Pack Moves Past Hokies
For the third time in three days, the Wolfpack as advanced in the ACC tournament! On semifinal Saturday the Pack took on the Virginia Tech Hokies and emerged with the 72-64 victory. Unlike the Virginia game last night, the Pack got out to a lead early in the first half. A Dennis Horner three late in the half put the Pack up 10. However, VT made a couple of baskets in the final minute of the half and cut the Wolfpack lead to 31-25 at halftime. A scary moment for all Wolfpack fans came in the first half when Engin Atsur re-injured this hamstring that kept him out of lots of games this season. He got it stretched out and came back into the game a few minutes later but he was not quite himself. He fought hard and managed to play most of the rest of the game however he only scored 3 points and had three assists. After the game he said that noting would keep him out of the final tomorrow.
In the opening moments of the second half VT cut into the Wolfpack lead and tied the game at 35. However, Bryan Nieman responded with a big three that gave the Wolfpack the lead once again. Another Wolfpack lead disappeared when VT hit a three to tie the game at 48 with seven minutes left in the game. Once again the Pack responded with two points each from Ben McCauley, Courtney Fells, and Gavin Grant to push the lead back to six point. Very good foul shooting down the stretch allowed the Wolfpack to keep the Hokies at arms length and get the 8 point victory.
The individual numbers looked like this: Gavin Grant had 20 points, five rebounds, and went 11-11 from the foul line. Courtney Fells had 16 points and 6 rebounds. Brandon Costner had 10 points and 4 rebounds. Ben McCauley had 8 points and 4 rebounds. Engin Atsur added 3 points, 2 rebounds, and 3 assists. There were also some contributions from the bench. Dennis Horner had 8 points and 2 rebound in his 14 minutes. Bryan Nieman added 5 points and 1 rebound in 17 minutes. Trevor Ferguson saw his first action of the tournament and had 2 points and 1 rebound in 4 minutes. Justin Clark played one minute and failed to score.
So, for the third time this year the Pack beats Virginia Tech. With the win the Pack moves to 18-14 and into the ACC Championship Game on Sunday afternoon against chapel hill. GO PACK!!!!