Wake Forest University
UNCG
Demon Deacons Drop Spartans 59-51
12/21/2013 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 21, 2013
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By Alex Botoman, Wake Forest Athletic Communications (@TieDyeNation)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Behind a double-double from Devin Thomas, Wake Forest battled past UNCG 59-51 on Saturday at the Joel Coliseum, finishing off a perfect home non-conference slate.
The Demon Deacons (10-2) held a seven-point lead at halftime, and while the Spartans cut the advantage to two points late in the second half, the Deacs responded with an 11-4 run to put the game out of reach.
Thomas scored 12 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to lead the Demon Deacons, notching his fifth double-double of the season and the eighth of his career. Tyler Cavanaugh also scored 12 points, six of them coming on back-to-back 3-pointers, in addition to pulling down four rebounds.
Codi Miller-McIntyre joined them in double figures, tallying 11 points - nine of them in the last 5:20 of the game - to help the Demon Deacons earn the win. Arnaud William Adala Moto chipped in seven points and seven rebounds.
While not always shooting the ball well themselves, the Demon Deacons limited the Spartans to 31.7 percent shooting - the second-lowest total for a Wake Forest opponent this season - including a 1-of-15 mark from 3-point range. The Deacs finished at 44.9 percent from the field.
The Deacons won the battle of the boards for the 10th time in 12 games this season, holding a narrow 41-40 rebounding edge.
Wake Forest closed out its home non-conference schedule 9-0 and is on a 10-game home winning streak dating back to last season. It's the first time that the Deacons have won 10 consecutive games at Joel Coliseum since winning 16 straight in a stretch that spanned the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons.
The Deacs will next take the court at home on Jan. 5 when they host No. 14/18 North Carolina in their ACC opener. Wake Forest's final non-conference game of the season comes on Dec. 28 when the Deacons travel to Xavier for the annual Skip Prosser Classic.
Both Wake Forest and UNCG started slow, combining to miss their first nine shots from the field before Tyler Cavanaugh finally broke the ice 3 ½ minutes in. The Spartans went in front 9-6 midway through the opening period before the Demon Deacons ripped off a 10-0 run to put them in front 16-9.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Tyler Cavanaugh helped the Demon Deacons take their biggest lead of the opening period at 27-15 and Wake Forest went into the locker room in front 29-22.
An 8-2 run sparked by a 3-point play by Adala Moto pushed the Wake Forest advantage to 11 points in the second half at 41-30, but the Spartans answered right back with a 10-3 lead of their own to cut the Wake Forest lead to only two points at 44-42 with 6:49 remaining.
It was at that point that Miller-McIntyre took over, exploding for nine points down the stretch to give the Deacs the win.
Wake Forest will take the court for the final time in 2013 on Dec. 28 in against Xavier in the Skip Prosser Classic at 5 p.m. in Cincinnati, Ohio. The game will be broadcast nationally on Fox Sports 1 and can also be heard on the Wake Forest IMG Sports Network.
