Demon Deacons Drop Hard-Fought Contest to Loyola Marymount in Jamaica Classic Finale

MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica - Graduate transfer guard Tyree Appleby continued his stellar start to the 2022-23 season as he tallied 19 points, eight rebounds, eight assists and three steals, but the Wake Forest men's basketball team fell to Loyola Marymount, 77-75 in overtime, on Sunday afternoon in the finale of Jamaica Classic.

The Jacksonville, Ark. native has now scored in double figures in each of the Demon Deacons last four games and is averaging 19.0 points per contest this season.

In addition to Appleby, Wake Forest (4-1) was led by junior forward Andrew Carr who posted a solid all-around game with 10 points, eight rebounds, two blocked shots and one steal.

Their performances along with a solid output from many others was enough to overcome a 10-point halftime deficit to force overtime, but the Deacs were unable to win the contest in the extra period.

Wake Forest travels back to Winston-Salem on Monday and will gear up for a pair of home games this week as the Deacs host South Carolina State at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday night and Hampton at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday afternoon inside Joel Coliseum. Both games will be broadcast on the ACC Network and fans can purchase tickets to both contests here.

How It Happened

Wake Forest opened the scoring on Sunday afternoon with a Tyree Appleby jumper 27 seconds into the contest.
Following a jumper from LMU, Appleby canned the game's first three-pointer off an assist by Andrew Carr at the 18:36 mark to grab the early 5-2 advantage.
The Deacs stretched their lead to nine points (11-2) a few minutes later (16:04) when Daivien Williamson hit a triple.
Wake Forest was able to maintain at least a five-point lead until Chance Stephens nailed a three with 10:14 remaining in the opening stanza to close the Deacons lead to four, 17-13.
- Less than a minute later, Stephens pulled the game event at 17 apiece as Stephens continued to score the basketball at the offensive end.
The game was nip-and-tuck out of the second media timeout of the game until the Lions went on a 9-2 run from the 8:35 mark of the first half, until there was just over two minutes left.
- Cameron Hildreth ended the scoring jaunt with a jumper off an LMU turnover.
The Lions finished the first half with five more unanswered points and entered the locker room with a double-digit lead, 35-25.
Hildreth opened the scoring in the second half with a triple at the 17:19 mark to cut the lead to seven (35-28).
LMU was able to maintain at least a six-point advantage all the way until there was 12:10 left in the game when Appleby threw up an alley-oop to center Matthew Marsh.
Wake Forest continued to battle and eventually took the lead (45-44) on a Damari Monsanto three-point basket with 9:49 left in the game.
The contest remained a one-possession game until Marsh tallied back-to-back layups with 3:55 and 3:24 remaining in the game, respectively.
- Wake Forest's lead after the second basket was 60-55.
Marsh continued to assert his dominance with an alley-oop dunk with 2:38 left in the game (from Appleby) and a pair of free throws down the stretch.
With an eight-point lead and 2:01 remaining (65-57) after a Hildreth layup, LMU closed the game on an 8-0 run to force overtime.
- Lions guard Cam Shelton hit a three-pointer with one second remaining in the second half to knot the score at 65 apiece.
LMU's Shelton opened the scoring in OT with a layup off a Demon Deacons turnover one minute into the extra period.
Twenty seconds later, Andrew Carr tallied a pair of free throws to tie the score up (67-67).
Following an Appleby jumper at the 2:51 mark to give the Deacs a lead, LMU answered with a three-pointer just 23 seconds later to grab the advantage, 70-69.
Undaunted, Monsanto splashed a triple from downtown off a Marsh offensive rebound to give Wake Forest the lead back, 72-70.
LMU's Justin Ahrens answered with a triple of his own to give the Lions the lead with 1:36 remaining in OT.
Twenty-six seconds later, Hildreth netted a tough and-one finish at the rim to give Wake Forest the lead back, 75-73.
With less than a minute remaining, both teams committed turnovers and LMU's Chance Stephens was able to capitalize off the Demon Deacons miscue with a three-point basket to grab the lead, 76-75.
On the game's final possession, Hildreth missed a layup and the Deacs were forced to foul LMU with less than five seconds remaining in the game.
The Lions defeated Wake Forest, 77-75.

Coach's Comments
"I want to congratulate Loyal Marymont and Coach Stan Johnson, they've got a really nice team, a resilient team. When they were down they didn't give up, they kept fighting, and made some big time shots. Cam Shelton and Chance Stephens had great games for them. Shelton is really good off the dribble and obviously Stephens can really shoot it as he made 7-of-10 from three. They have a really nice club and they deserved to win. It's inexcusable for us not to close out the game in regulation up eight and win the game.

"With 1:42 left, we were up 65-80 coming down the transition and Ty turned it over. He got fouled, a guy body checked him, but they didn't call it. So, that started a run of basically three unforced turnovers. We didn't even have to shoot the ball, we just gave it to them. Two missed rebounds, where we had the chance to get one rebound, didn't get it. They took it out, threw it in, moved it around and made a three. Then after one of our turnovers we had a chance to get the rebound and we just didn't get it and they put it in for two. We missed two free throws, just had to make one to put us ahead. Then we gave up two three's in the last minute instead of forcing them to drive. Knowing the situation, it is what it is. You just make them put it on the floor. They made eight three's in the first half. I don't think they had made a three up until that point during the second half. Then they made two big ones late, but that's just more recognition on our part. It was the same thing in overtime. We finally got the lead back, put it in Cam's hands, the guy that was guarding him had four fouls. He had just taken it to their basket and scored. Instead, he dribbles it down to the corner and dribbles it off his foot for an unforced turnover. Then down they come and we lose sight of the best shooter on the court and he makes a three and that's the ball game. So, it's our fault, and my fault. My job is to get our team to play the right way at the end of the game. Obviously, I didn't do that, so I'm going to have to go back and look at it and see where we can fix it but it's inexcusable." - head coach Steve Forbes

Up Next
Following Jamaica, Wake Forest will return home for a clash with South Carolina State on Wednesday, Nov. 23. Tipoff against the Bulldogs is set for 8:30 p.m. ET and will stream live on ACC Network.

Demon Deacons Drop Hard-Fought Contest to Loyola Marymount in Jamaica Classic Finale

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Team Stats

Tyree Appleby

Matthew Marsh

Cameron Hildreth

Andrew Carr

Wake Forest Athletics