THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 11, 1996 TAG: 9601110484
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ED MILLER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DURHAM, N.C. LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
For the Duke Blue Devils, it was almost like old times at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Wednesday night. The students were back, and so were former Blue Devils greats Grant Hill and Mike Gminski. The place shook with excitement as Duke jumped all over eighth-ranked Wake Forest in the first half.
But Wake rallied and the reality of Duke basketball, 1996, settled in.
And the reality is that Duke is a having a hard time winning ACC basketball games lately. Despite a game effort Wednesday, the Blue Devils fell to Wake 57-54, and fell to 9-5, 0-3 in the conference.
``This was a tough loss for us,'' coach Mike Krzyzewski said. ``We played our hearts out for 40 minutes. When you are denied that gratification of victory, it's difficult for the players, as well as the coaches. I'm more concerned about the youngsters.''
The Blue Devils, who allowed the Demon Deacons (9-1, 2-0 ACC) to score the game's final six points after building a 54-51 lead with 2:14 left, were dejected after the loss, their 17th in their last 19 ACC games.
``Winning is the only thing that counts,'' guard Jeff Capel said. ``We played with great effort. We played really hard. But the fact is we lost the ballgame.''
Duke held Wake Forest scoreless for the game's first seven minutes and jumped to a 22-10 lead with 4:04 left in the first half.
But Demon Deacons center Tim Duncan, held to six points in the first half, put on a low post clinic in the second and finished with a game-high 24 points and 14 rebounds.
``He quit experimenting and he did what he does best - take the ball to the basket,'' Wake Forest coach Dave Odom said.
Duncan shot 2 of 9 in the first half but scored 12 of Wake Forest's final 16 points. A drop-step move on Greg Newton put the Demon Deacons ahead to stay, 55-54 with 47 seconds left.
Duke had a chance to go ahead but Chris Collins missed a 12-foot jumper with 27 seconds left. Wake Forest's Tony Rutland was fouled and hit both shots with 24.8 seconds left to make it 57-54.
Collins missed a 3-point attempt with 16 seconds left. Capel missed a long trey attempt with 8 seconds left, and Duke fouled Antonio Jackson. Jackson missed the front end of a one-and-one and Capel had a last chance to tie, but lost the ball trying to shoot a 3-pointer as time expired. ILLUSTRATION: ASSOCIATED PRESS photo
Wake Forest's Tim Duncan, left, battles Duke's Greg Newton for a
loose ball. Duncan scored 24 points, including the go-ahead basket.
by CNB