By Bret Strelow
bstrelow@salisburypost.com
RALEIGH ó Virginia’s Sylven Landesberg participated in a verbal back-and-forth with Courtney Fells, telling the N.C. State senior he was going to miss his free throws.
Fells got in the last word as the Wolfpack held on for a 72-67 home victory against the Cavaliers on Saturday afternoon. He silenced Landesberg by shooting 4-for-4 from the line in the final 7.2 seconds.
“He said some things that I kinda didn’t like,” Fells said. “I let him know, ‘You just lost the ballgame, so if I were you I wouldn’t be talking.’ ”
Fells held Landesberg, who finished with 16 points, without a field goal for the first 12 minutes.
Two free throws from Landesberg cut Virginia’s deficit to 68-67 with 8.7 seconds left, and Fells answered with two free throws. He then fouled Landesberg on purpose to prevent an attempt at a game-tying 3-pointer, and Landesberg missed the front end of a one-and-one.
Fells secured the rebound and sealed the outcome at the other end.
“That’s the difference in winning and losing games, someone making a play,” N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe said. “He made two.”
The Wolfpack (15-10, 5-7 ACC) won for the fourth time in six games even though Fells totaled only nine points and Virginia prevented Brandon Costner, who hurt his right elbow early in the second half, from scoring in 22 minutes.
Freshman C.J. Williams had a career-high 16 points, and fellow reserve Dennis Horner added 12. They went a combined 7-for-11 from 3-point range while joining starters Tracy Smith (13 points) and Ben McCauley (10) in double figures.
Virginia coach Dave Leitao said he warned his team that anybody on N.C. State’s roster could hurt the Cavaliers (9-14, 3-9).
“They’ve got 11 guys, really, who are all pretty skilled,” Leitao said. “It puts you in a bit of a quandary, and our defense isn’t predicated a lot on help. The more you help, the more they play off it.”
N.C. State has held a second-half lead of at least 17 points in six of its last eight games, with two losses against North Carolina being the exceptions.
Virginia needed more than five minutes to scratch Saturday, and it trailed 21-4 midway through the first half. The Cavs responded with a 21-7 run and were behind 33-29 at the break.
Smith drew three fouls near the basket and scored five unanswered points in the first three minutes of the second half. The Wolfpack pushed ahead 50-33 and possessed a 13-point advantage with 31/2 minutes remaining. Landesberg made the first two of three 3-pointers that gave Virginia hope, and Horner missed two free throws with N.C. State leading 68-65.
Lowe elected to foul both times the Cavaliers had the ball while facing a three-point deficit in the last 17 seconds.
“I wanted to have control of the game,” Lowe said. “I wanted it to be on us. I wanted us to either make or miss free throws.”
With Fells at the line, the latter wasn’t an option.