Wake Forest moves past Navy in NIT
Wake Forest will move forward in the NIT with a guarantee of finishing the season with a winning record.
The Deacons beat Navy 82-72 on Wednesday night at Joel Coliseum in the first round of the NIT.
Wake Forest (18-16) will play host to Illinois State — a 79-58 winner against Kent State on Wednesday night — on Sunday. That game will be at 4:30 p.m. in Winston-Salem and be broadcast on ESPN2.
The Deacons are moving forward with another 20-piece from Juke Harris. The sophomore star scored 26 points on 7-for-13 shooting, along with six rebounds and five assists.
But it wasn’t all on him.
Four other Deacons were in double-figure points. Forwards Omaha Biliew (15) and Tre’Von Spillers (14) had productive nights, while Nate Calmese added 12 points and Myles Colvin scored 11 off of the bench.
Wake Forest led for the entire second half. But it wasn’t comfortable until the last eight minutes. The Deacons stretched the lead to 17 points with about 1½ minutes left and cruised from there.
Navy (26-8) only led the game at 3-2 less than two minutes into the game. But the Midshipmen never faded. Austin Benigni led them with 19 points and Jordan Pennick scored 18.
Wake Forest led by four at halftime, 38-34.
The Deacons were dreadful from beyond the arc (2-for-16 on 3s). But they rebounded 10 of their misses, compared to only eight defensive rebounds by Navy. And Wake Forest was 14-for-14 from the free-throw line in the first 20 minutes.
