Orange Topped by Wake Forest on Late Run

Wednesday, January 3

Winston-Salem, NC

7 PM

Syracuse University

12-3, 1-1ACC

Wake Forest

8-6, 1-1ACC

Syracuse

Wake Forest

Photo by: Tyler Cady

1/3/2018 9:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest (8-6, 1-1 ACC) went on a 12-6 run over the final 1:56 of regulation in a 73-67 victory over Syracuse (12-3, 1-1 ACC) Wednesday night at LJVM Coliseum. Junior Frank Howard led the Orange with 23 points and five assists in the setback.

Freshman Oshae Brissett finished with 16 points and seven rebounds, sophomore Tyus Battle added 13 points and junior Paschal Chukwu totaled 10 points, five boards and four blocks.

Bryant Crawford scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half to lead the Demon Deacons. Terrence Thompson added 13 points and seven rebounds and Mitchell Wilbekin finished with 10 points and eight assists.

How it was Decided
Back-to-back buckets along with a free throw opened up a five-point Wake Forest lead. Brissett answered with a 3-point play to trim the Syracuse deficit to three with 34 seconds remaining. The Demon Deacons converted three more foul shots and Howard drained a 3-pointer to trim the gap to two once again with 19 seconds to play.

Wake Forest added four free throws and held the Orange scoreless for the remainder of the game to seal the win.

Game Summary
With the game tied at six, an 8-2 run pulled Wake Forest ahead. A Wilbekin 3-pointer extended the Demon Deacons' lead to 25-17 with 6:47 remaining in the first half.

Syracuse answered with a 12-0 run over a time span of 6:21 to take the lead. Battle knocked down a jumper followed by layups from Brissett, Howard and Matthew Moyer. Back-to-back buckets from Chukwu capped off the scoring surge.

Wilbekin tied the game at 29 with a 4-point play, but Howard drained a trey late in the second half to send the Orange to halftime with a 32-29 lead.

A Moyer dunk with 14:33 to play gave Syracuse a 38-34 lead but Wake Forest tied the game with back-to-back baskets. Later in the half the Demon Deacons hit two consecutive 3-pointers to take a 46-44 lead with 9:30 to play.

A 7-0 run propelled by five points from Howard and a Chukwu dunk helped the Orange take a five-point lead but Wake Forest answered with a 13-5 run to take a 59-56 advantage with 3:45 to go. Brissett drained a 3-pointer and each team made a pair of foul shots to even the game at 61.

Numbers of Note
Wake Forest shot 25-of-56 (44.6 percent) from the field and 9-of-19 from 3-point range (47.4 percent), while Syracuse finished the game 21-of-50 (42.0 percent) from the field and 7-of-18 (38.9 percent) from 3-point range. The Demon Deacons won the battle on the glass, 38-29, and held a 12-6 advantage in offensive rebounds.

In the last five games, Howard has shot 16-of-29 (55.2 percent) from 3-point range. The point guard leads the team in 3-point field goal percentage, shooting 37.5 percent on the year.

With four blocks on the night, Chukwu has blocked at least two shots in 11-of-15 games this season. He also shot 4-of-4 from the free throw line on the night and has made 15 of his last 17 attempts from the charity stripe.

What's Next
Syracuse returns home on Saturday, Jan. 6 at 3:15 p.m. to face Notre Dame. Tickets for all Orange home games are available online at Cuse.com, by phone at 1-888-DOMETIX or in person at Gate B at the Carrier Dome.