High Point Enterprise
WINSTON-SALEM -- Wake Forest seniors Ish Smith and Chas McFarland admitted they had trouble sleeping Saturday night.
They were able to rest easier when they went to bed Sunday after the Demon Deacons found enough of their midseason form to avoid a fifth straight loss by holding on for a 70-65 "Senior Night" victory over Clemson.
"I just wanted to get a win," Smith said.
The teams finished tied for fifth in the league at 9-7, but Wake (19-9) got the fifth seed for the ACC Tournament in a tiebreaker. The Tigers
(22-8) dropped to the sixth seed and Florida State jumped to third.
Clemson would have secured the third seed, with FSU fifth and Wake sixth if the Tigers had won.
Wake will play No. 12 seed Miami in the tournament's first round on Thursday at about 2:20 p.m.
Demon Deacon coach Dino Gaudio felt his team responded well after an emotional week.
"It was a really good win for us," Gaudio said. "We had our backs to the wall, coming off those losses."
Smith and McFarland admitted their Saturday night insomnia was caused by the game being their last at the Joel, combined with a four-game losing streak that had their NCAA Tournament prospects fading.
"I had never been that nervous before," McFarland said. "It was just knowing that we needed to get a win. That put pressure on all of us. But that's part of the game. If you can't handle pressure, you can't play."
The Deacs handled the pressure of the moment because Clemson chose to stick with its uptempo game and not play zone instead of trying to clog Wake in the halfcourt as N.C. State, North Carolina and Florida State did in three horrible losses for the Demon Deacons. That allowed Smith to drive the lane and either shoot or pass to Al-Farouq Aminu or McFarland.
The pace did wonders for Aminu, who led the Deacons with 18 points after being held scoreless on two shots on Wednesday night against the Seminoles.
"I think all the losing got to me," Aminu said. "I just came out today with a clear mind and wanted to play hard for the seniors. Everything just came naturally."
After a slow start, the Demon Deacons took the lead for good at 13-12 with 12:26 left in the first half. They led by as many as 11 at 45-33 with 15:53 to play, but the Tigers responded by scoring seven points in less than a minute.
Wake never led by more than nine after that. Clemson got with 62-60 with 2:25 left before the Demon Deacons pushed it out to 68-60 with 1:10 to go.
Smith added 17 points. Freshman guard C.J. Harris continued to work out of his shooting slump by scoring 14 points, and McFarland added 10.
Tiger forward Trevor Booker was held to six points and four rebounds as the Deacons outmuscled the Tigers 44-33 on the boards.
"I just tried to not let him catch it," McFarland said.
Wake also limited center Jeral Grant to eight points. Demontez Stitt led the Tigers with 18 points. Tanner Smith had 13 and David Potter contributed 11.
