Wake Forest University
High Point
Demon Deacons Escape Panthers for 87-83 Road Win
12/7/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 7, 2011
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HIGH POINT, N.C. - The Wake Forest men's basketball team overcame a raucous home crowd and an explosive performance by High Point's Nick Barbour to escape with a 87-83 road win on Wednesday, December 7 at the Millis Center.
Barbour, the Panthers' standout senior guard, led all scorers with a season-high 35 points on 12-of-18 shooting and added seven three-pointers. He was aided by a 19-point, six assist performance by Shay Shine and 11 points by Corey Law.
Wake combated the hostile environment with a balanced offensive output, which saw four Demon Deacons reach double figures in scoring.
The Deacs were paced by a career-high 20 points by sophomore guard Tony Chennault, who also tied his career-best with six assists. He was matched by junior C.J Harris' 20-points on a crisp 7-for-8 shooting night, including 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Travis McKie also added 18 points, while redshirt senior Nikita Mescheriakov pitched in with 12 to help the Deacs improve to 6-3 overall and 2-0 on the road.
Both teams were hot from beyond the arc, as Wake hit on a season-high 13 three-pointers on just 22 attempts (59.1 percent) and High Point buried 15 of its 34 attempts.
Opening tip was met with an abundance of energy from the announced home crowd of 1,801, but 16 seconds into the game the Deacs were on the board off a three-pointer by Mescheriakov.
On the Panthers first trip down the court, however, a well-executed alley-oop by Law nearly brought the roof off a jam-packed Millis Center. Barbour then poured in four-in-a-row to give the Panthers a three point lead before five straight by Chennault calmed the crowd and put the Deacs back on top, 8-6.
Mckie went on a 5-0 run by himself, on a dunk and three free throws, to increase the Deacon lead to seven, 13-7, before Shine hit on a three to put an end to an early 10-point Wake run.
Carson Desrosiers gave the Deacs their biggest lead, 27-14, with 10:06 to play in the opening half on a high-arcing hook shot in the middle of the lane and the Deacs would match that lead, 41-28, with 2:59 to go on a free throw by Chennault.
That bucket led to early appearances by walk-ons Brooks Godwin and Ryan Keenan. For Godwin, it was his second appearance of the season while Keenan came on in relief for the third time this year.
HPU would whittle the Deacs lead back down to six, however, with a 9-2 run over the next 1:51. Mescheriakov added another bucket as time expired to give Wake a 45-37 advantage at the break.
The second half began exactly like the first, with a Mescheriakov three-pointer, as WFU opened up on a 5-0 run over the first two minutes and would eventually open up their biggest lead of the contest, 52-37, with 18:20 to play on a jumper by Harris.
HPU crept back to within eight with over the next 6:09, bringing the crowd back to life on a deep three by Barbour at the 12:11 mark and leading to a Wake timeout. HPU kept up the pressure out of the stoppage and got a free throw by Law as well as a corner three-pointer by Branimir Mikulic to make it a four-point affair, 60-56.
Chennault stopped the bleeding with a pair of free throws at the 10:21 mark and the Deacs worked their lead back to nine, 70-61, on a three by Harris with 8:37 to play.
Nevertheless, Barbour kept firing and High Point refused to go away, narrowing the margin all the way back to two on the guard's seventh triple of the night with 29.2 seconds on the clock. Coming out of a timeout, the refs called HPU for a technical, which led to a Mescheriakov freebie and another foul on Chennault, who made both of his foul shots to make it an 87-83 score.
The Panthers then misfired on two three-point attempts as time expired to seal the win for Wake.
