Wake Forest University
Marquette
No. 25 Wake Forest Triumphs Over No. 19 Marquette, 64-59
12/29/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec 29, 2001
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By JENNA FRYER
AP Sports Writer
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - Darius Songaila watched Wake Forest's 19-point lead evaporate and felt powerless to help, his shots limited by Marquette's defense.
So the senior did the only thing he could, gathering his teammates and assuring them they would not lose.
He was right, as the 25th-ranked Demon Deacons used a pivotal block from Josh Howard and free throws from seniors Antwan Scott and Craig Dawson to hold off No. 19 Marquette 64-59 Saturday.
"I looked at my teammates in the eyes and said, 'This is our game, we're not giving it away,"' said Songaila, who was held to 12 points on just six shots.
"When you are a freshman, you don't know what it feels like to be up big then let it slip away. But with our experience, we've been through the wars and I reminded them of that."
The pep talk from Songaila, Wake's leading scorer at 18.2 points per game, worked so well that even first-year coach Skip Prosser believed it.
"Even after (Marquette) came back and tied the game, they felt like they were going to come back and win," Prosser said. "We had talked for the last 24 hours that our seniors had to play like seniors and they did."
The Demon Deacons (9-3) led 52-33 early in the second half, but went scoreless for over seven minutes and needed big plays in the final minute to win their 22nd straight nonconference home game.
Marquette has lost two straight games after opening the year 10-0. Its seven-game streak of scoring at least 70 points ended.
"We have a very young team and its easy to get away from that fact when you are 10-0 and going through the schedule like that," Marquette coach Tom Crean said. "But we are young and haven't played in a lot of tough environments are we're still learning how to do that."
Dwayne Wade capped Marquette's rally with a reverse layup that tied the score at 57 with 4:06 to play.
But Songaila made a pair of free throws to break the tie, and Scott scored on a dunk to make it 61-57.
After Scott Merritt's free throws pulled Marquette to 61-59, Dawson and Broderick Hicks missed 3-point attempts for Wake. That allowed Marquette to try to tie the game with less than a minute to play.
But Howard got a piece of Wade's shot, Dawson got the rebound and passed the ball to Scott, who was fouled.
Scott made one foul shot to make it 62-59, then after a pair of Marquette misses - one of which was partially blocked by Howard - Dawson was fouled and hit both free throws with 3.5 seconds to play to seal the victory.
Hicks led Wake Forest with 14 points, Dawson scored 11, Scott 10, and Howard had 10 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks.
"You can't rely on one person," Songaila said. "We proved we have two, three even four other guys who can carry this team."
Wade led Marquette with 22 points, but took a beating. He injured his right knee in the first half, crumpling to the floor in pain and had to briefly leave the game.
In the second half, he crashed into a cameraman under the Marquette basket and lay face down, motionless for a moment.
The Deacons were on a fast break at the time, but officials stopped play to check on Wade, who eventually got up and walked off the court to a chorus of boos from the Wake Forest crowd.
Wake took its largest lead, 52-33, on Howard's two free throws with 14:46 to play. But the Deacons went over seven minutes without a basket, allowing Marquette to pull back into the game.
The Golden Eagles scored 14 straight points, then closed to 57-55 on consecutive 3-pointers by Cordell Henry. Wade tied the game on their next possession.
"The second half was about as good as we've played all year," Crean said. "But our first half put us in a hole and we couldn't come all the way back."
