Kevin “Boopie” Miller tied a career-high with 25 points and Hunter Sallis added 24 as Wake Forest took down Towson by a 71-61 final in the consolation bracket of the Charleston Classic on Friday night at Charleston, S.C.
Miller scored 17 of his points in the second half and Sallis added four rebounds and three assists to his stat sheet. Andrew Carr also contributed six points and eight rebounds for the Demon Deacons (2-2).
Tyler Tejada had 17 points on 7-for-16 shooting for Towson (2-3). Messiah Jones added 12 points and nine rebounds while Charles Thompson had 11 points and nine rebounds.
This game was tightly contested all the way through, with the teams trading buckets from the get-go.
An 8-0 Towson run, their largest of the game, gave the club an 18-11 lead with 12:20 to go in the first half. Later on, Wake Forest would answer with a quick 9-0 run to take a 33-28 lead before they would go into halftime with a 35-33 advantage.
Tejada was the only player on either side in double figures in the half, leading Towson with 10 points. Sallis and Cameron Hildreth each had nine for Wake Forest.
The Tigers would then come back from a bit of a deficit later on in the second half, going on a 12-3 run to take a 56-54 lead with 5:44 to play.
After the teams once again traded basket-for-basket, Wake Forest would eventually take over thanks in large part to the play of Miller.
Miller went on his own 8-0 run in the final minutes, as part of a 15-3 run in the final 4:47 for the Demon Deacons to finish with their 10-point advantage.
The Demon Deacons earn the right to play LSU on Sunday in the fifth-place game while Towson will take on North Texas in the seventh-place game on Sunday.
–Field Level Media