Wake Forest University
Virginia
Demon Deacons Top Virginia in OT Thriller
2/6/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 6, 2010
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A word of advice to Wake Forest's opponents: don't take the Demon Deacons to overtime.
Wake Forest overcame a five-point halftime deficit and below-average free throw shooting to post a 64-61 win at Virginia on Saturday afternoon.
The win moved the Deacons to 4-0 on the season in overtime games. Wake has defeated Richmond, Xavier and Maryland in overtime this year. All those games were at home at the Joel Coliseum. The road overtime win was Wake's first since winning at Bucknell in 2006.
The Deacons trailed 34-29 at the half before tying the game at 35 on a lay-up by Al-Farouq Aminu four minutes into the second half. The Deacons started the half by outscoring Virginia 19-9 to take a 48-43 lead with just over six minutes to play in the game.
Sophomore center Tony Woods keyed a 7-0 run during the spurt. Woods tipped in an Ari Stewart miss with 7:35 remaining, put back an Ish Smith miss with 6:27 remaining and then scored 20 seconds later on a feed from Smith. Woods' three consecutive baskets took the Deacons from a 43-41 deficit to a 48-43 lead.
The Deacons still led by five at 53-48 with 3:43 remaining following a scoop lay-up and free throw by C.J. Harris. But Wake Forest's offense dried up as the Cavaliers were able to tie the game at 53. Sylven Landesberg drove for a basket and followed with a pair of free throws to cut Wake's lead to 53-52 with 2:26 remaining. Jontel Evans hit a free throw for the Cavs with 2:00 left to tie the game at 53.
Smith's scoop lay-up put the Deacs in front 55-53 with 26.8 second remaining. Landesberg knotted the game with 14.5 seconds remaining when Aminu was called for goaltending. The two teams went to overtime tied at 55.
Stewart's three-pointer from the right side put Wake in front 58-55 and left Virginia playing catch-up for the rest of the period. Harris knocked down one of two free throws for a 59-55 lead with 2:59 remaining. Will Sherrill hit a long two-point field goal for Virginia to cut the lead to 59-57. Aminu put Wake back ahead 61-57 when he scooped up a loose ball and scored with 2:05 to play.
Landesberg again made it a two-point game at 61-59 with a basket with 1:39 remaining. Smith drove the lane and hit a floater with 1:01 to play to put the Deacons back up four at 63-59. Landesberg, who finished with 28 points, scored his last basket with 42.6 seconds left and pulled the Cavs to within two at 63-61. Smith hit the second of two free throws with 41.9 second remaining to account for the final margin.
"We were able to overcome a lot of our shortcomings," said head coach Dino Gaudio. "We're not a great free throw shooting team but our kids played with a lot of heart today."
Wake Forest made just 11 of 23 free throw attempts in the game including five of 13 in the second half.
"Any road win in this league is not a good win, it's a great win," said Gaudio.
Smith finished with a team-high 15 points for Wake Forest while Aminu added 13 and Harris chipped in with 10.
The win improved Wake Forest to 16-5 overall and 6-3 in the ACC. Virginia fell to 14-7, 5-3. The Deacons swept the season series after beating the Cavaliers 69-57 in Winston-Salem on Jan. 23. Wake Forest has beaten Virginia in each of the last five meetings.
Wake Forest will play its next two games at home starting with Boston College on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in the Joel Coliseum.
