The Wake Forest basketball team was back in action last night in the final regular season set of games. The overall level of play was much better tonight and a few Deacs delivered some good performances. Click through for the full report!
The first game featured C.J. Harris and Carson Desrosiers in a scrimmage since several members of the opposing team failed to show up. Harris looked good coming off his recent ankle injury and scored 22 in the shortened game. He shot a high percentage from three and also had some very nifty moves in the lane for buckets. I feel that Harris will prove to be the leader for the 2010-11 Deacs and he has been working hard to prove as much.
While Desrosiers did not have as many opportunities to score (I had him with 8 points), he showed off many of his other skills that make him a very complete player. The most impressive aspect of Carson's game was his outlet passing, which led to at least 4 or 5 easy layups. As soon as he grabs a rebound, he immediately looks up the floor and usually throws a bullet pass that is right on target. This Kevin Love-type of ability will be help the Deacs steal some transition buckets over the next few seasons. I really love Desrosiers' multi-faceted game.
The second game featured Wake trio Ari Stewart, Melvin Tabb and Nikita Mescheriakov against a more experienced team that pretty much had their way. The Wake guys got off to a good start, especially Tabb who had a couple very strong finishes with contact. After that, however, it was tough sailing for the Deacs. The turnover bug caught their team and led to a pretty big deficit by the end of the game. On the bright side, Stewart made a highlight baseline drive for a big dunk in the first half and connected on a few threes in the second to finish with 21.
The final game of the night featured more dunks than I have ever seen in one game. The Demon Deacons on the floor were J.T. Terrell, Tony Woods, L.D. Williams and Travis McKie. Williams absolutely owned the first half by showing off some deep 3-point range and several big dunks courtesy of passes from J.T. Terrell. He had 22 in the first half alone and got his team out to a comfortable lead that they never gave up. The play of the night (and maybe the league) was made when a passer found Tony Woods streaking down the lane. Woods cocked back the hammer and threw down one of the hardest dunks I have ever seen on a defender while getting fouled. The crowd was buzzing for several minutes after that one. Woods finished with 15 strong points.
McKie, not wanting to be left out, did his best to get the crowd going as well. A short while after Woods' big slam, Travis climbed the ladder and threw one down on Tony's head. Both facials were pretty impressive. Overall, McKie had a productive night in the paint in a losing effort. He finished with 29 points, as the ball always seemed to find him on the offensive end.
On the winning side, Williams finished with 28 and Terrell with 23 after hitting a little hot streak from deep in the second half. Terrell contorted his way to some impressive finishes at the rim as well and looked to be more of a distributor than normal on the night.
The playoffs start in full force Tuesday night, so get out and see the basketball Deacs for the last time until November!