ANAHEIM, Calif.
Wake Forest has dominated games with its offense and its defense, in a sprint and in a crawl.
And now, for a change, in a game that wasn't decided until the final minute.
The No. 19 Deacons built a 15-point second-half lead but needed to convert seven free throws in the final 2:50 to hold off 3-point firing Cal State Fullerton 75-69 in the first round of the 76 Classic at the Anaheim Convention Center yesterday.
Harvey Hale had a key rebound and made four free throws in the final 24.8 seconds as Wake Forest (4-0) advanced to play UTEP in today's second round. Tipoff is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
"We played hard. We kept our composure," Coach Dino Gaudio of Wake Forest said. "We did what we needed to do.
"Despite not shooting our free throws well, we made big ones down the stretch to keep the margin where it was."
The Deacons held the Titans (2-3) to 35-percent shooting from the field, but the smaller Titans stayed in the game by breaking even in rebounding (43 apiece) while the Deacons made 15 of 29 free-throw attempts.
Jeff Teague led Wake Forest with 24 points, and Chas McFarland and Al-Faroug Aminu had 14 points apiece. James Johnson, saddled with early foul trouble had eight points, although he led the Deacons with eight rebounds.
"The talent that Wake Forest has -- we won't see that again," said Coach Bob Burton of Fullerton, whose team is coming off a 20-win season and made the NCAA Tournament last year.
Senior guard Josh Akognon, who played in the 2006 World championships for Nigeria, led Fullerton with 24 points, but it took him 25 shots to do it against the defense of WFU's L.D. Williams.
Akognon made 4 of 14 threes and committed five turnovers while never becoming a factor.
"We knew coming into the game that he was a great scorer. He was the straw that stirs the drink. If we could slow him down, it would be a lot easier for us," Williams said.
"I watched hundreds of clips on the guy. I just tried to make everything tough for him. I tried to make it tough for him to shoot, to dribble, to come off screens. My teammates helped me out a lot."
Teague, who had four of Wake Forest's six 3-pointers, made an athletic up-and-under reverse layup with 14:42 remaining for a 48-33 lead, and it looked as if the Deacons would do to Fullerton what they had to N.C. Central, UNC Wilmington and Winston-Salem State -- cruise.
But Fullerton (2-3) kept hoisting threes -- they shot 27, making eight -- and slowly crept back into the game, cutting the margin to 64-59, when Jacques Streeter made a three with 4:30 left.
The Titans got to three on Marcio Lassiter's 18-footer with 2:38 left as the Deacons went nine possessions without a basket against a 2-3 zone, but Chas McFarland made two free throws with 2:50 remaining to stem the flow.
"We shoot 100 of them on game day, so it's just routine now," McFarland said.
WAKE FOREST -- Aminu 6-9 1-7 14, Johnson 3-8 1-2 8, McFarland 5-8 4-4 14, Teague 9-17 2-4 24, Williams 2-8 1-4 5, Hale 1-5 6-8 8, Smith 0-2 0-0 0, Weaver 0-0 0-0 0, Woods 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 27-59 15-29 75.
CAL STATE FULLERTON -- Thompson 3-12 0-0 6, G.Anderson 3-11 4-6 10, Guisse 2-6 2-2 6, Akognon 9-25 2-2 24, Streeter 3-7 3-4 11, Lassiter 3-7 0-0 8, Shamsud-din 0-0 0-0 0, Rhymes 1-1 0-0 2, Miller 1-2 0-0 2, Thomas 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-71 11-14 69.
Halftime--Wake Forest 37-29. 3-Point Goals--Wake Forest 6-15 (Teague 4-6, Aminu 1-2, Johnson 1-3, Williams 0-1, Hale 0-3), Cal State Fullerton 8-27 (Akognon 4-14, Streeter 2-3, Lassiter 2-6, Thompson 0-4). Fouled Out--Guisse. Rebounds--Wake Forest 43 (Johnson 8), Cal State Fullerton 43 (G.Anderson 12). Assists--Wake Forest 10 (Williams 3), Cal State Fullerton 11 (Streeter 5). Total Fouls--Wake Forest 16, Cal State Fullerton 24. A--1,388. A--1,388.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement