Freshman Parker Friedrichsen pumped in a career-high 19 points off the bench and Wake Forest finally pulled away in an 83-59 victory against visiting NJIT on Saturday night at Winston-Salem, N.C.
Kevin Miller had 15 points and six assists, Hunter Sallis added 14 points and Cameron Hildreth and Andrew Carr both notched 12 points for Wake Forest (6-3), which continued a perfect homestand with its fourth straight triumph.
It was a deceptive final score because the Highlanders hung around until the last eight minutes. Friedrichsen drained five 3-pointers, including three in less than six minutes during the game-clinching stretch. He was 5-for-6 in the game from long range.
Friedrichsen, a guard who led the Demon Deacons in scoring for the first time, accounted for all except five of Wake Forest’s bench points. He made up for Sallis going 0-for-5 on 3-pointers.
Efton Reid III, a transfer in his second game for the Demon Deacons after the NCAA approved a transfer waiver, didn’t score on 0-for-3 shooting and fouled out.
Adam Hess tallied 15 points and Elijah Buchanan had 11 points for NJIT (2-7), which was aiming for consecutive road victories after winning earlier in the week at Fordham. The Highlanders shot 39 percent from the floor, but that included 6-for-28 on 3-pointers. NJIT made all seven of its free-throw attempts.
The game might have been headed toward a tight finish until the Demon Deacons posted five straight points for a 60-51 lead with eight minutes to play.
Wake Forest shot 56.1 percent from the field, perhaps contributing to only six offensive rebounds.
NJIT trimmed a 15-point hole to 35-32, but Matthew Marsh made a last-second 3-pointer to push the Demon Deacons to a 38-32 halftime edge.
Wake Forest shot 56 percent from the field in the opening half.
Wake Forest had its first double-digit lead at 24-14 on Friedrichsen’s three-point play.
This was the first-ever meeting between the teams.
–Field Level Media
