In one spectacular final minute, Raymond Felton outplayed Illinois’ talented trio of guards all by himself.

The North Carolina junior stole a pass, then sank three free throws in the last 25.8 seconds of Monday night’s championship game, securing the Tar Heels’ 75-70 win.

Felton overcame two early fouls and finished with 17 points and seven assists, more than holding his own against the Illini’s touted threesome of Dee Brown, Luther Head and Deron Williams.

Felton’s play of the game came on defense.

The Illini trailed 72-70 and had the ball as the clock dipped under a minute. Head drove into the lane and tried to kick the ball to Williams on the wing. Anticipating the play perfectly, Felton held his ground, picked off the pass and went the other way.

When Head missed a 3-pointer with 16 seconds to go, Sean May rebounded and Felton ended up with the ball again. He was fouled and this time coolly swished both shots.

Felton finished what backcourt mate Rashad McCants started. McCants scored 14 points in the opening half, propelling North Carolina to a 40-27 lead at the break.

He wasn’t much of a factor in the second half, though, going 0-for-3 from the field in 14 ineffective minutes.

Felton played 15 minutes in the first half, despite picking up his second foul with 12:57 left.

McCants was on the bench at the very end, and was anxiously hopping on the sideline as Felton hit his final free throws with 9.9 seconds left.

McCants ripped off his jersey moments after the game ended, confidently nodding to the fans.

AP-ES-04-05-05 0007EDT