Wednesday, March 16
Winston-Salem
7 PM
Wake Forest University
24-9,13-7ACC
74
vs
64
Towson - First Round
25-9,15-3CAA
1
2
F
Towson
22
42
64
Wake Forest
43
31
74
Wake Forest Downs Towson in NIT Opener, 74-64, will Face VCU in Second Round
3/16/2022 10:00:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Damari Monsanto poured in four second-half triples, leading the Demon Deacons to victory.
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest men's basketball will advance to the second round of the NIT after their wire-to-wire victory over Towson on Wednesday evening inside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
The Demon Deacons' (24-9, 13-7) victory marks their first in a postseason tournament since 2010 and secured the program's seventh season all-time featuring at least 24 wins. The last Wake Forest team to record 24 wins was 2008-09.
As a team, Wake Forest shot 49.0 percent from the field (24-of-49) and connected on 19 of their 29 attempts at the free throw line while holding Towson to just 34.8 percent shooting (23-of-66). The Demon Deacons also outrebounded Towson, 42-to-32.
Dallas Walton led all scorers with 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field and a perfect 7-for-7 from the stripe. Walton also chipped in seven rebounds and a pair of blocks, moving up to T-22nd on the single-season block leaderboard with 47.
Damari Monsanto stole the show in the second half, where the sharpshooter compiled 14 points thanks to four makes from beyond the arc and a put-back dunk. Monsanto has now tallied four triples in four of his 15 appearances this season.
Isaiah Mucius rounded out scorers in double-figures, finishing with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Mucius also provided a lift on the defensive end, tallying a pair of blocks and a steal.
Alondes Williams made history with his six points, becoming just the second Demon Deacon to rank within the top 15 of both the program's single season scoring and assists leaderboards. Williams currently ranks 12th in assists (172) and 15th in points (621).
How It Happened
Stats of the Game
Coach's Comments
"First, I want to thank everyone for coming out tonight. I really appreciate all the fans and students for coming out to support us and providing great energy for the first round of the NIT. Congrats to Towson for an incredible year, Coach Skerry's team is really tough and played a really physical game.
"We came out of the gates with tremendous energy. We pressed them to get us going on defense and we executed really well in our halfcourt offense, particularly in our sets. They switched up their defense in the second half and pressed us, which we didn't handle well, but we made adjustments and broke their press. It was a very physical game, but that's what you expect in postseason basketball, and I'm really proud of our team for handling it and coming up with the win." - Coach Steve Forbes
Up Next
Wake Forest will advance to the second round of the NIT and face VCU this weekend. Date, time and broadcast information will be released when it is made available.
The Demon Deacons' (24-9, 13-7) victory marks their first in a postseason tournament since 2010 and secured the program's seventh season all-time featuring at least 24 wins. The last Wake Forest team to record 24 wins was 2008-09.
As a team, Wake Forest shot 49.0 percent from the field (24-of-49) and connected on 19 of their 29 attempts at the free throw line while holding Towson to just 34.8 percent shooting (23-of-66). The Demon Deacons also outrebounded Towson, 42-to-32.
Dallas Walton led all scorers with 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field and a perfect 7-for-7 from the stripe. Walton also chipped in seven rebounds and a pair of blocks, moving up to T-22nd on the single-season block leaderboard with 47.
Damari Monsanto stole the show in the second half, where the sharpshooter compiled 14 points thanks to four makes from beyond the arc and a put-back dunk. Monsanto has now tallied four triples in four of his 15 appearances this season.
Isaiah Mucius rounded out scorers in double-figures, finishing with 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Mucius also provided a lift on the defensive end, tallying a pair of blocks and a steal.
Alondes Williams made history with his six points, becoming just the second Demon Deacon to rank within the top 15 of both the program's single season scoring and assists leaderboards. Williams currently ranks 12th in assists (172) and 15th in points (621).
How It Happened
- Jake LaRavia and Isaiah Mucius scored layups to give the Deacs an early 4-0 lead.
- Cameron Hildreth's layup capped off a 9-0 Wake Forest run that gave the team its first double-digit lead of the evening (16-6) at the 12:28 mark of the first half.
- Daivien Williamson drilled his first triple to give the Deacs a 21-12 lead with 9:31 to play until halftime.
- Matthew Marsh threw down a dunk to give the team a 13-point lead (28-15) with just over six minutes until the intermission.
- Wake Forest ended the first half on an 11-1 run to take a 21-point lead (43-22) going into halftime.
- Mucius led the team's first half scoring effort with 10 points while LaRavia and Walton followed close behind with nine points apiece.
- As a team, the Deacs shot 60 percent from the floor in the opening period and held Towson to just 29.6 percent.
- Walton netted a pair of free throws to get the Deacs going in the second half.
- Mucius and Walton scored layups on consecutive possessions to provide Wake Forest with a 23-point advantage (51-28) with just over 15 minutes remaining in the contest.
- Damari Monsanto's personal 8-0 run put an end to a 12-0 Towson run and put the Deacs up by 19 (59-41) with just over eight minutes left to play.
- Monsanto's fourth make from downtown extended Wake Forest's lead to 16 (67-51) with 4:29 to go until the final buzzer.
- Williams' layup gave the team a 13-point lead (69-56) with under three minutes left in the contest.
- Wake Forest defeated Towson 74-64.
Stats of the Game
- Alondes Williams (621 points, 172 assists) officially joined Randolph Childress (644 points, 167 assists in 1994-95) as the only two Demon Deacons to rank inside the top 15 of the program's single season scoring and assists leaderboard for a single season.
Coach's Comments
"First, I want to thank everyone for coming out tonight. I really appreciate all the fans and students for coming out to support us and providing great energy for the first round of the NIT. Congrats to Towson for an incredible year, Coach Skerry's team is really tough and played a really physical game.
"We came out of the gates with tremendous energy. We pressed them to get us going on defense and we executed really well in our halfcourt offense, particularly in our sets. They switched up their defense in the second half and pressed us, which we didn't handle well, but we made adjustments and broke their press. It was a very physical game, but that's what you expect in postseason basketball, and I'm really proud of our team for handling it and coming up with the win." - Coach Steve Forbes
Up Next
Wake Forest will advance to the second round of the NIT and face VCU this weekend. Date, time and broadcast information will be released when it is made available.
Team Stats
Towson
Wake
FG%
.348
.490
3FG%
.286
.333
FT%
.625
.655
RB
34
42
TO
12
18
STL
11
5
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
17
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
7
Pts
14
FGM
5
3FGM
4
FTM
0
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
1
FTM
1
Pts
9
FGM
4
3FGM
1
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
F/C
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's Basketball
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