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LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Put Gavin Grant on the line in the final seconds and his palms start tingling.

"I love shooting free throws, I love anything in situations like that,'' the N.C. State senior said.

So did the Wolfpack. Thanks to two dramatic Grant free throws with 0.4 second remaining, State solved a lot of internal problems with a 69-68 victory over No. 20 Villanova in the championship game of the Old Spice Classic at Disney Sports Complex on Sunday night.

Tournament MVP Courtney Fells' 21 points led four Wolfpack players in double figures in a game that featured 18 lead changes, including a wild exchange in the final three seconds.

For a Wolfpack (4-1) team still trying to exorcise the demons from last week's New Orleans loss, this was exactly what was needed.

Villanova took a 67-66 lead on Dante Cunningham's tip-in with 2.2 seconds left.

Costner inbounded and threw the Hail Mary downcourt. Grant and J.J. Hickson both came off backscreens and were open, but Grant came down with the ball, turned around and got the call for three free throws after being touched by Cunningham.

A 75 percent free-throw shooter this season, Grant's first attempt went in-and-out, but the final two were all net.

"I've had a terrible week (shooting from the line) here, but I like to think I'm a good shooter," Grant said. "You think we wanted to have another New Orleans? After that loss we had a track practice."

Sunday's victory was Sidney Lowe's first victory over a ranked nonconference team. State went 3-7 last season against the top 25, but more importantly, the team found an identity in the past four days.

"We didn't care who was getting it done, everyone knew they had to play their minutes," Lowe said. "We've grown a lot in the past five days.

"This was an unbelievable effort with a nice job of keeping focused," Lowe added. "Once we started attacking their zone, we were better."

Fells, who had 18 points in the opener against Rider but was quiet against South Carolina, hit four 3-pointers and was 6-of-9 from the field overall. Grant added 15.

Hickson, a freshman, saw his minutes down the stretch and also scored 15.

Brandon McCauley started again, delivered 30 quality minutes and finished with 10 points.

Corey Fisher led Villanova with 21 points, followed by Cunningham with 16 and Scottie Reynolds with 13.

State jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, but committed 16 first-half turnovers and settled down and opened up a slight 38-33 halftime lead.

The Wolfpack opened up a 57-50 lead with 9:39 left on a Grant 3-pointer.

Villanova's 42.6 percent shooting was the best for a State opponent this season, and once again, the Wolfpack struggled giving up the offensive rebound. Twenty-one of Villanova's 39 boards came on offense.

Fells was joined on the all-tournament team by Reynolds, Michael Beasley of Kansas State, George Mason's Will Thomas and Jason Thompson.

Up next for the Wolfpack is Michigan State on Wednesday in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

VILLANOVA (4-1)

Fg Ft Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A Pf Pts

Clark 16 1-3 0-0 0-0 1 1 2

Cunningham 31 8-17 0-0 7-8 0 3 16

Drummond 26 4-9 1-2 8-17 3 5 9

Reynolds 35 4-12 3-6 1-2 4 2 13

Redding 24 3-5 1-3 0-3 4 5 7

Pena 14 0-3 0-2 1-2 0 1 0

Grant 7 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Fisher 32 9-16 3-5 1-2 1 1 21

Anderson 0 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Stokes 15 0-2 0-0 0-2 0 3 0

Totals 200 29-68 8-18 21-39 13 21 68

Percentages: Fg .426, Ft .444.

3-point goals: 2-12, .167 (Reynolds 2-6, Redding 0-1, Stokes 0-1, Clark 0-1, Fisher 0-3).

Team rebounds: 3.

Blocked shots: 3 (Drummond 2, Redding).

Turnovers: 11 (Reynolds 3, Grant 2, Clark 2, Drummond 2, Cunningham, Redding).

Steals: 11 (Fisher 3, Reynolds 2, Drummond 2, Stokes, Clark, Cunningham, Pena).

N.C. STATE (4-1)

Fg Ft Reb

Min M-A M-A O-T A Pf Pts

Grant 32 4-10 4-6 1-8 2 3 15

Costner 20 1-3 0-0 1-2 0 4 2

McCauley 30 4-8 2-3 3-8 1 2 10

Fells 33 6-9 5-6 1-5 2 3 21

Degand 33 1-1 2-4 0-0 5 1 4

Hickson 30 6-8 3-6 1-6 1 3 15

Gonzalez 7 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 2 0

Horner 15 1-3 0-0 1-1 2 1 2

Totals 200 23-43 16-25 8-31 13 19 69

Percentages: Fg .535, Ft .640.

3-point goals: 7-15, .467 (Fells 4-6, Grant 3-6, Costner 0-1, Gonzalez 0-1, Horner 0-1).

Team rebounds: 0.

Blocked shots: 4 (Hickson 2, Degand 2).

Turnovers: 22 (McCauley 4, Costner 3, Fells 3, Degand 3, Hickson 3, Grant 3, Horner 2, Gonzalez).

Steals: 3 (Grant 2, Gonzalez).

Villanova 33 35 -- 68

N.C. State 38 31 -- 69

A--2,105. Officials--Jim Burr, Jamie Luckie, Dan Christman.