College Basketball: N.C. State 64, ECU 57

Published 12:00 am Friday, January 5, 2007

Associated Press

RALEIGH — Brandon Costner scored all 12 of his points in the second half as North Carolina State rallied to beat East Carolina 64-57 on Thursday night.

Costner hit 3-pointers three separate times, but it wasn’t until he hit two of three free throws with 1:37 left that he gave the Pack the lead for good.

East Carolina’s bid for its first win in 17 tries against the bigger Wolfpack came up short as the Pirates (4-7) lost for the sixth straight time this season and N.C. State (8-4) snapped a two-game losing streak.

East Carolina played zone defense most of the game and stymied N.C. State’s offense. The Wolfpack shot 41.9 percent (18 of 43) in the game and was outrebounded 34-31. But the Wolfpack dominated at the free-throw line, making 21 of 31 attempts, while the Pirates were only 2-of-9.

Jeremy Ingram led the Pirates with a season-high 24 points after getting 18 in the first half.

Ingram and Costner staged their own shooting exhibition in the final nine minutes of the game. Costner twice hit 3s to give N.C. State the lead, but Ingram responded with

3-pointers of his own to help East Carolina pull ahead.