Wong, Timberlake lead Miami past North Carolina State 65-59

RALEIGH, N.C.  — Isaiah Wong scored 24 points and Earl Timberlake had six of his career-high 13 in the last 68 seconds as Miami finally won a close game, defeating North Carolina State 64-59 on Saturday.

Wong had a layup in an 8-0 run inside the last four minutes that put the Hurricanes, who lost their previous three games by a total of five points, ahead 58-54. Timberlake capped the run from the foul line with 1:08 to play.

The Wolfpack got a quick 3-pointer from Thomas Allen in the right corner, his fourth, to make it a one-point game. Miami ran the clock down before Wong missed a layup but Timberlake grabbed the rebound and slammed it home. Seconds later he grabbed a Wolfpack miss and was fouled, the freshman calmly making two at the line for a 62-57 lead.

Wong added free throws after N.C. State missed for a 14-3 closing run before DJ Funderburk scored at the buzzer.

The Hurricanes (5-5, 1-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) were coming off losses of 80-78 to Virginia Tech, 66-65 to Clemson and 67-65 to North Carolina.

Allen scored 14 points to lead the Wolfpack (6-3, 2-2), who played their fourth tight game. Funderburk scored 12 and matched his career-high with 11 rebounds and Devon Daniels added 11. N.C. State’s last three games were decided by a total of 10 points, including two wins.

Miami led 32-31 after a tight first half. Until the closing seconds, Miami’s biggest lead in the second half came after Wong and Timberlake combined for a 7-0 run for a 40-36 lead. In the middle of the half, Daniels and Funderburk combined for 10 points in an 11-0 that gave N.C. State it’s biggest second-half lead at 51-45.

In the second half, Miami shot 52% and made 9 of 12 free throws while the Wolfpack shot 35.5% and was 2 of 6 from the line.

Miami goes to Boston College on Tuesday. N.C. State is scheduled to play at Florida State on Wednesday.