National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Gardner-Webb 73, Wake Forest 69
When: 2:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 29, 2018
Where: Lawrence Joel Coliseum, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Officials: # Jamie Luckie, # Lee Cassell, # Bill Covington Jr.
Attendance: 5975

David Efianayi scored 15 points as visiting Gardner-Webb used strong late-game free-throw shooting to defeat Wake Forest 73-69 on Saturday afternoon at Joel Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C.

Jose Perez's 14 points, Christian Turner's 13 points and DJ Laster's 12 points also gave a boost to the Bulldogs (10-5), who own two victories this month against Atlantic Coast Conference members with a triumph at Georgia Tech also on their resumé.

Gardner-Webb made 18 of 20 consecutive free throws in the final 2:03. It was 35-for-40 for the game from the foul line.

Brandon Childress scored 18 points, while Jaylen Hoard, Torry Johnson and Chaundee Brown all added 12 points for Wake Forest (6-5), which shot 7-for-25 on 3-point attempts. Four of the successful launches came in the final two minutes.

Gardner-Webb scored 15 straight points for a 54-42 lead.

Wake Forest endured a scoreless stretch of more than six minutes before Torry Johnson's free throw with 3:38 left. This span included Hoard fouling out with 4:48 to play.

Hoard's fifth foul came when he fouled Nate Johnson on a 3-point attempt, resulting in three made free throws. Nate Johnson followed with a basket on the next possession.

Childress' 3-point basket pulled Wake Forest within 61-55 with 59 seconds left. After two Turner foul shots, a Brown 3-pointer cut it to 63-58 but that was a close as it got until Childress' three free throws at the 14-second mark and then three more at the 7.6-second mark.

Wake Forest's non-league slate, which concludes next week against visiting Cornell, also lists a home loss to Houston Baptist.

Wake Forest led 28-26 at halftime despite 13 first-half turnovers.

The Demon Deacons were 5-for-21 from the field, but made up for it with 15-for-22 free-throw shooting to account for more than half of their production at that juncture.

Gardner-Webb had 13 first-half points from players off the bench, while the Demon Deacons received 11 points from their reserves by the break. Wake Forest starters combined to shoot 3-for-11 from the field in the opening half, though Brown had nine points.

Gardner-Webb reserve guard Jaheam Cornwell had four fouls in the first half and exited with his fifth foul with 10 minutes to play.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Gardner-Webb   Wake Forest
David Efianayi 15 Scoring Brandon Childress 18
David Efianayi 3 Assists Brandon Childress 3
Nate Johnson 7 Rebounds Olivier Sarr 9
Jose Perez 10 Free Throws Made Brandon Childress 8
David Efianayi 2 Steals Brandon Childress 4
Ludovic Dufeal 1 Blocks Chaundee Brown 2
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Gardner-Webb 73 35.3 2-15 35-40 11 34 1 11 17
Wake Forest 69 32.7 7-25 28-37 7 34 5 7 18