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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) _ Broderick Hicks is still making
memories on Arkansas' home court, and now Wake Forest teammate
Darius Songaila has some of his own.
Two years ago, an injured Songaila watched from the bench as
Wake Forest beat the Razorbacks 70-64. On Friday night, Songaila
hit his first five shots, grabbed 10 rebounds and scored 15 points
in the Demon Deacons' 76-71 victory over the Razorbacks in the
second round of the preseason NIT.
Hicks, who scored 12 off the bench in the 1999 victory, made two
free throws with 21.5 seconds to play after the Razorbacks cut a
17-point lead to two.
"He's a senior, we're not going to have a Mardi Gras just
because he made them," said first-year coach Skip Prosser.
"The win two years ago really helped us because we knew we had
the ability to win here," Hicks said.
Josh Howard and Antwan Scott __ also contributors in the 1999
victory _ were important again.
Hicks' free throws gave Wake Forest (2-0) a 75-71 lead. The
Demon Deacons led the final 28 minutes, including 64-47 with 7:09
to play. The Razorbacks (1-1) fell far behind because they missed
15 of their first 19 shots in the second half.
"It looks like, so far, that this is the worst shooting team
I've ever coached," Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson said. "We're
shooting 30-something percent every night. When you make your
shots, the basket gets bigger. But when you miss, it gets smaller.
To us, tonight, it was shrunk."
Arkansas closed to 71-66 on 3-pointers by Teddy Gipson and
Jannero Pargo, before Howard made 1-of-2 free throws. Two free
throws by Gipson and another 3-pointer by Pargo made it 73-71 with
31.9 seconds left. Wake Forest got the ball to Hicks, who handled
it near midcourt until he was fouled.
"We didn't start playing hard until the time was almost gone,"
Pargo said. "It was very frustrating."
Howard led Wake Forest with 16 points, and Hicks had 15. Scott
scored 10 and helped Songaila on the boards with eight rebounds.
Between the four, they shot 19-of-33.
Pargo led all scorers with 19, and Gipson contributed 12.
Howard's production included a running one-hander that quieted
the crowd after Arkansas closed to 41-40. After T.J. Cleveland
misfired on a quick 3, Hicks followed with a 3 and an acrobatic
layup for 48-40 and Songaila scored inside with his left hand for
the first double-digit lead.
Twice in the opening minutes, Craig Dawson made 3s after the
Arkansas defense collapsed inside and left him alone. Howard's 3
from the corner and two free throws by Scott upped the advantage to
11-5.
Wake Forest made seven of its first 11 shots while building a
20-15 lead.
Arkansas scored the next seven points for its only lead. Carl
Baker made a free throw before Pargo found Cleveland open for a 3,
and followed with one of his own. Songaila tied it with two free
throws and Howard added one after a steal off Brandon Dean to make
it 23-22. When Howard rebounded a missed free throw and hit a
jumper, the lead was up to five.
Wake Forest plays Fresno State on Wednesday in one NIT
semifinal, and Michigan State meets Syracuse in the other. | 
