Wake Forest Defeats ETSU in Final Tuneup Before Season Opener at LJVM Coliseum

JOHNSON CITY, TENN. – Facing ETSU in a charity exhibition, the Wake Forest men's basketball team defeated the Buccaneers 89-70 on Wednesday night at Freedom Hall.

Offensively, Wake Forest was led in scoring by senior guard Mekhi Mason, who posted a game-high 24 points on a remarkable 8-for-12 shooting clip, including 5-for-9 from three-point distance. The newcomer also chipped in four assists in 32 minutes of action.

Three other Deacs rounded out a quartet of double-digit scorers – grad forward Tre'Von Spillers (17 points), sophomore guard Juke Harris (15 points) and junior guard Myles Colvin (15 points). Spillers pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds to secure a double-double, while also shining on the defensive end with four blocks. Colvin added six rebounds and made five of seven field goal attempts in 26 minutes as a reserve.

Senior lead guard Nate Calmese paced the tempo with 12 assists, leading all individuals, and also collected three steals. Junior forward Omaha Biliew contributed nine points and five rebounds in 22 minutes.

Wake Forest was efficient in its collective shooting, making 33 of 67 overall attempts from the floor (49.3 percent) and pouring in 15 three-pointers on 33 tries (45.5 percent). At the free-throw line, the Deacs went 8-for-10 (80 percent). The team shared the ball very well for 23 assists on its 33 made baskets. In addition, Wake Forest earned 29 points from their bench in comparison to ETSU's 15.

Defensively, the Demon Deacons as a team held the Buccaneers to a 35.6 field goal percentage and just 25 percent from beyond the arc. Wake Forest also forced 11 turnovers and won the rebounding battle, 44-34.

On Tuesday evening, Wake Forest head coach Steve Forbes was honored for his contributions to the Bucs' program by being inducted into the ETSU Athletics Hall of Fame.

How It Happened

The Deacs' first points of the night came off a Mekhi Mason corner triple, a minute into the first half.
- Fellow newcomer Nate Calmese then earned his first basket on a floater inside the paint.
Mason soon knocked down his second three-pointer, bumping Wake's lead to 8-4 at the 17:15 mark of the opening half.
After the Buccaneers drilled a three to create a one-point deficit, Myles Colvin checked in to quickly draw a foul on a dunk attempt right before the night's first media timeout.
- The junior made both tries at the free-throw line to put the Deacs up three (10-7).
The Demon Deacons defense forced another stop, and Juke Harris made his way to the rim for a nifty reverse layup on the team's next offensive possession.
- Wake remained ahead, 12-7, with 14:46 to go in the period.
Trey balls by Colvin and Harris had the Deacs on a 10-0 run, as ETSU went scoreless for over four minutes and subsequently signaled for a timeout.
- Three different Wake individuals netted a three-pointer in the game's first eight minutes, with the team starting 4-for-5 from distance.
The Buccaneers got back on the board with three made free throws, trailing 18-10 with 12:03 to go before the break.
ETSU was ultimately able to score five unanswered points but Mason stayed hot from outside the arc, responding by swishing his third triple of the half.
Tre'Von Spillers made a nice hustle play on a second-chance dunk, and Calmese scooped a steal to score as Wake jumped ahead 25-12 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the first.
Two free throws by Mason allowed him to become the first Deac to reach double-digits in points.
- The senior started a perfect 3-for-3 from the field, all coming from three-point territory.
Colvin continued to give the team a boost as a reserve, sticking a putback for his seventh point.
- Wake's defense again gave the Bucs issues offensively, suffering a scoring drought for three and a half minutes.
By the under-8 media timeout, the Deacs led 29-17.
Scrappy defense by both sides took over before ETSU got another three to fall, marking an 8-0 run.
- Wake was up 29-22 at the time with just over five minutes left in the half.
- A minute later, Omaha Biliew earned a trip to the charity stripe and placed his Deacs back in the scoring column.
Mason found Spillers for a second dunk two possessions later, keeping the lead active (32-26).
- The former soon soared in for a putback dunk, followed by a Spillers-Calmese alley-oop connection to create an eight-point lead.
As the first half came to a close, Wake led 36-30.
- The team had nine assists on its first 13 made baskets.
- Mason led all individuals with 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the floor.
- Colvin posted seven points and four rebounds in 14 minutes played.
Spillers quickly swooshed one from the outside wing as the second half unfolded.
Wake immediately earned a defensive stop and Calmese found Biliew for a right-corner triple, followed by a Spillers lay-in for an exceptional 8-0 start to the period.
- ETSU took a timeout, down 44-30.
Five points in 30 seconds were delivered by Mason, extending the Deacs' advantage to 49-36.
Spillers enjoyed a nice scoring start to the second, scoring seven points in less than five minutes.
Colvin went coast-to-coast for a finish, as Wake went ahead 53-36.
Isaac Carr soon checked onto the floor for the first time of the night.
After fighting for a loose ball, Biliew was able to get free room for an easy dunk off a Colvin assist.
- The Deacs stayed in control at 58-43 with 12:15 to play.
Wake did not allow a field goal made by ETSU for three minutes of play.
Calmese continued to spread the wealth within the Deacs' offense, swinging the ball to Biliew for the team's 10th made three.
Mason jumped on another quick personal run, tacking on four points to reach over 20 points.
Wake kept it going in its solid three-point shooting, as Covin and Harris knocked down a trey apiece.
- The consecutive shots put the Deacs back on a 15-point lead (70-55) with just over six minutes remaining.
Calmese set up Harris and Spillers for dunks in back-to-back fashion, upping the margin to 76-57.
Mason soon notched a fifth triple to put Wake up by 20 – its largest lead of the night.
With 2:36 on the clock, Jaylen Cross made his first appearance of the night before Colvin rang a three.
- Cross got on the board late with a layup on a second-chance attempt, winning a rebound stickback.
Vincent Ricchiuti put the finishing touches on the night with a three-pointer not long after checking in.
Wake Forest defeated ETSU, 89-70.

Coach's Comments
"Brooks [Savage's] team was very physical, especially early on. Their physicality bothered our guards and bigs. We had a hard time getting clean drives to the basket and we couldn't play through the contact. Our bigs did a poor job finishing around the basket in the first half. A lot of that is a credit to how hard Brooks' team plays. They're a different team to guard - much like Virginia, when they ran mover blocker when Tony Bennett was there. I don't know too many teams in the country that run that – it's a lot of screens. The theme of our defense was that you have to grind out the possession and not come down and take quick shots. So, you have to have discipline defensively to beat them. I thought at times we were and then sometimes we were not. There were a couple times earlier we could have broken the game open but we relaxed defensively after a timeout. We took maybe a couple bad shots or fouled. So, those are things we can clean up.

"I thought our shot profile was elite … elite. What do I mean by that? 21 of our 33 attempts were uncontested threes off the catch. Those are great shots. Eventually we were able to break the game open on getting some easy baskets in transition. Our pace was really good.

"Defensively, we did a good job. They had a hard time getting in the paint. 32 of their 59 shots were threes, and that's the type of shot profile we want it to look like for us to play defense. We rebounded really well, and then we shared it. We had 23 assists on 33 baskets. That goes back to me telling you that we're shooting uncontested threes off the catch and off the pass. We made 16 threes against East Carolina and we made 15 tonight. …It was an emotional trip for me, but for them, it was a business trip. I thought they handled it really well. They went to class all day yesterday before they practiced. Then, they drove over here to start a routine that began last night up until tipoff tonight. I'm proud of them for their focus – they did a really good job." - head coach Steve Forbes

Up Next
The Demon Deacons will host American in the 2025-26 season opener on Monday night at LJVM Coliseum as part of a doubleheader with the women's team. Tip-off against the Eagles is scheduled for 8 p.m.

Secure your spot for both games at the Joel at GoDeacs.com/tickets or by calling the Wake Forest Ticket Office at 336-758-3322.

Wake Forest Defeats ETSU in Final Tuneup Before Season Opener at LJVM Coliseum

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Team Stats

Mekhi Mason

Tre'Von Spillers

Juke Harris

Myles Colvin

Players Mentioned

Omaha Biliew

Nate Calmese

Isaac Carr

Myles Colvin

Jaylen Cross

Juke Harris

Mekhi Mason

Vincent Ricchiuti

Tre'Von Spillers

Wake Forest Athletics