Men's Basketball Falls to N.C. State in Exhibition Game

RALEIGH, N.C. – Mars Hill lost to NCAA Division I opponent N.C. State 109-66 in a men's basketball exhibition game Friday night at PNC Arena. Nassyr Daniel (Photo courtesy of Keenan Hairston) scored 16 points and pulled down seven rebounds in his debut as a Lion.

Daniel connected on 57.1% (8-14) of his shots and added a block. Vernon Jackson followed with 11 points and a team high nine rebounds. Charles Moore tallied eight points and five assists. Mars Hill shot 39.7% (23-58) from the floor, 40% (4-10) from three-point range and 61.5% (16-26) at the foul line.

Torin Dorn led the Wolfpack with 19 points followed by Allerik Freeman with 18 points and eight rebounds. Lavar Batts, Jr., and Markell Johnson followed with 16 points apiece. Johnson recorded a game high 12 assists in the win. NCSU shot 58.8% (40-68) from the field, 39.1% (9-23) from behind the arc and 62.5% (20-32) from the free throw line. The Wolfpack won the battle of the boards, 40-34. NCSU scored 27 points off the break, 35 points off of Mars Hill miscues and 50 points in the paint.

Lennard Freeman scored inside 21 seconds into the game and the Wolfpack never trailed for the remainder of the contest. A three-pointer by Sam Hunt with 13:01 left in the first half capped off a 28-7 start by NCSU. Mars Hill went on a 10-6 run over the next four minutes to cut the deficit to 14 points (31-17) after Brandon Watkins hit a layup with 9:15 on the clock. The Wolfpack closed out the first half outscoring the Lions, 23-12 to take a 54-29 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Mars Hill would not get any closer in the second half. After a 28-17 run, NCSU enjoyed a 34-point advantage with 8:18 left in regulation after Dorn scored in the paint. A pair of free throws by Jalen Williams trimmed the Wolfpack lead to 27 points (82-55) with 6:57 left in the contest but that was as close as the Lions would get.

Mars Hill will face Belmont Abbey on November 10, in the South Atlantic Conference/Conference Carolinas Challenge Tournament held in Gaffney, S.C. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.