Boston College Athletics
Boston College
North Carolina State
Men's Basketball Tops NC State, 93-81
January 16, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Jan 16, 2003
By DAVID DROSCHAK
AP Sports Writer
RALEIGH, N.C. - Troy Bell scored 25 points and Ryan Sidney added 24 as Boston College snapped a four-game losing streak with a 93-81 victory over North Carolina State on Thursday night.
N.C. State (8-4) came into the game 34-3 against non-conference teams since moving to the RBC Center, but a cold shooting night did in the Wolfpack, which started 5-0 against an easy schedule and has gone 3-4 since.
The Eagles (7-6) used a 10-2 run midway through the second half to open up a 12-point lead as the Wolfpack went 8:41 without a basket and finished shooting 38 percent and 6-for-29 from 3-point range.
N.C. State was also hurt by the loss of leading scorer Julius Hodge, who had 21 points but fouled out with 5:43 left and the Wolfpack down 66-56.
Marcus Melvin, who averages 13.6 points, had the worst game of his career for N.C. State as he was held scoreless on 0-for-7 shooting.
The Eagles managed to build on their slim lead despite Sidney and fellow starter Nate Doornekamp picking up their fourth fouls early in the second half. Sidney was called for his third and fourth fouls in a span of 16 seconds - the second one a questionable offensive foul that sent the forward to the bench with 15:55 left.
However, Jermaine Watson scored seven of Boston College's 10 points during its mini run that helped his club separate from the Wolfpack.
 Boston College's Craig Smith (1) blocks the shot of NC State's Julius Hodge (24).
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Once the Wolfpack closed to 76-70, the Eagles made 15-of-18 foul shots over the final 1:47 to seal it.
Bell was 13-for-13 from the line, while Sidney was 11-for-13 from the field.
Craig Smith added 20 points for the Eagles to run his streak of 20-point games to seven straight.
Josh Powell matched his career-high with 23 points for the Wolfpack.
Hodge started slowly, missing five of his first six shots before heating up with a baseline shot, a 3-pointer and a bucket in the lane in a span of 1:33 to finish with 16 in a half in which neither team led by more than six points.
N.C. State's switching defenses helped slow down Bell and Smith, who combine to average 44.1 points a game, in the opening 20 minutes. But Sidney picked up the slack inside in the opening 20 minutes with 20 points on 9-for-11 shooting.
At one point, Sydney had 18 of Boston College's 31 points.
