Wake Forest beats UNC Greensboro

Wake Forest beats UNC Greensboro

Published Dec. 22, 2012 4:04 p.m. ET

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) -- Travis McKie scored 19 points and Wake Forest overcame a slow start to beat UNC Greensboro 84-70 Saturday.

Chase Fischer had 13 points, Devin Thomas 12 and C.J. Harris 11 for the Demon Deacons (6-5), who shot 52.9 percent (27 of 51) from the field in winning their second straight game by double figures.

Trevis Simson scored 25 points for the Spartans (2-8), who are now 0-7 against Wake Forest and 1-47 against Atlantic Coast Conference teams.

Derrell Armstrong had 16 points and Kayel Locke 10 for UNC Greensboro, which led five times in the first half before the Demon Deacons took control in the final minutes to lead 38-29 at the break.

Wake Forest, which also held a 33-30 rebounding advantage against the Spartans, extended its lead into double digits in the opening minutes of the second half, going up 40-29 on Thomas' layup with 18:52 left.

The Demon Deacons went on to lead by as many as 15 points three times in the half, the last at 70-55 on a McKie dunk with 7:45 remaining. UNC Greensboro, which shot 42.4 percent (25 of 59), could get no closer than 11 the rest of the way.

That was a turnaround from the first half, with Wake Forest having a tougher time than it did four days earlier against another Southern Conference team in a 79-55 victory over Furman.

The teams swapped the lead 10 times and tied things twice before the Demon Deacons finally asserted themselves in the final two minutes to take a nine-point lead at the half.

UNC Greensboro, which forced Wake Forest into seven turnovers and held them under 40 percent shooting for most of the half, last led 27-26 on Nicholas Paulos' 3-pointer with 2:21 left.

However, the Demon Deacons responded with a 12-2 run to close out the period. A pair of Harris free throws with 2:05 remaining put them on top 28-27, and his layup with 2 seconds left gave Wake Forest its biggest lead of the half.

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