GREENSBORO, N.C. — Wake Forest heads to the quarterfinals after they scored a last-minute buzzer shot defeating Syracuse Wednesday.
Winston-Salem native Daivien Williamson made a game-winning 3-pointer with 0.5 seconds left and Wake Forest beat Syracuse 77-74 for its first ACC Tournament win since 2017.
Wake Forest (19-13), the No. 9 seed, advances to play top-seeded Miami in the quarterfinals on Thursday. The Deamon Deacons had lost six straight games at the NCAA Tournament and nine of their last 10.
Williamson grabbed a long rebound off a missed jumper by Joe Girard and handed it to teammate Tyree Appleby, who dribbled up the court and drew multiple defenders at the top of the key. Williamson was left open for a long 3-pointer and Syracuse was well short on a heave at the buzzer.
“We just had to go, we knew we ain't have no timeouts,” Williamson said in a TV interview. “Tyree made a great pass, I had confidence to knock it down and I did.”
Williamson finished with four 3-pointers and 17 points and Appleby had 15 points and 12 assists for Wake Forest. Bobi Klintman secured a double-double in the first half and finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Cameron Hildreth also scored 15 points and Andrew Carr had 10 points, eight rebounds and three steals.
Wake Forest scored the opening four points of the second half to take its first lead, 37-35, since it was 6-5. Appleby and Williamson each made a 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to cap a 17-1 run for a 54-42 lead. The run came during the Demon Deacons’ 21-7 start to the half.
Hildreth scored seven straight Wake Forest points to help build a 70-66 lead and he added a spinning shot in the lane with 36.2 seconds left to tie it at 74-all.
Benny Williams had 18 points, 11 rebounds and five steals and Judah Mintz added 18 points with seven assists for Syracuse (17-15). Jesse Edwards, who had 27 points on Saturday in a 72-63 win over Wake Forest, was held to just two points in the first half and finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Williams completed a three-point play to tie it at 60-all and he sank a 3-pointer with 59.5 seconds left for a 74-72 lead.
MORE WAYS TO GET WFMY NEWS 2
Subscribe to our daily newsletter Let’s Get 2 It!
Download the WFMY News 2 APP from your Apple or Google Play store.
ADD THE WFMY+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: Add the channel from the ROKU store or search for WFMY.
Amazon Fire TV: Search for WFMY for the free app to add to your account. You can add the app directly to your Fire TV through your Amazon account.