THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, January 29, 1995 TAG: 9501290208
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C5 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
Wake Forest proved Saturday it had the strategy and the talent to play with No. 3 North Carolina.
What it didn't have, though, was the proper execution at crunch time.
Poised for their third victory in a row over the Tar Heels in Joel Coliseum, the 16th-ranked Deacons (11-4, 4-3) ended up with their most heartbreaking defeat of the season.
Donald Williams' running jump shot with 5.7 seconds left eased UNC to a pulsating 62-61 victory that kept the Tar Heels (16-1, 6-1) on top of the ACC standings.
Wake Forest, which had knocked Virginia out of first place with a one-point victory on Wednesday, led, 61-57, with 40 seconds left.
But an untimely foul and an inbounds violation by the Deacons allowed North Carolina to escape with its sixth straight ACC victory.
Jerry Stackhouse hit from under the goal and added a free throw after being fouled on the play to trim the lead to 61-60.
Wake Forest center Tim Duncan then failed to inbound the ball in five seconds, giving North Carolina the possession that produced Williams' winning goal.
The Deacons had time for two attempts to salvage the victory, but a hurried jumper by Randolph Childress was short and Rusty LaRue's desperate throw-back never had a chance.
``We had this game won and gave it to them,'' Childress said. ``Carolina is our biggest rival, but when you lose a game by giving it away, it hurts no matter who you are playing.''
The Deacons, dictating a deliberate tempo, seemed to have the game in hand most of the way.
They had led since the seven-minute mark in the first half until North Carolina rallied from 10 points down to even the score at 57 with 1:25 left.
The tie came on back-to-back 3-pointers by Williams and Jeff McGinnis.
Wake Forest appeared to regain control by taking a 61-57 advantage on a goal by Childress and two free throws by Duncan before the fatal collapse.
``We did most of the things we needed to do to win this game, but we were out-executed, and as a result we lost,'' Wake Forest coach Dave Odom said.
``The only good thing from this is that we lost to an excellent team that doesn't quit and is well equipped to win.''
That was little consolation to the thousands of Deacons fans who sat in stunned silence after the final buzzer.
Odom said his team failed to set up properly on the inbounds play and should have called a time-out.
``It came down to execution, and I take total responsibility for not preparing us better,'' he said.
Childress had to take blame, too, for some misguided shots he threw up down the stretch.
He finished with 15 points, but missed 9 of 10 3-point attempts.
Several of the misses came after his only 3-point success gave the Deacons a 53-43 lead at 11:08.
The Deacons got only two free throws from Duncan during the next eight minutes as North Carolina cut the margin to 55-51.
``When we got down by 10, it was gut-check time for us,'' said North Carolina center Rasheed Wallace, who engaged Duncan in an exciting high-altitude duel most of the afternoon.
``We told ourselves it was time to go get the victory. Coming into someone else's house and winning a game like this is a good confidence-builder for us.''
Wallace and Stackhouse each scored 17 points, and Williams had 13.
Williams said he took the winning shot by default.
``The play was for Jeff to drive and look to dish off to Wallace,'' the senior explained.
``Jeff saw a lot of people in front of him when he turned toward the basket at the top of the key and handed the ball to me. It was a smart move by him.''
Williams said he knew the ball was going in the hoop as soon as it left his hands.
``It felt good all the way,'' he said.
``This is a great win for us, and the first time I've won here since my freshman year.''
Wake Forest will try to get over its disappointment before playing Vanderbilt at 2 p.m. today.
``We will be ready,'' Odom said. ``I promise you I will have this team ready to play. We are not going to let this loss hurt us.''
North Carolina's next game is against Duke on Thursday night. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS
North Carolina's Jeff McInnis celebrates the Tar Heels' win over
Wake Forest as Randolph Childress agonizes over the loss.
by CNB