WINSTON-SALEM - Wake Forest forward Vytas Danelius drained a pair of foul shots with 2:36 left in the second overtime to give the Demon Deacons a five-point lead as Wake pulled away from the men's basketball team, winning 94-80 at Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum last night in Winston-Salem.
After ending regulation knotted at 69, and then finishing the first extra period tied at 74, the Deacs demonized Duke in the second extra time, dropping 20 while holding the No. 8 Blue Devils (16-4, 6-4 in the ACC) to only six points.
Following Danelius' buckets, Blue Devil point guard Chris Duhon, who led all scorers with 23 points, brought the ball down court, and - trying to create some offense - drove the lane, getting in position for the easy layup.
Duhon's shot, however, bounced around on the rim before slipping out, and the Demon Deacons crashed the boards, grabbing the ball and finding a streaking Taron Downey, who was able to put away a virtually unguarded layup giving No. 15 Wake Forest (17-3, 7-2) a 82-75 lead with 2:07 remaining.
"Once you got into overtime it was going to be a great win for somebody and a tough loss for somebody," Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "So it's a great win for Wake and tough loss for us. Especially in the second half, it was a battle.... It was the hardest out kids have played on the road, and as far as effort goes, it was a winning effort."
After falling behind by seven, the Blue Devils went into desperation mode, trying to claw back by using the three.
On the ensuing offensive possession, Duhon missed a three, and after a Duke board, junior forward Nick Horvath missed another attempt from behind the arc.
The Deacs then converted - grabbing the board and getting the ball to Danelius on the fly. The 6-foot-8 sophomore took the pass, went up and slammed it home, giving Wake a 84-75 lead and sending the Deacon faithful into a frenzy.
About 90 seconds, a few free throws and missed Duke treys later, the final buzzer sounded as Wake Forest fans stormed the court and a dejected Duke team went into the locker room and got ready for the long trip home.
"I have no words to describe it," Duhon said. "I'm proud of my teammates, we went out and fought hard from the second half on. We put ourselves in a position to win and just didn't get it done."
Both Duke and Wake Forest had a chance to put away the game before the second overtime.
At the end of regulation, the Blue Devils found themselves with the ball and the game deadlocked at 69 and 25.4 seconds left. All Duke could muster was a missed trifecta by Duhon, and after the Demon Deacons failed to convert on their end, Blue Devil freshman Shavlik Randolph pulled down the rebound the sent the game into overtime.
Wake had a similar opportunity fall short at the end of the first overtime. The Deacs controlled possession with about 20 second left, and after going inside, and missing the ball pinged around, almost finding its way through the rim twice. Instead the buzzer sounded, signaling the coming of overtime two.
"It feels real good," said Wake Forest guard Justin Gray, who was returning to the lineup for the first time since breaking his jaw in the Wake's 74-55 loss Jan. 12 to the Blue Devils in Cameron Indoor Stadium. "Duke's a good team and this is one of the best games I've ever played in."
With the win Wake Forest moves into sole possession of the ACC lead, a game its next opponent, Maryland. The loss drops Duke to into a tie for third with cross-town rival N.C. State.
The loss was also the first for Duke in its last 15 meeting with the Deacons.
"I've been doing this for 30 years, and it was as good as any I've been a part of," Wake Forest head coach Skip Prosser said. "For those of you who been in the ACC longer than I have, you're cognizant of the fact that that's it is in this conference.... It was a war of attrition, in many, ways and we just feel very fortunate to be able to walk out of here with a win."
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