Horner, Pack finish strong in finale

Dennis Horner was knocked down and bloodied in the RBC Center yesterday afternoon, but came back after getting stitches to close a cut above his right eye to hit four critical shots and lead N.C. State to a win in its regular-season finale.

N.C. State beat Boston College 66-54 with a strong final eight minutes after trailing 44-40 and 47-43. Horner gave the Wolfpack the lead for good by making two free throws for a 51-50 lead with 4:58 left, and then nailed a 3-pointer from the left wing to build the lead to four points.

He struck again two minutes later, hitting another 3-pointer from just to the right of the top of the key that put N.C. State in firm control at 62-52 with 2:13 left.

Horner said he could not have anticipated a better personal finish on Senior Day in his last N.C. State home game, after having to get stitches to close a cut above his right eye that was opened when he was knocked to the floor.

"We were just playing basketball in the last eight minutes," Horner said. "We were just passing and cutting through (the lane), and people were getting open.

"I wasn't thinking about the shots. I wasn't thinking about deep shots. I was just coming off and letting it go."

N.C. State finished on a 26-10 run in the final 7:28. Horner and C.J. Williams, a reserve swingman, combined for 18 of the first 22 points in the run to give N.C. State its 62-52 advantage.

Horner scored 11 of his 14 points in the stretch and Williams scored seven of his 14 points.

Tracy Smith led N.C. State with 19 points. N.C. State did not commit a turnover in the second half.

Horner was injured with 18:13 left. He had shot a layup when Josh Southern, Boston College's center, ran into him trying to block the shot. Horner fell hard to the floor on his right side, and his head hit the floor.

Horner was taken to the locker room and an N.C. State team doctor closed the cut over his eye with six or seven stitches. Julius Mays replaced Horner and made both free throws to give N.C. State a 28-25 lead.

"As soon as I fell I was a little dazed," Horner said.

"I was actually a little upset because I missed my free throws out there. Julius got some easy points. I took the fall and he got the easy points."

After seeing blood flow from the cut, Coach Sidney Lowe of N.C. State said he wasn't sure whether Horner would play again in the game. Horner returned to the bench with 13:46 left, sat down and returned to play with 10:55 left, with Boston College ahead 38-34.

"Next thing I knew he was sitting right there on the bench," Lowe said. "I saw him and I said, ‘Jesus, get this fellow in the game.' I told him, `Why don't you tell me the next time you come back?'"

N.C. State improved to 17-14 overall and 5-11 in the ACC by winning for the third time in four games. N.C. State earned the ACC Tournament's No. 11 seed and will play Clemson, the No. 6 seed, in Thursday's first round at about 9:30 p.m.

Boston College fell to 15-15 and 6-10. It is the tournament's No. 8 seed and will play Virginia, the No. 9 seed, at noon on Thursday.

Rakim Sanders and Tyler Roche led Boston College with 11 points each. Corey Raji, a starting guard, did not play in the second half after injuring a shoulder and was limited to six points.

The last game for Horner and Farnold Degand, N.C. State's other senior, ended in better fashion than it started. Both were among three players removed by Lowe with 17:41 left in the first half after calling a time out after N.C. State missed its only shot and had three consecutive turnovers and was trailing 6-0.

"No, it's not hard at all," Lowe said. "We were trying to win the game. I said to one of our seniors, `Are you ready to play yet?' because I didn't want to put him back in until he said he was ready to go."

bcole@wsjournal.com.

BC Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts

Jackson 26 3-8 1-2 0-4 4 4 7

Raji 13 3-4 0-0 0-1 0 1 6

Trapani 34 3-7 2-2 0-4 2 3 9

Sanders 34 4-8 2-4 0-5 5 1 11

Southern 16 0-2 0-0 0-2 3 4 0

Paris 14 1-4 0-0 0-0 0 0 2

Roche 23 5-8 0-0 2-4 1 3 11

Ravenel 17 2-5 1-2 0-2 2 4 5

Elmore 15 1-2 1-1 0-1 1 0 3

Dunn 8 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 2 0

Totals 200 22-49 7-11 5-27 18 22 54

Percentages: FG .449, FT .636. 3-Point Goals: 3-16, .188 (Sanders 1-2, Roche 1-4, Trapani 1-4, Paris 0-2, Jackson 0-4). Team Rebounds: 3. Blocked Shots: 2 (Sanders, Paris).

Turnovers: 11 (Jackson 3, Sanders 3, Elmore, Dunn, Raji, Paris, Southern). Steals: 4 (Raji 2, Southern, Sanders). Technical Fouls: None.

NCSU Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts

Gonzalez 19 2-5 0-0 0-2 2 4 4

Degand 15 0-2 1-2 0-0 1 2 1

Wood 12 1-2 0-0 0-1 0 0 3

TSmith 32 7-12 5-7 1-7 2 2 19

Horner 25 4-7 4-4 0-3 1 0 14

Howell 14 1-3 0-0 0-2 5 2 2

Painter 5 0-2 1-2 1-1 0 1 1

Williams 35 6-10 1-2 1-5 0 1 14

Davis 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Mays 23 1-2 3-4 0-1 4 4 6

Thomas 17 1-1 0-0 1-6 0 1 2

Totals 200 23-46 15-21 4-29 15 17 66

Percentages: FG .500, FT .714. 3-Point Goals: 5-12, .417 (Horner 2-3, Wood 1-1, Williams 1-2, Mays 1-2, Howell 0-1, Degand 0-1, Gonzalez 0-2). Team Rebounds: 1. Blocked Shots: 2 (Mays, Williams). Turnovers: 10 (Howell 2, Williams 2, T.Smith 2, Wood, Gonzalez, Degand, Thomas). Steals: 6 (Howell 3, Wood, Degand, Mays). Technical Fouls: None.

Boston College 23 31 -- 54


N.C. State 24 42 -- 66

A--15,104.