Feb. 27, 2005

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COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Raymond Felton made the tiebreaking layup with 19 seconds left and Sean May blocked a shot just before the buzzer as No. 2 North Carolina weathered a furious comeback bid by Maryland before escaping with an 85-83 victory Sunday.

May had 22 points and 11 rebounds for the Tar Heels, who remained alone atop the Atlantic Coast Conference with their fifth straight win.

Jawad Williams scored 21 points to help the Tar Heels (24-3, 12-2) beat the Terrapins on the road for the first time since 2001. North Carolina remained one game ahead of Wake Forest, which defeated Virginia 90-68 earlier Sunday.

In the first game between the teams, the Tar Heels hammered the Terrapins by 34 points at Chapel Hill. This one was closer, but North Carolina once again proved to be too talented and too deep for a Maryland squad with one scholarship senior.

The Tar Heels led 76-68 with 5 minutes left before the Terrapins used three straight 3-pointers to go up 81-80 with 1:33 to go - their first lead since 29-28.

Williams then hit a 3-pointer for North Carolina, but a tip-in by Ekene Ibekwe tied it at 83 with 41 seconds remaining.

After a timeout, Felton drove the left side of the lane and delivered his only basket of the second half. Mike Jones had a chance to tie it for Maryland, but his last-second shot was swatted away by May.

Chris McCray scored a career-high 25 points, Nik Caner-Medley had 16 and John Gilchrist added 13 for the Terrapins (16-10, 7-8), who rallied from a 10-point deficit to tie it.

The Tar Heels finished with a 44-35 edge on the boards, led by May, who recorded his 11th double-double of the season.

It was the 21st straight game in which North Carolina had at least four players score in double figures, and the Tar Heels did it without leading scorer Rashad McCants, who missed a second straight game with an intestinal disorder. David Noel scored a season-high 12 points and Felton had 10.

After Maryland pulled even at 65, the Tar Heels used an 11-3 run to make it 76-68 with 5:02 remaining. Noel, who came in averaging 4.3 points per game, had a dunk and a 3-pointer in the surge.

But Maryland came back, setting the stage for the thrilling finish.

In the first half, Caner-Medley and Gilchrist became the 40th and 41st players to score 1,000 points at Maryland. Caner-Medley reached the milestone by hitting a baseline jumper with 14:38 left, and Gilchrist did it with a three-point play that gave the Terps a 29-26 lead at the 7:54 mark.

Felton then hit a jumper and 3-pointer to ignite a 9-0 run that put the Tar Heels up 35-29.

Down 47-37 at halftime, the Terrapins twice cut the gap to six points early in the second half. It was 57-51 before Marvin Williams hit two free throws and Jackie Manuel made a layup to restore the 10-point cushion.

McCray then scored four points and Jones hit two straight 3-pointers in a 14-4 spurt that tied it with 9:57 left.

But North Carolina wouldn't succumb to the noise generated by the sellout crowd of 17,950, and improved to 6-2 on the road in the ACC.

DAVID GINSBURG
AP Sports Writer