Wake Forest keeps Detroit Mercy at arm’s length for win

Hunter Sallis poured in 31 points and Wake Forest needed most of those in a 67-57 home victory against Detroit Mercy on Saturday at Winston-Salem, N.C.Davin Cosby had 11 points as the Demon Deacons (6-1) won their second straight since their only loss, which came a week earlier at Xavier.But it wasn’t easy as the visiting Titans (3-3) were persistent as they trimmed a 19-point deficit to nine points with plenty of time remaining (5:54).Orlando Lovejoy led the Titans with 15 points and TJ Nadeau had 13 points and nine rebounds off the Detroit Mercy bench despite shooting 1-for-8 on 3-pointers. Jared Lary added 10 points.Wake Forest doubled up the Titans in 3-point production by making 10 compared to Detroit Mercy’s five.But the Demon Deacons took more than half of their attempts (61) from beyond the 3-point arc (35). As a result, they were just 9-for-13 on free throws.The Titans also held a 48-31 advantage in rebounding. Some of that might have been attributed to the absence of Wake Forest center Efton Reid III, who has been dealing with migraines.Detroit Mercy trailed 36-23 at halftime, but Wake Forest couldn’t put the Titans away.Sallis shot 12-for-18 from the field and made five 3-point shots. He ended up two points shy of his career-high mark.

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