WINSTON-SALEM — Wake Forest handed a belated Christmas gift to coach Skip Prosser on Saturday afternoon.
That gift — an uneven 64-59 victory over No. 19 Marquette — is a present that may well impact Wake’s presence in this March’s NCAA Tournament in a positive way.
Wake, ranked 25th, had lost its last three games against teams with national reputations — Syracuse, Kansas and St. John’s — and would have slipped off ESPN SportsCenter’s highlight reels and out of the Associated Press’ roundups with another setback.
Instead, the Deacons remain at least a role player on the national stage.
It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t pretty. Wake managed to turn a routine romp into a major gut-check that had to cost Prosser a few hairs and a good portion of his sanity. The Deacons (9-3) frittered away every ounce of a 19-point lead before righting themselves in the final minute with the help of the 11,865 fans in the Joel Coliseum.
“We’re not thrilled to have a 19-point lead and then have to pull it out at the end,” said Prosser. “But it’s still a good win, because we beat a good team.”
Wake thoroughly dominated the first half with its defense. Marquette (10-2) was shooting 49 percent, but Wake held the Golden Eagles, who are one nickname change and nearly a quarter of a century removed from their 1977 national championship, to 32.3 percent first-half shooting.
Up 39-26 at the half, the Deacs eased out to a 52-33 lead with 14:46 left in the game.
But at that point, Marquette pulled together and began playing like a ranked squad. It tightened its defense, stopped turning the ball over and wouldn’t let Wake’s bread-and-butter big man Darius Songaila touch it.
The result was a 14-0 Eagle run to 52-47.
“OK, we made it interesting,” said Wake guard Broderick Hicks. “It wasn’t on purpose.”
Wake leaper Antwan Scott, conspicuously silent since a game-opening dunk, finally responded with five quick points on a rebound jam and a spinning 3-point play to temporarily abort Marquette’s momentum. But the Deacs’ dry spell still wasn’t over.
Scott’s five were the only points Wake scored in a brutal span of nearly 11 minutes. The grateful Eagles took advantage, finally tying the game at 57-57 on a sweet reverse by future NBAer Dwyane Wade (the soph guard spells his first name crooked, but shoots basketballs straight).
By then, a Joel crowd, which had been standing and laughing was on its knees, pleading.
The Deacs responded. Songaila, who was held to three field goals, drew a foul and cashed in two free throws. Then Scott tossed down another dunk and the Deacs were back up by four. Wake stayed in front the rest of the way thanks in large part to two big defensive rebounds and a block of a Wade 3-pointer by Josh Howard.
Marquette guard Travis Diener did get a look at a late 3-pointer to tie, but misfired. Craig Dawson rebounded that attempt, was fouled and sank two at the line with 3.5 seconds left to wrap up Prosser’s present.
“We knew our options at the end of the game,” sighed Marquette coach Tom Crean. “We got the shot we wanted, we just didn’t knock it down.”
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NOTES:Five Deacons hit double figures, led by Hicks’ 14. ... Marquette made a similar comeback in its previous game. Down 20 to Wisconsin, it closed within a point before losing. Prosser warned his team about that rally at halftime, but the Deacons didn’t pay attention. ... It was a physical game, but only 12 points were scored at the line. “There were no cheap scores today,” said Hicks. “Both teams had to earn every point.” ... Wake, which faces Richmond on Wednesday, has played a good schedule. It’s the first time since 1954 the Deacs have played four ranked teams prior to January. ... Wake’s won seven straight at home and 22 straight non-conference games at home, dating back to 1998.
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Contact Mike London at 704-797-4259 or mlondon@salisburypost.com
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