Photo by Bob Hebert - Complete Elon album here
After being up by only 13 at the half, Wake Forest outscored Elon by 27 in the second half to coast to a 90-50 victory. It was a balanced scoring effort for the Deacs, who had five players in double-figures. Ari Stewart led the way with 16 on a plethora of mid-range jumpers, while Gary Clark and Ish Smith had efficient games and scored 12 apiece. Chris Long led Elon with 11 points on two of eight shooting.
The Demon Deacons got off to a solid start without Al-Farouq Aminu, who was not in the opening lineup after being late for a team meeting. Tony Woods got two dunks in the first two minutes on nice passes by Chas McFarland and Ish Smith after being plugged into the starting lineup in Aminu's place. Aminu did log 20 minutes in the game and, while he struggled from the field (3-10), he was able to snag yet another double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Wake Forest had another strong defensive effort and was able to hold Elon to 31% from the field and under 13% from beyond the arc. On the other end, Wake shot nearly 53% while only launching five three-pointers during the game (and made two of them) and shot 85% from the free throw line. The Deacs had little trouble converting around the basket, while C.J. Harris, Ari Stewart and L.D. Williams all were productive with the mid-range game.
Wake's next game will certainly be interesting, as they travel to UNC-Wilmington on Wednesday to take on the Seahawks in their gym. Wilmington will certainly be excited to have an ACC opponent in the house on national TV (ESPNU 7:00), so the Demon Deacs better bring their 'A' game.