University of North Carolina Athletics
Bersticker Sparks Tar Heels
June 21, 1999 | Men's Basketball
March 5, 1999
by Aaron Beard
Special to tarheelblue.com
CHARLOTTE - He walked to the scorers table with the same way he had done in 30 previous games this season. There was no confident strut. No knowing smile. Nothing indicated that Fridays ACC Tournament quarterfinal game between North Carolina and Georgia Tech would be Brian Berstickers night.
ut when he checked into the game with 12:49 remaining, he quickly showed that this night would be like no other in his UNC career. With the Tar Heels tenuously holding to a 41-40 lead, Bersticker scored six points and pulled down a rebound in just more than two minutes. That spurt from Bersticker sparked North Carolina on a 30-5 run to close out the game and turn a tight affair into a 78-49 Tar Heel rout.
ersticker finished with 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting in 13 minutes of action. He added two rebounds and two blocked shots.
"When you get in the game, you try to contribute any way you can," Bersticker said. "On the bench you try to get the team excited. When you get in there, it might be by making a good pass, setting a solid screen or crashing the boards.
"Tonight I got the ball in the post where I wanted it and I crashed the boards and I think I played good defense."
ersticker, who scored four points in the first half, wasted no time in befuddling the Tech defense. He nailed a jumper from the left baseline off a pass from Ronald Curry just 19 seconds after he replaced center Brendan Haywood in the line-up. On Techs next possession, Bersticker rebounded a missed 3-pointer from Jason Floyd.
After hitting two free throws on UNCs next possession, Bersticker nailed a turnaround jumper from the right block to give UNC a 47-40 lead.
"North Carolina was a very explosive team," Tech coach Bobby Cremins said. "All of a sudden it was boom! I dont know what happened after that 12-minute mark."
Fridays game was Berstickers second-consecutive strong outing. He scored 11 points on 5-for-9 shooting against Duke last week.
