Hunter Sallis scored 23 points and Wake Forest made enough plays down the stretch to overcome visiting South Carolina Upstate for an 85-80 victory Wednesday night in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Wake Forest’s Cameron Hildreth poured in 18 points, reserve Davin Cosby hit three 3-point baskets in the last eight minutes to finish with 15 points and teammate Efton Reid III posted 14 points and eight rebounds.
The Demon Deacons (4-0) trailed by six with less than eight minutes to play but they were able to rally. Wake Forest outscored the Spartans 22-9 on free throws for the game.
Mister Dean’s game-high 24 points and Brit Harris’ 16 led USC Upstate (1-3). Dean made 10 of 14 shots from the field, though he missed the game’s final attempt.
Karmani Gregory’s 3-pointer with 28 seconds left pulled the Spartans to within 81-80 before two free throws from Sallis four seconds later. Hildreth made two more foul shots with 5 seconds remaining to clinch it.
Cosby’s 3-pointer and Hildreth’s three-point play in the last 2 1/2 minutes helped the Demon Deacons to an 81-77 lead.
USC Upstate took several leads in the second half. The Spartans went up 57-55 on Daniel Helterhoff’s 3-pointer, which was his only basket of the game. A 3 from Harris made it 62-58.
USC Upstate kept applying pressure with perimeter shots as Andrew McConnell connected for a 67-61 edge.
Wake Forest finally went back ahead on Reid’s dunk with just under four minutes to play.
After a back-and-forth stretch that included Cosby’s second 3-pointer of the half for Wake Forest and Dean’s tip-in, the score was tied at 75.
Wake Forest led 41-38 at halftime despite shooting 3-for-16 on 3-pointers.
The Spartans withstood 12 first-half turnovers to stay within striking distance. Going 9-for-9 on free throws helped the cause.
Wake Forest had pulled out a 72-70 victory against Michigan in Sunday’s game at nearby Greensboro. USC Upstate is 0-3 on the road, with each of the setbacks to Atlantic Coast Conference opponents after losses at North Carolina State and Virginia Tech.
