Raleigh, N.C. ? Lorenzo Charles, the muscular forward whose last-second dunk gave underdog North Carolina State a stunning win in the 1983 national college championship game, was killed Monday when a bus he was driving crashed along a highway, a company official said.

Elite Coach general manager Brad Jackson said Charles, 47, worked for the company and was driving one of its buses on Interstate 40. No passengers were aboard.

He grabbed Dereck Whittenburg’s 30-foot shot and dunked it at the buzzer to give the Wolfpack a 54-52 victory over heavy favorite Houston and its second national title, sending coach Jim Valvano spilling onto the court, scrambling for someone to hug in what has become one of the lasting images of the NCAA Tournament.

Whittenburg was despondent when discussing his teammate and friend with The Associated Press.

“It’s just an awful day,” Whittenburg said. “An awful, awful day.”

Charles secured his spot in N.C. State lore in the final moments of that game in Albuquerque, N.M., to cap an improbable run to the title. N.C. State entered the NCAA Tournament with a 17-10 record, having beaten Virginia to win the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament and an automatic berth into the national field. No one expected much.

Police released little about the one-vehicle crash that took Charles’ life. Video shows the windshield broken out with tree limbs sticking through the window frame. The rear wheels of the bus were on an embankment, leaving the right front tire elevated from the road.