Wake Forest pulls away late to get past Army and take fifth straight win
It took longer than the previous two blowouts, but Wake Forest finally pulled away from Army in a 109-80 win Friday night at Joel Coliseum.
Wake Forest (6-4), riding a five-game winning streak now, used a 21-1 run in a span of less than three minutes in the second half to put away Army (5-4). In that stretch, 3-point plays came from Doral Moore, Keyshawn Woods and Terrence Thompson.
Moore, the 7-foot-1 junior center, made his first nine shots before missing in his 9-for-10 performance, tallying a career-high 20 points and grabbing 11 rebounds. Woods had a team-best 22 points, while sophomore guard Brandon Childress notched a career-high with 17 points.
Thompson, a graduate transfer from Marshall, had his first double-digit scoring performance with Wake Forest, scoring 12 points and hauling in seven rebounds. He had scored a combined 16 points in the past seven games.
Army cut Wake Forest’s lead to five twice in the second half, and the Deacons’ lead was 78-71 before their decisive spurt began. From Moore’s 3-point play with 7:32 left to Childress’ 3-pointer with 4:45 left, the lead ballooned from seven to 27, at 99-72.
Wake Forest's 50 first-half points were the most scored in any half for the Deacons this season, a mark set in their 10th game. Moore scored 13 points on 6-for-6 shooting, rebounding from a foul-riddled two-point effort against Charlotte, while Bryant Crawford had 11 points and five assists in the first half.
The problem was that, aside from Wake Forest’s 11-0 run to take a 21-11 lead, Army kept pouring in 3s to keep the Deacons from turning the game into a blowout. The Black Knights were 10-for-18 on 3-pointers in the first half, with half of them coming on Jordan Fox’s 5-for-5 performance.
Wake Forest was without freshman guard Chaundee Brown, who suffered a foot injury in practice this week. He’s considered day-to-day, with plenty of time to rest up because the Deacons don’t play again until a Dec. 18 trip to Coastal Carolina.
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WAKE FOREST 109, ARMY 80
ARMY (5-4)
Morrison 2-6 0-0 5, Wilson 6-11 2-2 14, Fox 5-10 6-7 21, Kessler 2-6 0-2 5, Funk 3-9 2-3 8, Pollack 1-2 0-0 3, Fennema 0-1 0-0 0, King 5-11 1-2 14, Thiombane 0-0 0-0 0, Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Edwards 0-0 0-0 0, Grayson 1-2 0-0 3, Blackwell 1-4 0-0 3, Lawson 0-0 0-0 0, Madden 0-0 0-0 0, Emezie 2-2 0-1 4. Totals 28-64 11-17 80.
WAKE FOREST (6-4)
Thompson 3-6 5-5 12, Moore 9-10 2-2 20, Wilbekin 4-10 6-6 17, Woods 9-14 3-4 22, Crawford 4-9 3-3 11, Okeke 0-1 0-0 0, Rike 1-1 0-0 2, Mitchell 2-4 0-0 4, Sarr 0-1 0-0 0, Bilas 0-0 0-0 0, Spivey 1-1 0-1 2, Childress 7-10 0-1 17, Anderson 0-1 0-0 0, Eggleston 0-1 2-2 2. Totals 40-69 21-24 109.
Halftime—Wake Forest 50-40. 3-Point Goals—Army 13-30 (Fox 5-6, King 3-6, Grayson 1-1, Pollack 1-2, Kessler 1-3, Blackwell 1-3, Morrison 1-5, Funk 0-4), Wake Forest 8-19 (Childress 3-5, Wilbekin 3-7, Thompson 1-1, Woods 1-2, Sarr 0-1, Mitchell 0-1, Crawford 0-2). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Army 26 (Kessler 8), Wake Forest 40 (Moore 11). Assists—Army 20 (Kessler 5), Wake Forest 21 (Crawford 9). Total Fouls—Army 22, Wake Forest 17. Technicals—Crawford. A—2,978 (14,665).
This story was originally published December 8, 2017 at 9:49 PM with the headline "Wake Forest pulls away late to get past Army and take fifth straight win."