Football
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Bethel's late 3-pointer lifts NC State over California

DALLAS -- Three years later, Cameron Bennerman and
North Carolina State got even.

Bennerman drained a clutch 3-pointer with 32 seconds left to
snap a tie, lifting the 10th-seeded Wolfpack to a hard-fought
58-52 victory over No. 7 California in a first-round matchup in
the Atlanta region.

Bennerman scored 18 points and Cedric Simmons added 12 for NC
State (22-9), which could not have picked a better time to snap
its four-game losing streak. The Wolfpack advance to the second
round for a matchup Sunday against either No. 2 Texas or
15th-seeded Pennsylvania.

With the score tied at 52-52 and less than a minute remaining,
Bennerman drove to the basket but had his shot blocked out of
bounds by Leon Powe. Following a timeout, North Carolina State
was unable to find an open player until Bennerman gave Rod
Benson a pump fake well beyond the arc, took one step towards
the basket, and drilled the biggest shot of his career.

"We ran a couple of plays to try to get a good shot," Bennerman
said. "The shot clock was winding down, we swung it around and
the guy ran out reckless. So I pump-faked, drove around and
went for the three."

"We played solid and took away their first, second and third
shots," California guard Ayinda Ubaka said. "We contested the
last shot and got what we wanted - except that it went in."

After Ubaka forced a wild 3-pointer on the other end, Gavin
Grant made a pair of free throws to seal the victory for the
Wolfpack, who got their revenge for a first-round loss to the
Bears in the first round of the 2003 Tournament.

In that one, California's Richard Midgley emerged as the hero
with the game-winning 3-pointer with 3.9 seconds left in
overtime. This time, the big basket was made by Bennerman, who
made 8-of-12 shots from the field in 35 spectacular minutes.

"You need special players to step up and Cameron's been that guy
for us throughout the year," North Carolina State coach Herb
Sendek said. "Tonight he was really special. He certainly made
the field goals that allowed us to take the lead we finished
with."

Bennerman's final basket capped a furious back-and-forth rally
that consumed most of the game, especially the second half.

NC State went on a 10-2 run to take a 44-41 lead on Bennerman's
layup with 8:35 left, but Omar Wilkes answered on the other end
with a 3-pointer to beat the shot clock and tie the game.

However, senior Tony Bethel drilled a 3-pointer to regain the
lead, sparking a 6-0 run by for the Wolfpack.

"I thought Tony Bethel did an extraordinarily good job all night
with providing us leadership," Sendek said. "When you looked
into his eyes, when you heard his voice, he provided that calm
reassurance a team needs in a close game on a stage like this.
So I'm not surprised that he stepped up and made the shot that
he did."

Powe, who finished with 14 points and 12 rebounds, made three
free throws to draw California (20-11) into a 50-50 tie with
2:57 remaining. But Bennerman answered 33 seconds later with a
challenging fadeaway to regain the lead.

Ubaka replied with a highly difficult jumper from just inside
the arc to make it 52-52 with 1:09 to play.

The leading scorer and rebounder in the Pac-10, Powe combined
with Benson for 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting in the first half.
However, the duo had a collective nine points after
intermission, making just 2-of-8 shots between them.

"They converged whenever I got the ball and I had a long way to
go," said Powe, who did grab a game-high 12 rebounds. "If I got
past the first man, they were waiting for me in the lane. They
did a very good job defensively."

"I thought we played excellent team defense for 40 minutes,"
Sendek added. "(Powe) really is an exceptional player. He not
only scores his own points, but is responsible for many of the
other points California scores."

Meanwhile, Bears coach Ben Braun did not blame his team for
coming up short, choosing rather to credit the opposition.

"They made it tough for us," Braun said. "They took away our
top scorer. ... Give NC State a lot of credit. They hit a lot
of shots, big shots, especially with the shot clock running
down. I thought our guys battled their hearts out, though."

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