Georgia Tech 89, Wake Forest 83

2/6/2008 8:16 PM

By MIKE CRANSTON
AP Sports Writer

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) -Anthony Morrow scored 21 of his 23 points in the second half and Georgia Tech rallied to snap Wake Forest's 16-game home winning streak 89-83 on Wednesday night.

The Yellow Jackets, who trailed by 12 points early in the second half, took the lead for good on Morrow's 3-pointer with 1:48 left. Morrow's two free throws with 50.3 seconds left put Georgia Tech ahead 86-83, and he hit two more with 29.9 seconds left to put the game away.

Zack Peacock added 15 points and Maurice Miller and Alade Aminu scored 11 apiece for Georgia Tech (11-10, 4-4 Atlantic Coast Conference), which has won three of four since starting league play 0-3.

Jeff Teague scored 19 points, Harvey Hale had 18 and James Johnson 13 for Wake Forest (13-8, 3-5), which hadn't lost at home since Feb. 3, 2007 to Maryland.

Georgia Tech, which came in with a better record on road and neutral courts (6-5) than at home (4-5), looked poised in scoring 14 unanswered points to take a 64-62 lead with 11:04 left.

With Wake Forest point guard Ishmael Smith plagued by six turnovers, the Demon Deacons' offense stalled in the second half until Hale emerged.

Hale hit two 3-pointers and had a driving layup as Wake Forest went back ahead 79-77 with 4:51 left.

Morrow, who hit 6 of 9 shots and all eight free throws, then took over to offset a poor first half to give Georgia Tech a 3-1 road ACC mark.

It was the first meeting since the teams combined for the highest-scoring game in ACC tournament history last March, when the Demon Deacons outlasted the Yellow Jackets 114-112 in double overtime.

With both teams desperately looking to move up in the ACC standings, the rematch got off to a bruising start.

Johnson was fouled hard on a drive to the basket by Georgia Tech's Matt Causey midway through the first half. After the officials signaled an intentional foul, Teague started clapping in Causey's face and made contact. Causey lunged at Teague, and a brief skirmish ensued.

Causey was booed every time he touched the ball the rest of the game, while Teague finished with 12 first-half points as Wake Forest built as much as a 13-point lead.

But the Demon Deacons couldn't sustain the lead with a sloppy performance that included 20 turnovers. Wake Forest shot 50 percent, but Georgia Tech hit 54 percent of its shots and 23 of 29 free throws.