Wake Forest University
No Carolina St
Demon Deacons Roll Through NC State, 71-53
2/15/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 15, 2000
By DAVID DROSCHAK
AP Sports Writer
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - North Carolina State didn't hang around to the end to lose this road game.
Wake Forest got 20 points from Darius Songaila and held the Wolfpack to 23 percent shooting in the first half en route to a 71-53 victory Tuesday night, putting a dent into N.C. State's NCAA tournament hopes.
After close losses at Maryland and Virginia, the Wolfpack was blown out this time around, losing its ninth straight Atlantic Coast Conference road game dating to last season.
The Demon Deacons (14-11, 5-7 ACC) bolted to a 33-15 halftime lead - and after one scare midway through the second half - won for only the third time in their last 10 games. Wake Forest also improved to 10-0 this season when scoring 70 or more points.
The Wolfpack (15-8, 5-7) picked a bad time to fall into a slump. After a 15-4 start, N.C. State has lost four straight with No. 3 Duke coming to Raleigh on Saturday.
Anthony Grundy scored 30 points against Wake Forest in a 76-56 Wolfpack win a month ago, but was held to five in this meeting as N.C. State was limited to a season-low point total in the first half. Damien Wilkins led the Wolfpack with 21 points - all in the second half.
The Wolfpack fell into a 9-0 hole less than three minutes into the game and Damon Thornton picked up his second foul a minute later as the Demon Deacons opened a 15-2 lead.
During one time out, Wolfpack coach Herb Sendek threw his clipboard to the floor in disgust as he lectured his club. But nothing seemed to work right in the opening 20 minutes as N.C. State got off to a 2-for-14 start and finished the half 6-for-26 with 11 turnovers.
Thornton fouled out for the eighth time this season with 10:47 left as the Wolfpack was in the process of trimming a 22-point deficit to nine.
Wake Forest led 50-40 with 6:18 left before a pair of layups by Rafael Vidaurreta gave the Demon Deacons some breathing room.
