Bryce, Beverly lead NC State over Harvard 78-77 in NIT
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Braxton Beverly scored all his 10 points in the second half and forced a Harvard turnover in the closing seconds to help N.C. State beat the Crimson 78-77 on Sunday night in the second round of the NIT.
The No. 2 seed Wolfpack plays fifth-seeded Lipscomb in the quarterfinals Wednesday.
CJ Bryce had 16 points, Devon Daniels 14 and Markell Johnson scored 13 for N.C. State (24-11). Torin Dorn added 10 points and eight rebounds.
Beverly hit two free throws and then made a 3-pointer to spark a 9-2 spurt that gave the Wolfpack the lead for good at 68-63 with five minutes left. After Harvard’s Rio Haskett made a 3, Dorn made 1-of-2 free throws to make it 76-73 with 24 seconds to go. Bryce Aiken drew a foul with 17 seconds remaining and made the first foul shot, to make it a two-point game, but missed the second. Danilo Djuricic grabbed the offensive rebound and kicked it out to Aiken who pulled up for a deep 3-pointer. Beverly closed out quickly, changing Aiken’s shot and pressuring him into losing it out of bounds.
Bryce hit two free throws to make it 78-74 before Rio Haskett’s running 3-pointer with 2.5 seconds to go capped the scoring.
Aiken and Noah Kirkwood led Harvard (19-12) with 19 points apiece and Chris Lewis scored 16.
The Crimson made 29 of 55 (52.7 percent) from the field and limited N.C. State to just 40-percent shooting. The Wolfpack, who tied their season low with seven turnovers, scored 23 points off 17 Harvard miscues and scored 17 second-chance points off 17 offensive rebounds.
