Wake Forest Athletics
Men's Basketball Falls to ACC Foe North Carolina
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
January 23, 1999
By DAVID DROSCHAK
AP Sports Writer
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - No. 10 North Carolina played a near flawless second half Saturday, getting clutch offense from a host of players while limiting Wake Forest to 22 percent shooting en route to a 52-40 victory.
The Tar Heels (17-4, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) remained in third place in the league with their third straight win, gaining momentum heading to No. 2 and ACC-leader Duke on Wednesday night.
Ademola Okulaja and Kris Lang led North Carolina with 10 points each.
Meanwhile, the Demon Deacons (11-8, 2-5) have lost four in a row for the first time since 1992. Wake Forest sank an ACC-record tying 18 3-pointers here against North Carolina a season ago, but managed only 3-for-18 this time around as Darius Songaila had 10 points.
Wake Forest's point total was a season low and the lowest in the series since a 44-34 loss on Jan. 8, 1959.
The Tar Heels trailed at the half for the ninth straight time against Wake Forest in Joel Coliseum, but got four points each from Max Owens and Brandan Haywood in a 12-2 run to open the second half and took control of the game.
Cold-shooting Wake Forest did close within five points with 12:33 left, but Okulaja hit a pair of free throws and sank a 3-pointer as North Carolina built its first double-digit lead of the game at 41-31 two minutes later.
Following a Wake Forest basket, Lang made three straight shots and Okulaja hit North Carolina's first 3-pointer for a 17-point lead with 6:18 left.
The Demon Deacons managed just four baskets in the opening 15 1/2 minutes of the second half and were dominated on the glass 46-23 by the taller Tar Heels, playing their second game without starter Jeff Capel, lost for a month with mononucleosis.
North Carolina cut off Wake Forest's 3-point shooting in the first half after the Demon Deacons burned the Tar Heels for 12 in the opening 20 minutes a season ago.
Robert O'Kelley's shot from behind the arc 3:41 before halftime was the only long-range basket of the half for either team as Wake Forest built the biggest lead of the half - four - at 22-18.
