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North Carolina
Binghamton
Tar Heels Outlast Binghamton, 61-60
December 16, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Dec 16, 2001
By DAVID DROSCHAK
AP Sports Writer
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - If Jason Capel was a stat guy, he wouldn't have been asking for the ball with the game hanging in the balance Sunday.
After all, the 6-foot-8 senior was just 4-for-34 from 3-point range this season before he sank one from beyond the arc with 58 seconds left to lift North Carolina to a 61-60 win over Binghamton and avoid another embarrassing loss.
"I know I can shoot the ball, but sometimes it's different when those lights come on," Capel said. "I haven't been shooting the ball well, but I've been saying all along that I'm not going to pay attention to the statistics. It's my job to shoot the ball and help this team win."
The moment came with less than a minute left and the Tar Heels in danger of another loss at home to a team from the America East Conference and in its first season of Division I. The Bearcats are ranked 245th among just over 300 schools in the RPI ratings, and have four Division I wins compared with 1,783 for North Carolina..
"After that ball was being swung to him, I knew he was going to shoot it," UNC coach Matt Doherty said of Capel's winning bucket. "I told Jason (Saturday), `I have the shooting stats from the first day of practice and you were first or second in 3-point percentage, foul shooting and two-point field goal percentage. You are a great shooter.'
"Now, it's a matter of being patient and getting good shots and that was a great shot - he was wide open."
What had been a miserable season so far for North Carolina - with losses to Hampton and Davidson - almost got unbearable as the Tar Heels (2-4) needed a late rally to hold off the Bearcats (3-6) in the Smith Center.
inghamton shot just 34 percent, but hung close by tying a school-record with 12 3-pointers.
"A win is a win," Capel said. "It's not like we're 10-0 and No. 1 in the country. We're a team that's trying to find an identity and find some chemistry and put things together. Any positive we can get out of this - especially a win - is going to build confidence. That's the most important thing now."
The Tar Heels trailed 56-51 with four minutes left before Capel rallied his club with a three-point play and an assist to Jawad Williams for a slam dunk.
ut the Bearcats still led by one with 1:14 remaining before Capel made his clutch 3-pointer.
On the ensuing inbounds pass, Kris Lang, who missed a majority of the first half with a virus, dove on the floor for a loose ball and called timeout.
However, North Carolina, playing for the first time since a 20-point loss to Kentucky eight days ago, wasn't home free just yet.
After a turnover by Jackie Manuel, Lang went high to block a driving shot by Brett Watson with 10.6 seconds left, and after a wild scramble for the rebound, Melvin Scott was able to call a timeout as he was falling out of bounds.
"He played like a warrior today," Brian Bersticker said of Lang. "Just to come back in from having an I-V in him (at halftime) and to come up with those two huge plays at the end, it was amazing."
Scott was fouled with seconds left, but missed both and a half-court 3-point attempt by Jeffery Daws that would have won it wasn't close as the buzzer sounded.
"My wife and kids were sitting over there blowing at it so it hooked to the right," Doherty said of Binghamton's last-ditch shot.
Williams paced North Carolina with 12 points, while Will Johnson added 11 and Capel 10.
"We've got to enjoy the wins because we haven't had many," Doherty said. "For me to go into the locker room after this game and say how disappointed I am would really be hard on those guys - and I'm not disappointed. Let's learn from a win."
Daws, who made six 3-pointers, led the Bearcats with 19 points.
inghamton also had 12 3-pointers against Ithaca in 1998.
"We had a shot to win the game," said Binghamton coach Al Walker, whose program moved up to Division I. "We've got four career Division I wins and we came in and had a shot to win the basketball game. Our kids did a great job."
The Tar Heels bolted to a 12-0 lead and was up 30-19 later in the first half before the Bearcats rallied and North Carolina was forced to go without the sick Lang for 12 minutes.
inghamton made eight of 11 3-pointers over a 10-minute span and North Carolina reverted to turning the ball over as the Bearcats tied it minutes before the break as the crowd grew silent.
