Dec. 8, 2012
Contact: Greg Murphy
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RALEIGH, N.C. - No. 24/25 North Carolina State had five players in double figures and shot 55-percent from the field to claim an 80-63 victory over Cleveland State on Saturday afternoon in Reynolds Coliseum.
The loss dropped CSU to 6-3 this year, while the Wolfpack improved to 6-2.
Charlie Lee paced the Vikings with 15 points and three assists, while Devon Long just missed his first career double-double, finishing with 12 points and nine rebounds in his second career start. Tim Kamczyc scored 10 points, while Marlin Mason added nine.
Richard Howell led N.C. State with 17 points and 10 rebounds, while C.J. Leslie added 19 points and eight rebounds. T.J. Warren scored 16 points off the bench, while Rodney Purvis (11) and Lorenzo Brown (10) also reached double figures.
CSU started strong, using seven points from Lee to take a quick 11-8 lead less than four minutes in. Lee hit a three-pointer with just under 16 minutes to play in the half, but an illegal screen on CSU wiped out the bucket.
From there, a 12-2 run by N.C. State allowed them to take a 20-13 lead at the 12:53 mark and they would not trail the rest of the afternoon.
The lead would swell to as many as 17 points (43-26) with 2:24 to play, but back-to-back three-pointers by Kamczyc and Forbes brought CSU back within 11 points (43-32) with just over a minute to play. However, two baskets by Warren to end the half gave N.C. State a 47-32 lead at the intermission.
CSU would cut its deficit to 10 points (57-47) on a three-pointer by Lee with 14 minutes to play, but could not get the lead back under double digits as N.C. State would answer every run.
The Vikings were done in by 18 turnovers which led to 17 points for N.C. State. CSU did outrebound the Wolfpack, 31-28.
The Vikings will be back in action next Saturday (Dec. 15) with a 2:00 p.m. contest at St. Bonaventure.
