Shakeel Moore Delivers in the Clutch, NC State Defeats Boston College

RALEIGH, N.C. – Freshman guard Shakeel Moore dropped in two clutch shots in the final minutes of the game as the North Carolina State Wolfpack pulled through to defeat the Boston College Eagles 79-76 in the Wolfpacks’ third consecutive home contest on Wednesday night.

The Wolfpack was led by senior forward DJ Funderburk who returned to action after missing the last three games due to COVID-19 protocol. Funderburk finished the game with 21 points and five rebounds.

Junior forward Manny Bates was sat out right before the end of the first half with an injury to the knee and did return for the rest of the game. Jericole Hellems showed out for the Wolfpack tonight. The junior forward managed to score 20 points and controlled the paint with 6 rebounds, playing a total of 35 minutes. Freshman guard Shakeel Moore and Senior guard Devon Daniels both helped propel the Wolfpack to their win each putting 12 points on the board. 

NC State started the game very fast pace and ready to dominate the court. While, Boston College (2-5, 0-1 ACC) struggled with 10 turnovers just in the opening half. The Wolfpack offense ate this up and used this to their complete advantage for a 12-2 run early on in the game.

After struggling to keep up with NC State’s tempo, Boston College was finally able to get into a rhythm only behind the Wolfpack by 10 pts. BG guard Makai Ashton-Langford led the Eagles with seven points shooting 3-3 from the field in the first half.

 With 3 seconds left in the half, Ashton-Langford manages to push and score 2 from the field. NC State with 32 points in the paint leads with 45 and Boston College trails behind with 35  at the end of the first half. 

At the start of the second half, Boston College began to look like a new team. The Eagles did not do their best stopping Funderburk but surprisingly were able to hold the rest of the Wolfpack. 

The Wolfpack temporarily lost forward DJ Funderburk in the last 10 minutes of the game due to foul trouble, they were left challenged having to take on the Eagles without both Manny Bates and DJ Funderburk. 

Boston College began making a lot of shots in the second half, closing in on the NC State Wolfpack and truly putting up a fight. The 6’ 2’’ Guard Wynston Tabbs aggressively took over and lead with 12 points in the half.

Just in the nick of time, head coach Kevin Keatts realized he was in trouble and allowed Funderburk to return with 4 minutes left in the half, and the Eagles and Wolfpack became tied 71-71.

Tabbs would give BC the lead late with a tough three-pointer from the wing, but NC State’s  Shakeel Moore would eventually knock down two late clutch shots to give the Wolfpack the 79-76 advantage when the clock hit zeros. 

The Wolfpack will rest up before hitting the road to play at Miami on Saturday, January 2 in the first game of 2021.