Wake Forest defeats Georgia Tech 71-70
A full game story with quotes and analysis is available here.
Despite a poor shooting night, 10 turnovers and 15 allowed offensive rebounds, Wake Forest escaped a trap matchup against Georgia Tech with a 71-70 victory to extend their winning streak to three.
Cameron Hildreth led the Deacs with 19 points on 5-9 shooting, knocking down nine attempts from the foul line.
After leading by as much as 11 early in the first half, Wake Forest allowed Georgia Tech to take control with an 18-5 run. From there, Wake Forest hung tight, but couldn’t find the lead again for the remainder of the half. The Yellow Jackets entered the locker room with a four-point lead.
Trailing by as much as seven in the second half, Wake Forest tied the game at 53 at the 9:36 mark. Both teams traded the lead six times from there. At 4:51, with a key bucket by Andrew Carr, Steve Forbes called a timeout to settle his team with a two-point lead.
But, with a block on defense and a three on the other end, Georgia Tech stunned the Deacs and retook the lead.
With a three-pointer and a nice midrange shot, Georgia Tech took a lead as large as five, but Wake Forest got to within three on a Tyree Appleby jumper.
Within one, Wake Forest fouled twice and then forced a turnover on a Georgia Tech inbound. Carr corralled the ball and smartly called timeout with 22.9 seconds left on the clock, giving the Deacs a chance to go for the win.
With 12.9 seconds remaining, Appleby rolled in the bucket to give Wake Forest a one-point lead, and Georgia Tech head coach Josh Pastner called timeout to talk things over.
On a quick drive, Deivon Smith hit a layup for Georgia Tech, but left Wake Forest with a shot with 7 seconds remaining. On the drive, Appleby was fouled, sending him to the line with 2.3 seconds remaining.
Appleby went 2/2 from the line, and Georgia Tech missed the hail mary shot, giving Wake Forest the slim one-point victory.
Wake Forest now turns their attention to Miami after the bye. Tip off is set for 2pm ET next Saturday on RSN.
Wake Forest Team Stats:
23-52 FG (44.2%)
6-22 3PT (27.3%)
31 rebounds, 7 offensive
10 turnovers
Georgia Tech Team Stats:
27-66 FG (40.9%)
8-19 3PT (42.1%)
39 rebounds, 15 offensive
11 turnovers
Wake Forest Key Players:
Cameron Hildreth: 19 pts, 5-9 FG, 9-12 FT
Tyree Appleby: 16 pts, 5-14 FG, 6 ast, 4 TOs
Bobi Klintman: 11 pts, 3-6 FG, 5 reb
Georgia Tech Key Players:
Deivon Smith: 15 pts, 7-14 FG
Ja’Von Franklin: 14 pts, 6-11 FG
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Essex is the lead football writer and a managing editor for Deacons Daily. Essex served as the Sports Editor for the Old Gold & Black for two years, in addition to roles as a beat and feature writer.