Resurgent Deacons to take on puzzling Phoenix

By: By Dan Collins | JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: December 13, 2009

Two weeks have passed since Wake Forest's last game at Joel Coliseum, a sobering 78-68 loss to William & Mary.

To Coach Dino Gaudio, it seems like two months.

So much has transpired with his team since, including a 69-58 loss at No. 4 Purdue, a 77-76 upset victory at No. 17 Gonzaga and an eight-day respite for exams.

There's also the new starting lineup -- with freshman guard C.J. Harris replacing sophomore forward Tony Woods -- and a bench that has seen one forward, freshman Ari Stewart, emerge as a significant contributor, one guard, sophomore Konner Tucker, leave the program and another guard, junior Gary Clark, return from a bout with mononucleosis.

So it stands to reason that Gaudio had to be concerned with the Deacons (5-2) before he could turn his sights toward Elon (3-6), the opponent in today's game set for 2 p.m. at Joel Coliseum.

"I really like the practice time we had, because I really think we can get better," Gaudio said. "We spent three days exclusively worrying about Wake Forest and getting certain parts of our defense better. We spent a lot of time just running our man and zone offenses, just trying to tighten those up a little bit.

"Usually coming off of a one-week preparation, we've done pretty well."

Any preparation for the Phoenix, in its first season with Matt Matheny as head coach, would require Gaudio to try to make sense of a team that scored 31 points two games ago and 82 in its last game. The discrepancy could be attributed to Elon's long-range marksmanship.

The Phoenix made three of 25 3-point attempts in a 55-31 loss at Samford and drilled 13 of 34 in its 82-63 victory at Chattanooga.

Josh Bonney, a 5-10 sophomore guard, leads Elon with 13.3 points a game, but is shooting only 19 percent (8 for 43) from 3-point range. Drew Spradlin, a 6-5 sophomore, is averaging 11.1 points and Adam Constantine, a 6-9 senior is averaging 10.9 points and a team-high 7.3 rebounds.

Chris Long, a 6-2 junior hit five of 10 3-point attempts against Chattanooga to score a career-high 20 points in reserve.

"We're going to have to do a good job of guarding the ball and covering their 3-point shooters," Gaudio said.

Gaudio said his new lineup has strengthened Wake Forest in two areas.

The Deacons made eight of 15 3-point attempts and turned the ball over 10 times at Gonzaga.

Harris, quickly proving to be one of the biggest surprises of the early ACC season, played 32 minutes without committing a turnover. The Deacons also got a major lift from Stewart, who scored a season-high 17 points in 14 minutes at Gonzaga.

"Immediately, like we thought going into Gonzaga, we're a better ball-handling team with C.J. in the lineup," Gaudio said. "And we're a better shooting team."

Clark, meanwhile, scored seven points in 11 minutes at Gonzaga. He looked more confident than one might expect from a player who averaged 7.2 minutes a game last season and missed the first six games this season.

"That's exactly what we're looking for from him," Gaudio said.

"And I really think he can give us more -- and when I say more I mean more minutes. And hopefully with more minutes will come more productivity."

dcollins@wsjournal.com
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