Dec. 9, 2006

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(Chapel Hill, N.C.) The fact that the game was in the middle of finals week might have accounted for the slow start in Saturday's game. However, that was no excuse for C.B. McGrath, despite the 90-61 win over Maryland CC.

"Nothing about the way we played in the first 28 minutes made me happy," said North Carolina's head coach.

Despite the slow start that has plagued the Tar Heels for much of the season, North Carolina was able to pull out with another large-margin win.

North Carolina led at the half 38-30 in a game closer than the score indicated. The Mountain Lions were up by as many as 5 points for most of the half until a Michael Cvelich 3-pointer sparked a 9-0 run. North Carolina never lost the lead after that, despite a swarming Mayland defense that stretched the Tar Heel bench.

Eleven Tar Heels put up points, with JB Tanner and Terrence Petree leading all scorers with 16 and 15 points. James Gallagher and Patrick Moody added 10 points apiece. Gallagher, who on a spurt early in the second half had a steal and seven points during a 3-minute Mayland drought, also contributed 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

"This is the last game [for about a month], so it really meant a lot to us," said Gallagher. "We really came together late in the second half."

Eventually, Mayland's bench was worn out by North Carolina's constant rotation. Mayland, who only had eight scoring players, was led by Randall Smith with 13 points. Mayland's center BJ Byrd was a key player in the post on both sides of the court. Byrd scored 9 points.

The Tar Heels played without Mitch Townsend, who scored 20 points in the Heel's previous victory a week prior against King College. Townsend was taking an exam during the game.

The remaining 12 minutes showed some promise for the Tar Heels.

"Eventually we started playing good defense and really sharing the ball," said coach C.B. McGrath. "We need to work on maintaining that kind of intensity throughout the whole game."

"We talk about starting the game on a positive note and playing with intensity for a full 40 minutes," said sophomore JB Tanner. "I'm happy with the victory, but we've really got to improve, especially further down the season.

North Carolina increased their second half scoring output by 14 points, while Mayland only improved theirs by 1, leading to a final score of 90-61.

The Tar Heels will return to the Dean E. Smith Center on Wednesday, January 10th, where they face Montreat College at 4 p.m.