College men’s basketball: Last-second loss for Wake Forest
Published 3:22 am Wednesday, March 6, 2024
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) — Miles Kelly scored 19 points, Baye Ndongo made a game-winning shot with 0.4 seconds left and Georgia Tech held off Wake Forest for a 70-69 victory on Tuesday night.
Ndongo caught an inbounds pass with 3.8 left and drove to the basket, swishing a high-arching shot from the right side of the lane. Wake Forest turned it over as time ran out for its first loss at home this season.
Georgia Tech (14-16, 7-12 ACC) avenged an 80-51 home loss to Wake Forest on Feb. 6 and has won three straight and four of its last five games.
Kelly was 7-of-11 shooting and made five of Georgia Tech’s 10 3-pointers. Naithan George added 16 points and Tafara Gapare scored 11. Ndongo finished with nine points and 11 rebounds.
Hunter Sallis scored 22 points to lead Wake Forest (18-12, 10-9), which has lost three consecutive and five of its last seven games. Cameron Hildreth added 17 points, Kevin Miller had 12 and Efton Reid III chipped in with 11.
Georgia Tech opened on a 21-4 run. Kelly made four 3-pointers and scored 12 points, and George added 10 points to help the Yellow Jackets build a 40-26 halftime lead. Four others each hit a 3 for the Yellow Jackets as they shot 57% (16 of 28) overall in the first half.
Hildreth scored 11 points during a 15-4 run to pull Wake Forest to 52-51 with 9:11 remaining. Georgia Tech pushed the advantage to 68-60 with 2:12 left, but Reid’s 3-pointer followed by four points from Miller made it 68-67 with 37 seconds left.
Wake Forest took its only lead, 69-68, on a Sallis jumper with 18 seconds left.
Georgia Tech travels to Virginia and Wake Forest hosts Clemson in regular-season finales on Saturday.