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It took everything the 11th seeded North Carolina State Wolfpack had to knock off feisty Cinderella 14 seeded Oakland in NCAA Tournament action on Saturday afternoon, but after a nailbiter of a thrilling overtime finish the Wolfpack secured their first Sweet 16 appearance in 9 years.
It was the 7th straight win for the Wolfpack (24-14), who have been one of the hottest teams in the nation since they ran the gauntlet and won the ACC tournament nearly two weeks ago. On the other side of the coin, America’s darling Golden Grizzlies (24-12) will be heading home just two days after shocking 3 seed Kentucky.
NC State controlled the game for the majority of its duration, but Oakland hung around, even surging ahead in the final minutes. Even so, NC State would not be denied, answering every Oakland bucket with a score of their own. At the end of regulation tied at 66 a halfcourt heave from NC State nearly fell in, but in the end five extra minutes were needed to decide this contest. NC State simply overwhelmed the Golden Grizzlies in the extra period, pulling away to end the game and win by the final score of 79-73.
Dominant big man DJ Burns led the Wolfpack with 24 points and Michael O’Connell added 12. Mohamed Diarra, DJ Horne, and Casey Morsell each contributed 11 points, as all five NC State starters eclipsed the double digit mark.
Trey Townsend and Jack Gohlke led the Golden Grizzlies in the scoring department as Townsend dropped 30 points and Gohlke added 22 points with 6 three pointers.
The Wolfpack will await the winner of #2 seeded Marquette and #10 seeded Colorado in the regional semifinals next week.
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