Feb. 3, 2007
Final Stats
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) - Ekene Ibekwe scored 16 points, including his 1,000th career point, and Maryland held off a second-half rally Saturday night to beat Wake Forest 79-72.
James Gist added 17 points, D.J. Strawberry 14 and Eric Hayes 12 for the Terrapins (17-6, 3-5 Atlantic Coast Conference), who led by as many as 23 points midway through the second half.
Michael Drum and Kyle Visser scored 16 points each and L.D. Williams had 12 for the Demon Deacons (10-12, 2-8), who lost for the seventh time in eight league games.
Ahead 32-24 at the break, Maryland went on a 21-8 run in the opening eight minutes of the second half, with Will Bowers' jumper putting the Terrapins ahead 55-32 with 12:53 remaining.
Wake Forest whittled away at Maryland's lead, pulling within 74-69 on Williams' 3-pointer with 30.6 seconds left. But the Terrapins hit 5-of-6 from the free throw line in the final 28 seconds to preserve their second ACC win in three games.
The win also made Maryland head coach Gary Williams the third coach in league history to reach 150 regular-season ACC victories, joining former North Carolina coach Dean Smith and Duke's Krzyzewski.
Ibekwe became the 44th Terrapins player and the second this season - the other was Mike Jones, who passed the mark on Jan. 30 against Florida State - to score 1,000 career points.
Ibekwe - who entered Saturday's game nine points shy of 1,000 - reached the milestone on a layup with 5:17 left that put Maryland up 26-16, its biggest lead of the first half.
