Wake Forest Athletics
Demon Deacons Try To Rebound In Rainbow Classic Consolation Game
12/29/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 29, 1999
HONOLULU -- Wake Forest, coming off a gut-wrenching loss, will face Ohio on Wednesday night in the consolation bracket of the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii.
The 19th-ranked Demon Deacons (8-2) were done in by Oregon in the first round, 67-66. Robert O'Kelley had given Wake Forest a 66-65 lead with a steal and basket with 16 seconds to play, but Alex Scales hit an off-balance 15-footer with 4.7 seconds left for the winning points.
O'Kelley finished with 20 points for Wake Forest, which blew an eight-point lead and then rallied from a five-point deficit in the final minutes to set up the frantic finish. The Demon Deacons also had a three-game winning streak snapped.
Nikki Arinze hit all six of his shots from the field and finished with 14 points. Wake Forest shot 53 percent from the field but was cold from the perimeter as it made just 3-of-17 attempts from 3-point range and committed 20 turnovers. O'Kelley was 2-for-7 from beyond the arc.
Ohio (7-4) was slammed into the losers bracket by Gonzaga, 83-55, on Tuesday. Anthony Jones and Shaun Stonerook scored nine points apiece to lead the Bobcats, who were horrid in almost every area. Ohio shot 34 percent from the field, made just 5-of-26 shots from beyond the arc, committed 20 turnovers and were outrebounded 33-29.
The Bobcats will not be able to duplicate their feat from their last visit to Hawaii, when they won the 1994 Big Island Tournament with wins over Chaminade, Connecticut and LaSalle.
The teams are meeting for the first time.
