Wake Forest University
Georgia Southern
Deacs Drop Season Opener to Georgia Southern, 85-83
11/10/2017 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- The Wake Forest men's basketball team was stunned in its 2017-18 season opener, falling at home to Georgia Southern, 85-83, in the game's final seconds.
Keyshawn Woods led all scorers with a career-high 25 points while freshman Chaundee Brown added 21 in his Demon Deacon debut.
Bryant Crawford extended his streak of consecutive games in double figures to 26, the longest active streak in the ACC, with 19 points, 17 of which came in the second half.
Heading into the halftime break up 46-40, the Demon Deacons maintained a single-digit lead for the entire second half until Georgia Southern took its first lead of the game at 80-79 with 2:11 to play behind a Mike Hughes 3-pointer.
A jumper from Woods followed by a layup frown Brown pushed the lead back to three in favor of the Deacs with 1:15 to play before Georgia Southern's Ike Smith connected from deep to tie the game once again with 1:02 remaining.
Smith was sent to the line with 3.6 seconds remaining in the game, connecting on both attempts to put the Eagles up by two. The ensuing inbounds pass was mishandled by Wake Forest, sealing the Georgia Southern victory.
The Demon Deacons opened Friday's game in style, quickly jumping out a 17-6 lead over the opening 5:45 of play, forcing a Georgia Southern timeout. Keyshawn Woods led the charge, going a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc during the run and scoring 11 of the team's first 17 points.
After the Eagles used an 11-2 run to trim the deficit to two, Wake Forest was able to push the halftime lead back to six. Woods led all scorers at the break with 18 points while Brown added 14-first half points in his Demon Deacon debut.
Brown became the first Demon Deacon freshman to have a 20-point game in his collegiate debut since J.T. Terrell had 26 points vs. Stetson in the 2010-11 season opener.
The defeat snaps a streak of six consecutive season opening victories for the Demon Deacons.
Terrence Thompson, a graduate transfer from Marshall, recorded his first start in the Old Gold and Black, finishing with a team-high 11 rebounds while adding nine points in 29 minutes of play.
The Deacs are back in action on Tuesday, November 14, at home against Liberty. Tip-off inside the LJVM Coliseum is set for 7 p.m.
