Juke Harris scored 26 points to propel Wake Forest to an 82-72 victory over Navy in the opening round of the NIT on Wednesday in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Omaha Biliew threw down three slam dunks on his way to scoring 15 points as the Demon Deacons (18-16) advanced to a second-round matchup against the winner of Wednesday’s game between Illinois State and Kent State.
Tre’Von Spillers contributed 14 points and nine rebounds and Nate Calmese scored 12 points for Wake Forest, which never trailed after taking a 4-3 lead but needed a late 12-2 run to lock up the victory.
Myles Colvin, who finished with 11 points, triggered the spree with a corner 3. Then Biliew followed with two free throws and a corner 3 before Spillers capped the run with a pair of layups which gave the Demon Deacons a 72-56 lead with 4:17 to go.
In the final game of his college career, Austin Benigni scored 19 points to pace Patriot League regular season champion Navy (26-8), which won more games than in any season since 1986-87.
Jordan Pennick scored 18 points and Aidan Kehoe added nine points and 10 rebounds for the Midshipmen, who were playing in the postseason for the first time since making the NCAA Tournament in 1998.
Wake Forest led for nearly all of the first half despite making only 2 of 16 shots from beyond the arc.
Midway through the period, when Calmese capped a seven-point run with a 3-pointer it gave the Demon Deacons a 20-11 lead, matching its largest of the half.
Later in the half, Navy matched that 7-0 run, culminated by a 3-pointer from Pennick which tied it at 24-all.
After Wake Forest regained the advantage, Pennick made his third triple of the half with four seconds left, which made it 38-34 at the break. Pennick led all scorers in the first half with 13.
Much of the second half played out like the first, with the Demon Deacons in the lead but unable to shake the pesky Midshipmen until pulling away late.
