its 32 free throw attempts. In the second half, the Pack scored 12 points from the field and 15 points from the line, to hold on to the victory.
Furman, on the other hand, missed the front-end of a critical one-and-one opportunity with about five minutes to play. With the Pack holding on to a 43-42 lead, Paladin freshman Greg Spurling was fouled by Ernie Myers at the end of a two-minute possession. He missed the potential game-tying shot, the Wolfpack grabbed the rebound and held the ball until Furman’s Dave Conrady fouled Gannon with 90 seconds to play.
“No, not him!” screamed Furman coach Jene Davis, who didn’t want to put Gannon, a 92 percent free throw shooter, on the line.
Gannon made both shots, and is continuing to develop as a contributor for the Wolfpack, despite his slight 6-foot-0, 170-pound stature. He has scored 10 or more points in three consecutive games.
“I’m very pleased with the play of Terry Gannon, to be honest with you,” Valvano said. Right now, he’s our most consistent outside shooter. He comes in and knocks in free throws and gives us double figures in almost every game.”
With 56 seconds to play, Conrady hit a pair of free throws to return the margin to two points, but Wolfpack senior Sidney Lowe grabbed a loose ball and was fouled. He missed the front end of the one-and-one, slightly opening a door for Furman to tie the game. But that door was slammed closed by sophomore Lorenzo Charles, who grabbed the offensive rebound. Ernie Myers capped off the possession with a pair of free throws with 25 seconds to play, allowing the Wolfpack to finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“I never mean to take anything away from our opponent they played well and dictated the tempo but we can play better,” Valvano said. “But it’s good to not play your best sometimes and win. I’m happy with that.”
One of the game’s key moments happened in the first half, with NC State holding on to a fragile 14-13 advantage. Davis, the Paladins’ first-year coach, was upset by a no call on the other end of the court and was whistled for a technical foul by official Lenny Wirtz.
Gannon went to the line and hit both technical free throws, then drained a 20-foot jumper to complete the four-point possession.
“Take away my technical and that four-point possession,”
Valvano was glad he stuck around to help. The coach was originally scheduled to have surgery on Friday to repair his hernia, but decided to postpone it until after the season. He would have missed practice and three games during a week-long stay in the hospital.
“I don’t want the kids to think that Dereck [Whittenburg] went down and the Italian went to the hospital,” he said. “I’m going to stay with them and I want them to know that. I am going to tough it out.”
The Wolfpack now faces The Citadel, which beat Furman earlier this season but lost 81-36 to
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
