Wake Forest University
Bucknell
Wake Forest Holds off Bucknell, 60-53
12/22/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest used stifling defense in the first half and a strong finish to earn a 60-53 victory over Bucknell inside the LJVM Coliseum on Monday evening.
The Demon Deacons (6-6) got off to a strong start with a 21-4 run. With the help of strong first-half defense, Wake Forest led 31-20 at the break. The Deacons held the Bison (5-7) to 15.4 percent shooting and recorded eight blocks in the first period.
After a 3-pointer from Codi Miller-McIntyre opened the second half for the Deacons, Bucknell (5-6) responded with a 14-4 run to cut the Deacon's lead to 37-36 with 12:05 remaining in the period.
Wake Forest answered with a 13-6 spurt, which included six points from Miller-McIntyre and was capped off by a 3-point play by Greg McClinton to give the Deacons a 53-43 lead with 4:38 remaining. The Bison couldn't recover from the Deacons' surge as Wake Forest held on to defeat Bucknell.
Miller-McIntyre led the way with 19 points, also pulling down eight rebounds and adding game-highs of four assists and five steals.
McClinton added a much-needed spark for the Deacons as he recorded career-highs in points (10) and rebounds (7), while Darius Leonard also scored in double figures with 11 points.
Devin Thomas finished two points shy of a double-double, with eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds. He was handed two technical fouls in less than two minutes in the second half.
Of the eight blocks that the Deacs recorded in the first half, Aaron Rountree III, Andre Washington, and Leonard all recorded two. Rountree III added another in the second half, finishing with a game-high three blocks for Wake Forest.
Bucknell was led by Chris Hass, who scored a game-high 26 points for the Bison. He sank all 10 of his free throw attempts.
LOCK-DOWN DEFENSE
• The Deacons held Bucknell to 15.4 percent shooting in first half, the lowest mark in a half for opponent since 2001 and the 4th-lowest in school history.
• The Bison only shot 28.6 percent from the field the entire game and Wake Forest won the battle on the boards 41-35.
• Wake Forest earned 11 steals, while Bucknell had four.
MILLER-MCINTYRE MAGIC
• The junior guard scored in double-figures for the seventh consecutive game with 19 against Bucknell. He now has nine double-digits scoring contests this season.
• He also totaled eight boards, four assists and five steals in 36 minutes of action.
BLOCK PARTY
• As a team, Wake Forest went into the break with eight blocks, which broke a season-high of seven set against Iona (Nov. 21). The Deacs finished the game with a season-high nine total blocks.
ALLEY-OOP JAMS
• Greg McClinton had an alley-oop jam against the Bison, the third consecutive game he has done so going back to the victory over Samford (Dec. 14). McClinton also had an alley-oop dunk against Florida on Saturday.
• Madison Jones found McClinton on a fast break, finishing off a thunderous alley-oop jam with 10:22 remaining in the opening half.
ON DECK
• Wake Forest travels to Richmond, Virginia, to take on the Richmond Spiders on Sunday Dec. 28 at 4 p.m.
