Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest avoid upset to South Carolina Upstate
Hunter Sallis scored 23 points and Wake Forest made enough plays down the stretch to overcome visiting South Carolina Upstate for an 85-80 victory Wednesday night in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Wake Forest's Cameron Hildreth poured in 18 points, reserve Davin Cosby hit three 3-point baskets in the last eight minutes to finish with 15 points and teammate Efton Reid III posted 14 points and eight rebounds.
The Demon Deacons (4-0) trailed by six with less than eight minutes to play but they were able to rally. Wake Forest outscored the Spartans 22-9 on free throws for the game.
Mister Dean's game-high 24 points and Brit Harris' 16 led USC Upstate (1-3). Dean made 10 of 14 shots from the field, though he missed the game's final attempt.
Karmani Gregory's 3-pointer with 28 seconds left pulled the Spartans to within 81-80 before two free throws from Sallis four seconds later. Hildreth made two more foul shots with 5 seconds remaining to clinch it.
Cosby's 3-pointer and Hildreth's three-point play in the last 2 1/2 minutes helped the Demon Deacons to an 81-77 lead.
USC Upstate took several leads in the second half. The Spartans went up 57-55 on Daniel Helterhoff's 3-pointer, which was his only basket of the game. A 3 from Harris made it 62-58.
USC Upstate kept applying pressure with perimeter shots as Andrew McConnell connected for a 67-61 edge.
Wake Forest finally went back ahead on Reid's dunk with just under four minutes to play.
After a back-and-forth stretch that included Cosby's second 3-pointer of the half for Wake Forest and Dean's tip-in, the score was tied at 75.
Wake Forest led 41-38 at halftime despite shooting 3-for-16 on 3-pointers.
The Spartans withstood 12 first-half turnovers to stay within striking distance. Going 9-for-9 on free throws helped the cause.
Wake Forest had pulled out a 72-70 victory against Michigan in Sunday's game at nearby Greensboro. USC Upstate is 0-3 on the road, with each of the setbacks to Atlantic Coast Conference opponents after losses at North Carolina State and Virginia Tech.
