WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Graduate guard Alondes Williams posted his second 30-point performance of the season on Tuesday evening to propel Wake Forest to a 77-70 comeback victory over VMI inside Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, their tenth of the season.
Wake Forest’s 10-1 start to the season marks the program’s best start through 11 games since the 2008-09 season (11-0).
The Deacs opened the second half of play on a 10-0 run, setting the stage for the eventual victory.
Isaiah Mucius provided Wake Forest the late lead by draining a three with 3:10 to play, a lead the Deacs would not surrender for the remainder of the contest.
The team’s defensive effort in the second half was crucial in securing the victory. The Deacs held the Keydets to just four triples and 32.3 percent shooting in the second half.
Led by Alondes Williams’ 12 makes on 13 attempts, the Deacs shot 28-of-31 from the free throw line, a 90.3 percent clip.
Williams finished with a career-high 36 points on 11-of-20 shooting from the field, including the 12 makes from the stripe. The Milwaukee, Wisc. native also finished with eight rebounds and three assists.
Dallas Walton (7-of-8) and Cameron Hildreth (5-of-6) also made critical shots from the stripe, and finished with seven and 12 points, respectively. The pair combined for 17 rebounds, including five on the offensive glass.
Mucius also played a critical role in the victory, finishing with 11 points and three rebounds. The veteran forward knocked down three of the team’s seven three-pointers and accounted for two of the team’s five steals.
How It Happened
Isaiah Mucius scored the Deacs first points at the free throw line, going a perfect 2-of-2 to end VMI’s 8-0 run to open the game.
Cameron Hildreth connected on a triple to narrow VMI’s lead to 18-7 with 12:26 to play in the first half.
Layups from Alondes Williams and Khadim Sy cut the deficit to 10 (21-11) with nine minutes until intermission.
A pull-jumper from Williams cut the deficit to eight (23-15) with 6:30 remaining until halftime.
Hildreth and Dallas Walton each netted a pair of free throws to cut VMI’s lead to 13 (42-29) with just over a minute until the buzzer.
The Deacs entered halftime trailing the Keydets 42-29.
Williams (13 points) and Hildreth (seven points) led the team in first-half scoring. Wake Forest drew nine VMI fouls in the opening period and shot a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line.
The Deacs opened the second half on a 10-0 run fueled by two triples from Mucius and Williams and jumpers from Williams and Daivien Williamson.
That run cut the deficit to three (42-39) just under two minutes into the final half.
Hildreth ended a 7-0 VMI response with a layup, cutting the deficit to seven (48-41) with 14:40 left to play
Sy slammed in a putback dunk, cutting VMI’s lead to five (50-45) with 12:25 remaining in the contest.
Williams converted an and-one at the line to cut the deficit down to eight (58-50) with 10:22 to go.
Hildreth scored a layup and Walton followed up with two makes at the free throw line to cut the Keydets’ lead to six (61-55) with just under nine minutes until the buzzer.
Williams scored back-to-back layups to cut the deficit down to two (65-63) with 4:28 remaining in regulation.
Mucius drained his second triple of the night, giving the Deacs their first lead of the game (66-65) with 3:10 to play.
Williams wrapped up the Deacs’ 10-0 run with two free-throws to push the Wake Forest lead to three with 2:34 remaining.
Mucius responded to a game-tying VMI triple with his third three-pointer and was followed up by a layup from Williams to push the Wake Forest lead to five (73-68) with 1:33 left in the contest.
Williams put the Deacs up two possessions at the free throw line to extend the lead to 74-70 with 27.5 seconds left.
Wake Forest went on to defeat VMI 77-70.
Key Moment
After entering halftime trailing by 13, the Deacs opened the second half with an emphatic 10-0 run to make it a one possession game (42-39) with 18:02 left to play. The team went 4-for-4 from the field during the run, including two triples from Mucius and Williams along with jumpers from Williams and Williamson.
That run provided the platform for the Deacs to complete the comeback. The Deacs overcame a 13-point halftime deficit to win for only the sixth time in program history and first time since 2007 (at Miami, Jan. 6, 2007).
Stat of the Game
Alondes Williams’ 36 points mark the most scored by a Demon Deacon since Justin Gray scored 38 at Maryland in 2006.
Additionally, Williams became the first Demon Deacon to score 30 points twice in the same season since Jeff Teague, who reached 30 points three times during the 2008-09 season.
The Wisconsin native set a new career high with 36 points, breaking his previous high of 32 points that he set against Western Carolina.
In addition to his point total, Williams brought down eight rebounds and dished three assists. The graduate shot 11-of-20 (55 percent) from the field while going 12-of-13 (92.3 percent) from the free throw line.
Williams entered Tuesday’s game third in the ACC in points per game (18.2), fourth in the league in field goal percentage (57.1) and second in the league in assists per game (4.9).
Coach’s Comments
“A lot of credit goes to our five walk-ons for tonight’s victory. They ran the VMI offense really well the last 48 hours and it really helped us prepare for what was coming. I knew this was going to be a hard game. We made adjustments at halftime and our guys did an excellent job responding in the second half. Tonight was a real gritty, grimey and tough win. We really showed some character tonight.” – head coach Steve Forbes
Up Next
Wake Forest will be back in action against Charlotte on Friday, Dec. 17 for the final game of the Basketball Hall of Fame Shootout in Charlotte, N.C.
Tipoff in Spectrum Center is set for 9 p.m. and the game will air live on ACC Network.
