'Cuse Defeats Wake in ACC 1st Round

Tuesday, March 6

Brooklyn, N.Y.

7 PM

Syracuse University

20-12

Wake Forest

11-20

Wake Forest

Syracuse

Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski

3/6/2018 9:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Freshman Marek Dolezaj scored a career-high 20 points to lead 11^th-seeded Syracuse (20-12) to a 73-64 win over 14^th-seeded Wake Forest (11-20) Tuesday night in the first round of the New York Like ACC Tournament.

The Orange will face sixth-seeded North Carolina in the second round Wednesday night at 9 p.m. on ESPN/ACC Network.

Sophomore Tyus Battle recorded 18 points with six boards and junior Paschal Chukwu finshed with 14 points, nine boards and three blocks. Junior Frank Howard produced 11 points, five rebounds and five assists and freshman Oshae Brissett added 10 points and grabbed nine boards. It marked the first time this season all five starters scored in double digits for the Orange.

How it was Decided
With Syracuse clinging to a 62-56 lead, Chukwu finished an alley-oop on back-to-back possessions and Syracuse hit seven foul shots down the stretch to seal the victory.

Game Summary
Syracuse jumped out to a 20-4 lead. Battle drained a jumper, Chukwu hit two free throws and Dolezaj added a bucket. Wake Forest made a two baskets, sandwiched around a Howard trey. Battle scored seven of the next 11 Orange points to cap the run.

An 11-1 run pulled the Demon Deacons within four and Dolezaj made a layup to send Syracuse into halftime with a 30-24 lead.

Five points from Dolezaj and a 3-point play by Howard fueled an 8-2 run to open the second half and give the Orange a 12-point lead. Later in the half, Syracuse went on an 11-0 run off a 3-pointer by Howard, two layups from Chukwu and dunks by Dolezaj and Brissett to take a 56-37 lead with 8:12 remaining.

Wake Forest went on a 14-2 run to trim the Orange lead to six with 1:24 to go.

Numbers of Note
Syracuse shot 23-of-42 (.528) from the field and 12-of-18 (.667) in the second half, while holding Wake Forest to 23-of-64 (.359) shooting. The Orange held a 34-30 advantage in rebounds and out-blocked the Demon Deacons 7-3.

The victory gives Syracuse its first win at the ACC Tournament. The Orange are 1-3 in ACC Tournament play and look to become the first team to win first and second-round games since the contest expanded to five days in 2014.

Dolezaj entered Tuesday night's contest averaging 4.7 points per game. The Bratislava, Slovakia native topped his season average by 15.3 points.