Wake Forest University
Boston College
Wake Forest Holds Off Boston College 92-85
2/9/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 9, 2010
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WINSTON-SALEM, NC - Al-Farouq Aminu scored 22 points and pulled down eight rebounds to lead Wake Forest to a 92-85 win over Boston College at Joel Coliseum.
The Deacons had an outstanding day on offense as they shot a season-high 57 percent from the field. Wake's 50 points in the first half were the most in a half all season, and the total of 92 points was second only to the Deacons 96-92 double-overtime win over Xavier earlier in the year.
With the win, Wake Forest improves to 17-5 (7-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), and currently sits in sole possession of third place in the ACC. Boston College falls to 12-12 (3-7 ACC).
"I thought it was a really good ACC win for us - a hard-fought, really competitive game," head coach Dino Gaudio said.
Chas McFarland recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds. L.D. Williams also scored 14 points on six-of-seven shooting.
Gary Clark came off the bench to add 11 points, his most of the ACC season, while Ishmael Smith tied a season high with 11 assists to go with nine points.
Tyler Roche, who came into the contest averaging 6.6 points per game, scored a career-high 31 points to lead Boston College. Reggie Jackson and Cory Raji chipped in 17 points apiece for the Eagles.
BC was forced to play without leading scorer Joe Trapani who missed the game due to illness.
The Deacons dominated the post, outscoring the Eagles 46-28 in the paint. Wake Forest's up-tempo style was also effective as they outscored Boston College 18-6 in fast break situations.
Wake Forest seized control early, as the Deacons scored on seven of their first 10 possessions to jump out to a 13-4 lead. The inside game dominated, as McFarland scored two buckets and knocked down two free throws to go with two baskets down low from Aminu.
The Eagles cut the Wake advantage to 23-19 by virtue of some sharp jump shooting from Roche, but Ari Stewart answered with a three-pointer of his own to push the lead to seven points.
After a three-pointer from Jackson brought Boston College to within two points, Aminu made a layup and Smith drilled a floater in the lane to make the score 35-29 in favor of Wake with 5:06 to play in the first half.
From there the Deacons couldn't miss. Wake scored on seven of their last nine possessions of the half, including back to back to back three-pointers from David Weaver, Aminu, and Clark, to take a 50-39 lead
The scoring frenzy continued after halftime as four easy buckets, punctuated by a dunk from Smith, gave Wake a 58-43 lead only 2:02 into the final period.
The Demon Deacons cruised through the second half, maintaining a double-digit lead until a layup from Jackson with 5:55 to play brought BC within nine at 78-69. The Eagles would cut the lead to six a layup from Raji with 11 seconds to play, but never really threatened as Wake held on for the 92-85 win.
The Demon Deacons will have revenge on their minds as they welcome Georgia Tech to Joel Coliseum on Feb. 13. The Yellow Jackets defeated Wake Forest in Atlanta earlier in the season.
Tipoff for Saturday's game is set for 8 p.m. The game will be broadcast by Raycom, and can also be heard on the Wake Forest ISP Sports Radio Network.
