William Conley of Mount Holly says winning $150,000 in Saturday’s Powerball drawing means he can help support his children’s education dreams.

“I’m going to see how I can invest it and help my family out,” said Conley. He said he has five children who are at different stages of education from middle school to college.

Conley said he used his own numbers in the drawing, picking a set of six lower numbers because the winning numbers in previous drawings were on the high side. He found out his instinct paid off when he woke up Sunday morning.

“I saw the numbers and I thought some of them looked familiar,” Conley said. “I got my coffee and got my eyes cleaned out. I looked at it almost six times.”

His $3 Power Play ticket was one of three in North Carolina that matched four of the white balls and the Powerball in the drawing to win $50,000. Because he purchased the Power Play feature, the prize tripled to $150,000 when the 3X multiplier was drawn.

After the withholding of state and federal taxes, Conley took home $105,752.

In all, Saturday’s drawing for a $687.9 million jackpot produced 109,760 winning tickets in North Carolina, including a $1 million win, two other $150,000 wins, and four $50,000 wins. North Carolina winners have 180 days to claim their prize.

Conley bought his lucky ticket at the Circle A Food Store on North Main Street in Mount Holly. Lucky tickets sold in New York and Iowa won Saturday’s jackpot. Wednesday’s jackpot resets to $40 million as an annuity, or $23 million cash.

Draw games like Powerball make it possible for the lottery to raise more than $650 million a year for education. For details on how lottery funds have made a difference in all of North Carolina’s 100 counties click on the “Impact” section of the lottery’s website.