Gavin Placide scored 20 points and Wake Forest pulled away with a huge late run to beat Maryland-Eastern Shore 83-62 in the season opener Monday night in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Justin Ray had 15 points, Kevair Kennedy added 14 points, nine rebounds and eight assists and reserves Gallagher Placide and Jamari McDowell supplied 13 and 11 points for the Demon Deacons.
Wake Forest has won seven consecutive openers, with coach Steve Forbes directing each of those as he began his seventh season in charge Monday.
Bobby Gardner poured in 30 points on 11-for-19 shooting for Maryland-Eastern Shore, connecting on four 3-point launches. The rest of the Hawks’ starters had a total of 17 points. Isaiah Griffin notched 10 points off the bench.
The Hawks had one returning player on the roster in starter Levi Beckwith, but he didn’t score in 20 minutes of court time. He was 0-for-4, all on 3-point attempts.
Wake Forest shot 52.6% from the field, but it was more impressive with its 2-point rate — 67.6% (23-for-34). That was better than the team’s free-throw percentage on 16-for-25 (64%) shooting at the foul line.
The Demon Deacons had scoring bursts in both halves, though they didn’t take full control until the final 10 minutes.
The Hawks were within 48-41 slightly more than four minutes into the second half. Near the 10-minute mark, it was 58-51 after Gardner’s 3-pointer.
Four Demon Deacons scored in the ensuing 20-0 run, including a three-point play from Kennedy and a 3-pointer from Ray in the first segment of that big burst.
The Hawks had a scoring drought of more than seven minutes, preventing another rally. They twice missed the front ends of 1-and-1 free-throw opportunities during the scoring lull. The scoring lapse ended when Lucius Gibson-Savadel tipped in his own missed shot with 3:09 left to make the score 78-53.
Wake Forest led 40-33 at halftime after leading by as many as 18 points. Bobby Gardner had 18 first-half points to help the Hawks limit the damage.