Deacs in OT

DOUBLE VICTORY: DEACONS BEAT CAVALIERS, WINTRY WEATHER

Deacs in OT

Wake Forest weathered one of deepest snowstorms in the recorded history of Charlottesville, Va., yesterday to record a victory that any team in college basketball would be proud to bring home.

With its defense providing the traction, the Deacons plowed to a 64-61 overtime victory over Virginia in front of a John Paul Jones Arena more than half filled with what students, staff and faculty that were able to trudge to the game.

"It was surprisingly loud in there, and they filled up the whole bottom bowl," senior Ish Smith said. "I give a lot of credit to the Virginia fans.

"It was one of the loudest atmospheres we've played in front of this year."

By 3:30, the Deacons had escaped the inclement clutches of Charlottesville and were southbound down Route 29 with a 16-5 record and 6-3 mark in ACC play going into Tuesday's home game against Boston College. Not even a 28-point performance by sophomore Sylven Landesberg could keep Virginia from falling to 14-7 and 5-3 with its second loss of the season to Wake Forest.

"It's a great win for us," Coach Dino Gaudio said. "And I told the kids right before the game, ‘I said, you know what? At 3 o'clock this afternoon they're not going to say there was a lot of snow, we were stuck in a hotel, the arena is just filled with students. They're going to say did you win or did you lose?'

"That's what it comes down to. That's the bottom line. A couple of the times in the huddle I said, ‘Hang in there, hang in there. We'll find a way.' They found a way to win at the end."

The way was familiar for a team that ranks fourth in the ACC with a field-goal percentage defense of .373. The Deacons held the Cavaliers to 22 field goals on 65 attempts -- the exact totals from their 69-57 victory over Virginia in Joel Coliseum on Jan. 23.

But unlike the earlier game, when the Cavaliers shot 21 percent in the first half and 44 percent in the second, the Deacons yesterday imposed their will more and more as the game progressed.

After making 12 of its first 21 field-goal attempts on the way to an early 14-6 lead, Virginia hit 10 of 44 during the final 35 minutes.

Mike Scott, the Cavaliers second-leading scorer, poured in 10 points in the first 10 minutes, but didn't score again while missing his final 10 field-goal attempts.

"They came out on fire," Smith said. "But we really did weather the storm. Coach said, ‘We're not playing particularly our best game, but we're still in striking distance.' "

After Al-Farouq Aminu's free throw gave Wake Forest a 44-43 lead with seven minutes remaining in regulation, the Deacons never trailed again. A three-point play by C.J. Harris extended the lead to 53-48 with 3:43 left, but Virginia rallied to tie the game at 53 on a free throw by Jontel Evans and at 55 on a basket by Landesberg awarded with 14.5 seconds remaining when Aminu was called for goaltending.

Smith, who led the Deacons with 15 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists, missed an outside shot with three seconds remaining. Teammate Ari Stewart rebounded but was unable to get a follow shot off before the buzzer.

Although replays showed that Calvin Baker of the Cavaliers grabbed Stewart's arm, official Bernard Clinton, who was standing nearby, made no call.

"I know he hit him on his arm," Smith said. "But you know what, I respect every call the refs make. They allowed us to play toward the end. I respected the call, even though we'd have liked to have had it.

"I should have made the shot, so it shouldn't have gotten that far."

Gaudio protested the no-call, and then turned his mind back to his business.

"I went into the huddle and said, ‘You guys are basketball players. How about this? You get to play another five minutes,' " Gaudio said. "That's exactly what I told them.

"That's so they weren't like hanging their heads."

Stewart got his revenge on the first possession of overtime, when Aminu rebounded a miss by Harris and fed Stewart outside for a 3-pointer and a 58-55 lead. Aminu's follow shot with two minutes remaining gave Wake Forest a 61-57 lead, and Smith followed with maybe the game's biggest basket a possession later.

After Landesberg's jumper from the right corner pared the lead to 61-59, Smith split a double-team trap, whizzed past Will Sherrill and arched a shot over the reach of 6-9 Jerome Mayinsse and through the basket for a 63-59 lead with a minute remaining.

"I feel like at my height you've got to have a floater," Smith said. "Tony Parker, Steve Nash, Chris Paul, those guys have it.

"I had missed some of them, but thank God I hit the one that mattered and it was a big one."

Smith left the door open for one last Cavalier comeback when he made one of two free throws for a 64-61 lead with 41.9 seconds left, but Landesberg missed a jumper from left of the key and Sherrill missed a 3-pointer from the left corner.

"That's usually the key for us, our defense," Aminu said. "And that's what allowed us to beat them."

WFU Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts

Aminu 35 4-9 5-7 3-10 1 2 13

McFlnd 26 2-2 1-3 1-6 0 5 5

Smith 44 7-18 1-4 1-7 5 2 15

Harris 37 3-8 3-5 0-2 0 0 10

Williams 35 4-5 0-2 3-9 0 2 8

Clark 5 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Stewart 19 2-8 1-2 2-4 0 0 7

Weaver 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0

Woods 20 3-5 0-0 4-4 0 5 6

Totals 225 25-57 11-23 16-46 6 18 64

Percentages: FG .439, FT .478; 3-Point Goals: 3-12, .250 (Stewart 2-4, Harris 1-3, Aminu 0-2, Smith 0-3); Team Rebounds: 4; Blocked Shots: 8 (Aminu 3, Woods 2, McFarland, Weaver, Williams); Turnovers: 13 (Aminu 3, Smith 2, Woods 2, Harris, Stewart, McFarland, Weaver, Williams); Steals: 4 (Smith, Stewart, Harris, Clark); Technical Fouls: McFarland.

VA. Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts

Scott 29 5-15 0-1 5-10 2 2 10

Meyinsse 24 1-2 1-2 2-3 0 1 3

Evans 25 1-6 1-2 1-1 2 4 3

Zeglinski 25 1-6 0-0 0-4 3 3 3

Lndsberg 39 8-19 10-11 1-7 3 1 28

Farrakhan 28 3-7 0-0 1-1 2 0 7

Baker 15 0-3 0-0 0-1 3 0 0

Sene 11 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 3 0

Sherrill 25 3-7 0-0 2-3 0 4 7

Jones 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0

Totals 225 22-65 12-16 15-34 15 20 61

Percentages: FG .338, FT .750; 3-Point Goals: 5-19, .263 (Landesberg 2-5, Sherrill 1-3, Farrakhan 1-4, Zeglinski 1-5, Baker 0-2); Team Rebounds: 3; Blocked Shots: 1 (Meyinsse); Turnovers: 9 (Scott 3, Zeglinski 2, Landesberg, Sherrill, Sene, Farrakhan); Steals: 5 (Landesberg 2, Evans 2, Scott); Technical Fouls: None.

Wake Forest 29 26 9 -- 64

Virginia 34 21 6 -- 61

A--11,972