RALEIGH, NC -- A tough shooting performance was more than enough to overcome for the University of Delaware men’s basketball squad Sunday afternoon as the Blue Hens suffered their first loss of the season with a 73-57 setback to host North Carolina State in the third and final round of the Hispanic College Fund Classic at the RBC Center.

Delaware (2-1), which opened the season with wins over The Citadel and Stetson in the first two rounds of the tournament, stayed within striking distance for most of the second half before the Wolfpack (3-0), a strong contender for the Atlantic Coast Conference title this season, pulled away in the final five minutes.

The Blue Hens, who got 14 points and a game-high 16 rebounds from senior All-American candidate Harding Nana, shot just 18 of 60 from the field (.300), including just 23 percent shooting in the opening half, in suffering the loss. North Carolina State held a big 30-15 advantage at the foul line. Nana was named to the all-tournament team.

Senior guard Rulon Washington (right) added 13 points, including three three-pointers, and five rebounds off the bench while junior Calvin Cannon added 12 points for the Blue Hens, who will open Colonial Athletic Association action Tuesday night at league newcomer Georgia State in Atlanta.

“We competed extremely well today,” said Delaware head coach David Henderson. “We came in here expecting to win and we played hard and tough all day. We are not satisfied with the loss, but we gained a lot of experience and that will help us the rest of the season.”

North Carolina State, which received enough votes to be ranked No. 26 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll, got 22 points each from forward Gavin Grant and center Cedric Simmons as both had six field goals and 10 free throws. The Wolfpack, which posted easy 30-point wins over Stetson and The Citadel in their two tournament games, hit on 30 of 39 shots from the foul line and committed just 12 turnovers the entire
game. Grant added nine rebounds while Simmons also had four blocked shots. The Wolfpack shot 56 percent from the field in the second half (14 of 25) to pull away.

The Hens, who were playing their first ACC opponent since 1998-99 (Virginia), trailed by just two points midway through the opening half before the Wolfpack went on a 10-0 run to go up 20-8 with 9:42 left in the stanza. North Carolina State hit five free throws during the run and got six points from Grant. The Wolfpack eventually built a 32-21 lead at the half as Delaware hit just 7 of 30 shots from the field.

North Carolina State built the lead to 16 points twice in the first eight minutes of the second stanza, going up 47-31 with 12:24 left to play. But the Blue Hens battled back and cut the lead to eight points several times, the last at 55-47 with 6:49 left when Andrew Washington hit a jumper to cap a 16-8 Blue Hen run. The Wolfpack then put the game
away as it answered with an 11-1 run capped by a three-pointer by Ilian Evtimov - the team’s only three-pointer of the game in 11 attempts - to go up 66-48 with 3:50 left to play.

In the other tournament game Sunday, The Citadel (1-2) knocked off Stetson (0-3) by a 73-60 score.

Boxscore