Wake Forest downs Georgia Tech with last-second comeback
Wake Forest earned their third consecutive win in thrilling fashion, knocking off Georgia Tech 71-70 in a nailbiter that featured three lead changes in the final 13 seconds. Tyree Appleby was once again huge in the final moments, first giving Wake a one-point lead with a crafty layup and then knocking down two massive free throws to put the Deacs ahead for good with 2.3 seconds remaining.
“He’s a gamer,” Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes said of Appleby. “Ty’s got ice in his veins. He’s a competitor. I wouldn’t want anybody else with the ball in their hands but him.”
The Demon Deacon starting backcourt shouldered most of the offensive burden on Saturday afternoon — Appleby and Cameron Hildreth combined for 35 of Wake Forest’s 71 points, including 13 made free throws. The duo was able to find success despite the team’s poor shooting night and were instrumental in the victory.
“They’re both really good players,” Georgia Tech head coach Josh Pastner said after the game. “I thought defensively overall, we did a nice job guarding them because they’re a really high-level offensive team. The biggest thing between those two was they were 13 of 16 from the free throw line, they made their free throws. They’re good players, tough, hard-nosed guys.”
Saturday’s outcome was the quintessential ugly win. Wake Forest shot just 44% from the field and 26% from long range, struggling to maintain a consistent offensive flow throughout the contest. In the end, though, they did enough to get the victory, and the win-loss column doesn’t ask for a story.
“Sometimes you just gotta find a way when things aren’t going well,” Forbes said. “I’m not taking anything away from Georgia Tech, they played a flawless game plan. We found a way to win, [and] we did it with some defense. I’d rather win than lose. I told them after the game, ‘it’s February, you can have one of these but we can’t string them together.’ We need the week off. It’s coming at a good time.”
Early on in the game, Wake Forest simply didn’t have the energy level necessary to respond to a physical, desperate Georgia Tech team. After taking an early 16-5 lead, the Deacs got sloppy and went into half trailing by four. The Deacs let up 15 offensive rebounds and 20 second chance points, numbers that almost cost them the game. The deficit stretched to seven in the second half before Wake stormed back and won the game in the final seconds.
“I don’t have a master’s degree, but I do have one in body language,” Forbes said. “And I could just tell, we didn’t have the juice. I don’t know why, because we didn’t practice that way. We didn’t come to shootaround that way. We got up early and then it’s just like, ‘alright, I guess the game is over. It’s not. Halftime was motivational, and a couple of timeouts I got on them pretty hard. If you don’t play harder, with more passion, with more intensity, we’re going to lose.”
The switch flipped for the Deacs in the second period, however. After attempting only three foul shots in the first half, Forbes’ group started to match Georgia Tech’s physicality and earned 21 free throws in the final 20 minutes. The change was a result of executing one of Steve Forbes’ key tenets: playing off two feet.
“That won the game,” Forbes said. “We could have done it in the first half. It was there. We just didn’t do it – we settled. But, the second half, you saw what happened. We drove, played off two, slowed down. That’s why we got to the free-throw line. That’s why we got easier baskets. Got a couple big-time defensive stops late. Credit to our team.”
With Georgia Tech in the rearview mirror, Wake Forest now has a week off before they travel to Miami to take on a talented – and ranked – Hurricanes squad. The break will be a whole lot sweeter now that the team is coming off a win, and it will give some banged-up players time to recover.
“It’s everything,” Forbes said of picking up momentum heading into the break. “I don’t want to have a bad week. I don’t want to be mad. I don’t want to go in feeling like that, and I don't think they did either. Andrew [Carr] hasn’t practiced live in a week and a half. He’s hurt. We need it, Ty [Appleby] needs it. I’m looking forward to the break so they can get a little time and recovery.”
With the win, the Demon Deacons advance to 17-9 overall and 9-6 in the ACC. The stretch run has arrived — only five conference games remain. That makes today’s win, and the Deacs’ upcoming matchups, even more important, especially given Wake Forest’s status on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
“Every game is need-to-win for us now,” Cam Hildreth said after the game. “We can’t have any slip-ups. Of course it’s in the back of our mind that we can’t lose. We keep fighting, everyone on the team is hardworking. We’re going to fight to the end to make sure we get the dub.”
Wake Forest will face off against the No. 19 Miami Hurricanes on the road at 2 p.m. ET Saturday on RSN.
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Ben is a managing editor and lead contributing writer for Deacons Daily. Ben has a year of experience as the Sports Editor for the Old Gold & Black, and a year of experience as the publication’s print managing editor. He has a journalistic profile of over 40 published news and sports pieces for the Dayton Daily News.