Box Score Game Box (pdf)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – In the first game of 2012 for the Wofford men’s basketball team, the Terriers defeated Wake Forest 56-52 at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Wofford led by as many as 13, but it took two free throws by Brad Loesing with two seconds left to seal the victory over the Demon Deacons.
Wofford is now 8-6 on the season, while Wake Forest is 9-5 overall. Wofford was led by Brad Loesing with 17 points and Kevin Giltner added eleven points. Lee Skinner had seven rebounds. The Demon Deacons, playing without leading scorer C.J. Harris, were paced by Travis McKie with 25 points. Ty Walker led all played with 12 rebounds.
“Needless to say I am pleased to come into a venue like this and win a basketball game,” said Wofford head coach Mike Young. “It was not always real pretty, but we will take it and get back down the road. To get 17 offensive rebounds and have 15 more shots than Wake was a story. We did a pretty good job of taking care of the ball with only nine turnovers. When we have given up 25 made threes in the last two games, that has been a point of emphasis for us for a long time and needless to say we work on that in practice the last few days.”
The Demon Deacons opened the scoring, but Wofford answered with a three by Brad Loesing for a 3-2 lead. Another three by Brad Loesing gave the Terriers an 8-6 advantage five minutes into play. Jarell Byrd tied the game at ten with 13:05 on the clock, and Byrd gave the Terriers a 12-10 lead with a dunk at 11:35 in the first half.
Brad Loesing added two jump shots and Kevin Giltner hit a floater for an 18-12 lead with eight minutes on the clock. At the five minute mark, Karl Cochran hit a three as the shot clock expired to take a 21- 16 lead. Another shot by Cochran pushed the advantage to 23-16 a minute later. A long three by Kevin Giltner gave the Terriers a ten-point lead with 3:25 left in the first half. Jarell Byrd added a three for a 30-19 lead. Wake Forest hit a three with 26 seconds left in the half, but Wofford had a 32-22 advantage at the break.
Wake Forest used a quick 6-1 run to open the second half to cut the lead to 33-28, but Wofford responded with a 5-0 run that ended with a three by Karl Cochran for a 38-28 game at 16:41. The Demon Deacons then had a 5-0 run to make it a 38-33 score with 14:55 left in the second half. A put-back by Lee Skinner was followed by a basket by Travis McKie for a 40-35 score with 11:40 remaining.
Back-to-back three pointers by Kevin Giltner gave the Terriers a 48-37 lead at the ten minute mark of the second half. The Demon Deacons cut the lead to 49-44 after another 5-0 run with 5:30 on the clock. Brad Loesing hit a floater to make it a 51-44 score with just under four minutes remaining.
A three by Brad Loesing with three minutes left made it a 54-46 game. The Demon Deacons scored the next four points for a 54-50 score with one minute on the clock. Wofford missed three free throws and Wake Forest scored a lay-up with four seconds left for a 54-52 lead. Brad Loesing went to the line with two seconds remaining and hit both for a 56-52 win.
The Terriers shot 34.4% from the floor for the evening, while Wake Forest shot 39.1% overall. Wofford finished 9-27 from behind the arc. The Demon Deacons went 1-of-10 from three. Wofford was 5-of-15 from the free throw line, while Wake Forest went 15-of-17 from the charity stripe. Wofford and Wake Forest were tied at 36 rebounds, but Wofford had 17 on the offensive glass.
Brad Loesing has tied the school record with 111 career starts. He holds the mark with Greg O’Dell, who played from 1988-92. The win was the first for Wofford in the series since an 18-15 win in 1906, the first year of basketball at Wake Forest. It was the first win over an ACC team since Wofford beat Clemson in 1999.
The Terriers return home on Thursday, January 5 against the College of Charleston at 8:00 p.m. in a Southern Conference contest that will air on ESPN3.
