Harris leads Wake Forest past William & Mary

Harris leads Wake Forest past William & Mary

Published Nov. 23, 2012 8:20 p.m. ET

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) -- C.J. Harris scored eight of his 18 points in the final 1½ minutes, and Wake Forest rallied to beat William & Mary 63-57 on Friday night.

Travis McKie added 15 points for the Demon Deacons (3-2). They trailed by 13 in the first half before shooting 52 percent (11 of 21) in the second half while holding the Tribe to one field goal during a critical 8 minutes down the stretch.

Marcus Thornton scored 17 points for William & Mary (3-2). Tim Rusthoven added 11, and his layup with 9½ minutes left put the Tribe up 47-46. But William & Mary managed just three field goals the rest of the way, missing 11 of 12 from 3-point range before Thornton hit a contested 3 with 4½ minutes left.

Harris was 6 for 6 from the free-throw line in the final 90 seconds and hit a layup to help the Demon Deacons pull away and avoid their second home loss to William & Mary in four seasons.

The Tribe shot 41 percent (21 of 51) and finished 4 of 18 from 3-point range in losing their second straight.

They were denied their sixth victory on an Atlantic Coast Conference team's home floor -- even though, for much of the game, it sure looked like they were going to get it.

William & Mary led for most of the first half and pushed its lead into double figures about 7½ minutes in when Fred Heldring capped a 15-2 run with a three-point play that made it 17-5. The Tribe stretched their lead to 24-11 on Rusthoven's free throw with 8:14 left.

The Demon Deacons dug themselves out of their big hole by starting the second half with a 16-9 run. McKie capped the spurt with a 3-pointer with just under 14 minutes left that tied it at 39 -- the first time since the opening minutes that Wake Forest wasn't trailing.

Chase Fischer gave the Demon Deacons their first lead of the half when his layup at the 10-minute mark made it 46-45, and Madison Jones' layup three possessions later put the Demon Deacons ahead to stay at 48-47

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