National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Wake Forest 87, NC-Wilmington 78
When: 7:00 PM ET, Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Where: Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Officials: # Louis Andrakakos, # Bernard Clinton, # Tim Nestor
Attendance: 7586

C.J. Harris led six players in double figures with 23 points and Wake Forest avenged one of its worst losses of last season with an 87-78 victory over visiting North Carolina-Wilmington on Wednesday.

Tony Chennault scored 15 points and freshman Chase Fischer added 14 for the Demon Deacons (8-4), who matched their win total from all of 2010.

Wake Forest is slowing putting the worst season in ACC history behind it, and the Demon Deacons exacted some revenge for an embarrassing 81-69 loss to the Seahawks (3-7) in Greensboro a year ago. It was the first loss in 13 meetings with UNC-Wilmington.

Wake Forest restored the balance of power by weathering a second-half flurry led by freshman Adam Smith, who scored 27 of his 32 points after intermission.

Smith helped the Seahawks erase an 11-point deficit. They took a four-point lead on a 3-pointer from Tanner Milson with just under 10 minutes left, but Wake Forest responded with a decisive 15-2 run that was capped by a tip-in from Travis McKie which made it 69-60 with 4:35 left. The Demon Deacons held UNC-Wilmington without a field goal for more than five minutes.

The Seahawks never got closer than six points the rest of the way, and Wake Forest closed it out by hitting seven of its final eight free throws. Overall, the Demon Deacons made more free throws (33) than UNC-Wilmington attempted (19).
Top Game Performances
 
NC-Wilmington   Wake Forest
Adam Smith 32 Scoring C.J. Harris 23
Cedrick Williams 4 Assists C.J. Harris 4
Keith Rendleman 10 Rebounds Carson Desrosiers 11
K.K. Simmons 8 Free Throws Made C.J. Harris 13
Donte Morales 2 Steals C.J. Harris 2
Cedrick Williams 3 Blocks Carson Desrosiers 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
NC-Wilmington 78 44.3 10-25 14-19 11 33 3 7 14
Wake Forest 87 45.3 6-21 33-43 10 34 3 7 9