By Nina Mandell
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN — The North Carolina Tar Heels are heading back to a championship game, even if it's not the one they'd hoped for.
The Tar Heels held on to beat Rhode Island 68-67 in overtime Wednesday to earn a spot in the NIT finals at Madison Square Garden.
After winning their fifth National Championship last season, North Carolina has a chance to become the first team to ever win the NCAA tournament and NIT tournament in back-to-back seasons.
The Tar Heels (20-16), who will play Dayton in the finals Thursday, were lucky to get by the Rams Tuesday in a game marred by turnovers and poor shooting.
North Carolina was clinging to a one-point lead with five seconds left in overtime when point guard Larry Drew missed a shot. Rhode Island’s Delroy James grabbed the rebound and ran down the court on a breakaway, but he stumbled and failed to get a shot off.
But the moment was a fitting end for what seemed to be a comedy of errors for the defending NCAA tournament champs and Rhode Island.
The Heels shot a dismal 11.8 percent from the 3-point range and 34.9 percent from the floor. Rhode Island wasn't much better, shooting 36.8 percent for the game. The teams also combined for 35 turnovers and missed key free throws throughout the game.
“We had three guys in double digits in rebounding today, but they had a lot of opportunities,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. “We missed a lot of shots.”
Key foul shots also didn’t fall for either team. James missed two free throws for the Rams with with less than 25 seconds left in the game.
Dayton will play the Tar Heals in the finals after knocking off 68-63 in the other semifinal game Tuesday.
Chris Johnson had 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Flyers to their first NIT semifinal game since 1968.
