N.C. State 88, Gardner-Webb 76

RALEIGH, N.C. - Engin Atsur scored 26 points while Gavin Grant had 15 of his 23 points after the break to lead North Carolina State past Gardner-Webb 88-76 on Friday night.<br> <br> Ben McCauley added 14 points for the Wolfpack (4-0), which remained unbeaten under new coach Sidney Lowe. Courtney Fells also contributed by scoring all eight of his points in the second half, helping N.C. State rally from a five-point deficit early in the period.<br> <br> Ricky McPhee scored 20 points to lead the Runnin&#39; Bulldogs (0-5).<br> <br> The Wolfpack had some early trouble with Gardner-Webb, allowing the visitors to hit seven first-half 3-pointers and take a 36-33 lead at the break. But the Wolfpack answered with a 23-6 run early in the second half to go ahead to stay, then got some key baskets to hold that lead when Gardner-Webb tried to claw its way back into the game.<br> <br> Both teams shot better than 50 percent for the game, but the Wolfpack held the Runnin&#39; Bulldogs to one 3 in the second half. N.C. State also took a 36-22 rebounding advantage, scoring 15 second-chance points off 16 offensive rebounds.<br> <br> Trailing 42-37, the Wolfpack started its spurt behind Grant, McCauley and Fells. Grant looked more assertive with nine points in the run, knocking down jumpers and drives to the basket while McCauley scored three times inside.<br> <br> But it wasn&#39;t until Fells got going that the Wolfpack got some breathing room. The sophomore came in averaging 10.7 points per game but went scoreless in the first half, taking only one shot and playing just seven minutes after picking up two fouls.<br> <br> After Grant&#39;s jumper from the right corner, Atsur found Fells for 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions in front of the N.C. State bench for a 54-46 lead. Then, after Grant scored again on a drive, Fells knocked down a jumper from the elbow to close the run and give the Wolfpack a 60-48 lead with 12:24 left.<br> <br> Gardner-Webb got as close as 60-54 on a free throw from Thomas Sanders midway through the half, but the Wolfpack scored on its next three possessions to take momentum back. McCauley first found Atsur for a layup inside, Atsur found Grant for a layup on the next possession and Atsur closed the run with a 3 off a feed from McCauley to push the margin to 67-54 with 8:56 left.<br> <br> That lead grew to as much as 20 points in the final minutes.

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