NC State’s apparent buzzer-beater comes too late

Trevor Lacey celebrated after he hit what he thought was the game-winning basket against Wofford on Sunday.

The N.C. State junior guard made a 3-pointer from the top of the key and then ran to the opposite end of the floor where he was mobbed by his teammates while the crowd at Reynolds Coliseum went delirious.

But a win turned into a loss – by a tenth of a second. Lacey got off his last shot too late. After a lengthy video review, the basket was overturned and N.C. State lost 55-54.

Wofford coach Mike Young, who led his team to a Southern Conference title and an NCAA tournament bid last season, couldn’t quite believe it.

“I thought (Lacey’s shot) was good,” Young said.

The overjoyed Terriers coach continued: “You know, N.C. State losing to Wofford is probably not supposed to happen.”

But that’s what happened after Justin Gordon’s layup with 1.9 seconds left gave the Terriers a 55-54 lead.

N.C. State (8-2) led by as many as nine points in the second half, and 52-46 with 3 minutes, 20 seconds to play, but couldn’t close out the Terriers.

On the final sequence, Lacey got the ball on a perfect pass from Lennard Freeman on the N.C. State side of halfcourt and then took two dribbles before jumping and releasing a 22-footer.

The ball swished in and the N.C. State bench erupted. Video replay showed the red light, which indicates the clock is at zero, was on when the ball was still in Lacey’s right hand.

“We celebrated and thought the game was over,” said Lacey, who finished with a game-high 18 points.

“We executed well, it was just on me being aware of the clock.”

The ending was reminiscent of N.C. State’s last-second win against St. Bonaventure in coach Mark Gottfried’s first season in 2011-12. The Wolfpack escaped in that road game with a made basket at the buzzer against a strong mid-major team for a win.

The Wolfpack could not do the same on Sunday.

“These kind of games are good games,” Gottfried said. “I like playing them. They’re hard but I like playing them.

“We’ll learn from it and it will make us better.”

N.C. State led 52-46 before Wofford (8-2) made a final surge. Karl Cochran drained a 3 to make it 52-49 at 3:15 and Lee Skinner’s basket with 1:28 left made it 52-51.

Wolfpack forward Kyle Washington had a hook shot rim in and out with 1:06 on the clock and Eric Garcia responded with a long 2-pointer to give the Terriers a 53-52 with 51.1 left in the game.

Lacey got the lead right back, 54-53, with a 15-foot jumper at 35.1. Cochran missed a 3-pointer on Wofford’s next possession but Gordon got the rebound, one of nine offensive rebounds for the Terriers.

BeeJay Anya blocked Gordon’s put-back attempt but Wofford retained possession with 6.7 seconds and Gordon scored off a reset after the subsequent inbounds play.

Lacey, who didn’t play in N.C. State’s win against Charleston Southern on Friday night because of an ankle injury, got one last, good look but it was just hair too late.

“I thought Trevor did everything right, including making a tough shot,” Gottfried said. “Like I said, it was just a tenth of a second short.”

This story was originally published December 14, 2014 at 7:52 PM.