Dec. 30, 2000

Box Score

By JENNA FRYER
AP Sports Writer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - One of Matt Doherty's biggest challenges at North Carolina has been convincing Joseph Forte to play defense. His words are finally starting to sink on.

Forte showed Saturday night he's been listening to his coach with a dramatic layup off his own steal with 11 seconds to play to help the 14th-ranked Tar Heels to a 64-60 victory over College of Charleston in the finals of the Hardee's Tournament of Champions.

"I told Joe before the season started that it was not going to hurt his reputation if he makes the All-ACC Defensive team," Doherty said. "Some people think it's not cool to play defense and you have to convince them otherwise."

Forte, who also scored 29 points, admitted he seldom played defense until Doherty persuaded him to give it a try.

"I was nonchalant about it, it was never important to me," Forte said. "But once coach got on me about it, I tried to improve. I want to be a complete player and I need defense to do that.'

After North Carolina broke a 57-57 tie on Jason Capel's layup with 38 seconds to play, Doherty felt enough confidence in Forte during a timeout to let him guard the inbound pass.

It was the right decision, as Forte picked off the Cougars' pass and ran the length of the court for a fast-break layup that put the Tar Heels up 61-57.

"When coach puts me on a player that's known for scoring, leaves it up to me to stop him, I feel obligated to step up," Forte said.

Forte, the tournament's most valuable player, got high praise from College of Charleston coach John Kresse, who called him one of the best players he's ever seen.

"We tried a bunch of different guys on Forte and he was sensational," Kresse said. "He's a guy who I would pay admission to see. He's a fabulous ballerina, he makes the game look so easy - like poetry in motion."

After Forte's layup, the Cougars cut it to 61-60 on Bolton's 3-pointer with four seconds left.

But the Tar Heels sealed the game on a full-court pass to Max Owens, who was fouled as he made a layup that put Carolina up 63-60 with two seconds left.

Owens then hit the free throw to secure North Carolina's (9-2) sixth consecutive victory.

College of Charleston (8-2) had its six game winning streak snapped, despite holding the Tar Heels to their season low in points.

North Carolina has won this tournament eight times since it began in 1988, and has a 22-2 record in it. One of their losses came two years ago to College of Charleston, which nipped Carolina 66-64 in the final.

It looked again like College of Charleston might again upset Carolina, but the Cougars could never find an answer for Forte - especially when it counted.

He was unstoppable down the stretch, hitting consecutive 3-pointers to twice secure Carolina's slim lead. His 17-foot jumper with 6:19 to play gave Carolina its largest lead of the night at 52-47.

Forte finished 12-of-21 from the field.

Kris Lang added 10 points for the Tar Heels.

Jeff Bolton led College of Charleston with 25 points and Jody Lumpkin had 16.