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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) -- Darius Songaila watched Wake Forest's
19-point lead evaporate and felt powerless to help, his shots
limited by Marquette's defense.
So the senior did the only thing he could, gathering his
teammates and assuring them they would not lose.
He was right, as the 25th-ranked Demon Deacons used a pivotal
block from Josh Howard and free throws from seniors Antwan Scott
and Craig Dawson to hold off No. 19 Marquette 64-59 Saturday.
"I looked at my teammates in the eyes and said, 'This is our
game, we're not giving it away,"' said Songaila, who was held to
12 points on just six shots.
"When you are a freshman, you don't know what it feels like to
be up big then let it slip away. But with our experience, we've
been through the wars and I reminded them of that."
The pep talk from Songaila, Wake's leading scorer at 18.2 points
per game, worked so well that even first-year coach Skip Prosser
believed it.
"Even after (Marquette) came back and tied the game, they felt
like they were going to come back and win," Prosser said. "We had
talked for the last 24 hours that our seniors had to play like
seniors and they did."
The Demon Deacons (9-3) led 52-33 early in the second half, but
went scoreless for over seven minutes and needed big plays in the
final minute to win their 22nd straight nonconference home game.
Marquette has lost two straight games after opening the year
10-0. Its seven-game streak of scoring at least 70 points ended.
"We have a very young team and its easy to get away from that
fact when you are 10-0 and going through the schedule like that,"
Marquette coach Tom Crean said. "But we are young and haven't
played in a lot of tough environments are we're still learning how
to do that."
Dwayne Wade capped Marquette's rally with a reverse layup that
tied the score at 57 with 4:06 to play.
But Songaila made a pair of free throws to break the tie, and
Scott scored on a dunk to make it 61-57.
After Scott Merritt's free throws pulled Marquette to 61-59,
Dawson and Broderick Hicks missed 3-point attempts for Wake. That
allowed Marquette to try to tie the game with less than a minute to
play.
But Howard got a piece of Wade's shot, Dawson got the rebound
and passed the ball to Scott, who was fouled.
Scott made one foul shot to make it 62-59, then after a pair of
Marquette misses -- one of which was partially blocked by Howard --
Dawson was fouled and hit both free throws with 3.5 seconds to play
to seal the victory.
Hicks led Wake Forest with 14 points, Dawson scored 11, Scott
10, and Howard had 10 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks.
"You can't rely on one person," Songaila said. "We proved we
have two, three even four other guys who can carry this team."
Wade led Marquette with 22 points, but took a beating. He
injured his right knee in the first half, crumpling to the floor in
pain and had to briefly leave the game.
In the second half, he crashed into a cameraman under the
Marquette basket and lay face down, motionless for a moment.
The Deacons were on a fast break at the time, but officials
stopped play to check on Wade, who eventually got up and walked off
the court to a chorus of boos from the Wake Forest crowd.
Wake took its largest lead, 52-33, on Howard's two free throws
with 14:46 to play. But the Deacons went over seven minutes without
a basket, allowing Marquette to pull back into the game.
The Golden Eagles scored 14 straight points, then closed to
57-55 on consecutive 3-pointers by Cordell Henry. Wade tied the
game on their next possession.
"The second half was about as good as we've played all year,"
Crean said. "But our first half put us in a hole and we couldn't
come all the way back." | 
