Jan. 10, 2015
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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) ) Devin Thomas had 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Wake Forest held on to beat Georgia Tech 76-69 on Saturday.
Mitchell Wilbekin added 14 points and Darius Leonard had a season-high 13 to help the Demon Deacons (9-8, 1-3) snap a two-game losing streak and give new coach Danny Manning his first ACC victory.
They shot 49 percent, held a 41-29 rebounding advantage over the ACC’s second-best team on the boards and held on despite making just 11 of 20 free throws in the final 2:39 – during one stretch hitting only 2 of 10.
Marcus Georges-Hunt scored all 16 of his points in the second half and Demarco Cox had 14 for the Yellow Jackets (9-6, 0-3), who lost their third straight.
Cornelius Hudson added 11 points for the Demon Deacons, who were coming off consecutive single-digit home losses to top-five teams Louisville and Duke.
They didn’t hit a bucket in the final 6 minutes – but didn’t need to, because Georgia Tech kept sending them to the line.
Thomas gave Wake Forest a 67-62 lead by hitting two foul shots with 2:39 left, and two possessions later came the key sequence in this one.
After Madison Jones made one of two free throws with 1:43 left, Thomas tipped the offensive rebound to Wilbekin, who was fouled and made two foul shots. On the second, Wake Forest’s Dinos Mitoglou caught an elbow from Charles Mitchell – who was called for a flagrant-1 foul.
Mitoglou made one free throw to stretch the lead to 71-62 and Georgia Tech never got closer than seven the rest of the way.
Quinton Stephens had 13 points and Mitchell finished with 12 for the Yellow Jackets.