Nick Martinelli scored 17 of his 25 points in the second half and found teammate Arrinten Page for the tiebreaking layup with 0.8 seconds remaining to give Northwestern a 79-77 win over South Carolina at the Greenbrier Tip-Off on Sunday in White Sulphur Springs, W. Va.
With time running down in a tied contest, Martinelli found himself covered on the baseline, just outside of the paint. However, he had enough room to whip a left-handed pass into the lane for Page (10 points), who caught the ball, dribbled toward the hoop, then put a left-handed attempt off the glass and in for the winner.
Northwestern (5-1) prevailed despite blowing a 74-62 lead with 4:52 left in the second half. South Carolina chipped away as seven consecutive points from Meechie Johnson (15 points) and two free throws via Elijah Strong (16 points) enabled the Gamecocks to tie the contest at 75-75.
Martinelli hit a short floater to put the Wildcats ahead with 49 seconds left, but South Carolina (4-2) tied it at 77-77 on two free throws from Mike Sharavjamts (12 points, eight rebounds) with 29.5 seconds remaining.
Martinelli, who entered the two-game event averaging 20.5 points, rebounded after scoring just nine in Friday’s 83-78 loss to Virginia in the Wildcats’ Greenbrier opener.
Northwestern shot 56.6% for the game, including 7-of-14 from 3-point range. However, the Gamecocks hung around by shooting 48.4% in the second half, and made 10 3-pointers while taking 34 attempts from beyond the arc.
South Carolina, which fell 79-72 to Butler on Friday, went 0-2 at Greenbrier.
During a first half that featured nine lead changes and four ties, South Carolina led 22-21 when Northwestern’s Max Green came off the bench to knock down back-to-back 3-pointers. Angelo Ciaravino followed with a dunk that capped the 8-0 run for the Wildcats to go up 29-22.
Strong, though, scored the Gamecocks’ final six points of the half to get them within 36-34 at the break.
Green went 5-of-6 from the field and 3-of-4 from 3-point range to finish with 13 points.
South Carolina was without starter Myles Stute due to a facial injury.
