C.J. Harris scored 19 points to lead six Wake Forest players in double figures as the Demon Deacons held off pesky Radford 79-67 Friday night in the teams' season opener.
Travis McKie and Chase Fischer added 11 points each, and Codi Miller-McIntyre, Devin Thomas and Arnaud Adala Moto scored 10 apiece for Wake Forest, which shot 63.6 percent from the field (28 of 44) and hit 20 of 30 free throws.
R.J. Price scored 16 points, Kion Brown added 14, and Blake Smith and Javonte Green had 12 points each for the Highlanders, who twice fought back from double-digit deficits.
Radford took advantage of 18 Wake Forest turnovers, which led to 22 points. The Highlanders also had an 18-7 edge in offensive rebounds, leading to 14 second-chance points, as they gave the Demon Deacons all they could handle, especially in the first half.
The Highlanders took the lead three times in the first 20 minutes, the last at 14-13 on Green's layup with 11:48 remaining. However, Wake Forest settled down and regained the lead for good thanks to Fischer, who came through with key baskets three times in the final stages of the half.
Fischer hit a jumper and 3-pointer in a 46-second span to put the Demon Deacons back on top. He made another 3 at the 5:15 mark after Radford had pulled within 28-27, then dropped in a third 3-pointer during a 9-0 run that gave Wake Forest a 42-31 lead with 1:57 remaining.
The Highlanders managed to cut the Demon Deacons' lead down to seven points on layups by Lucas Dyer and Price, but Thomas' tip-in of a Harris miss in the final second put Wake Forest up 44-35 at the halftime break.
The Demon Deacons twice pushed their lead back into double digits early in the second half, the last at 50-40 on McKie's jumper with 15:40 left. But Radford whittled away at Wake Forest's lead, pulling within three points three times.
A pair of free throws by Brown with 1:53 remaining cut the Demon Deacons lead to 70-67. But Radford soon ran out of gas, with McKie scoring five points in a game-ending 9-0 run for Wake Forest.
