WINSTON-SALEM, NC-- Devin Thomas scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half to help Wake Forest overcome an 8-point halftime deficit and defeat visiting St. Bonaventure 77-62 Tuesday night at Joel Coliseum. Sophomore guard Codi Miller-McIntyre led all scorers with 20 points and dependable senior Travis McKie added 16 points as the Deacs fought off another slow start to capture their 9th win of the season.
"All I know is that we've got a group of guys that are growing up and they've shown great resolve the last couple of games," Demon Deacon head coach Jeff Bzdelik said. "We're trying to be tougher and play through mistakes."
The Bonnies (7-4) led 36-28 at the break, mostly because of their defense. St. Bonaventure scored 11 points off 9 Wake Forest turnovers in the first half. St. Bonaventure was led by guard Andell Cumberbatch (19 points, 7 rebounds) and Matthew Wright (9 points).
"I thought we did what we wanted to do in the first half- defend, rebound and take care of the ball," St. Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt said. "We missed a lot of chippies in the first half and I was a little disappointed we were only up by eight at halftime. What we did well in the first half, we didn't do well in the second half."
Wake Forest (9-2) stormed out of the halftime locker room, with Thomas scoring 10 points in the first 8 minutes of the half. After some back and forth, the Deacons took the lead for good with 8:55 remaining in the game after a Tyler Cavanaugh steal led to a Thomas layup. Coron Williams (8 points, 2 assists) hit Wake's first three-pointer of the game to stretch the lead to 7 points with 7:46 remaining.
It was McKie who sounded the death knell for the Bonnies, however, hitting a three-pointer with 4:02 remaining that gave the Deacs a 9-point lead and effectively ended any comeback hopes. Sophomore Tyler Cavanaugh (9 points, 8 rebounds) had another strong game, continuing to establish himself as a defensive asset for the Deacs.
"The one thing we preach is team balance," McKie said. We want to spread the wealth on offense and whoever's hot, we keep going to him, but we carried the load tonight. We definitely want to defend home court. We want to bring Tie Dye Nation back to what it used to be."
Next up for the Deacons is UNC Greensboro, who visit Winston-Salem on Saturday for a 2:00 p.m. matinee.
