Florida State rallies from 16 down to clip Wake Forest

Field Level Media|published: Wed 12th February, 22:07 2025

NCAA Basketball: Florida State at Wake Forest

Feb 12, 2025; Winston-Salem, North Carolina, USA; Florida State Seminoles forward Malique Ewin (12) tries to pass around Wake Forest Demon Deacons forward Tre'Von Spillers (25) during the first half at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Taylor Bol Bowen drilled a go-ahead 3-pointer and Justin Thomas added an insurance dunk to help Florida State complete its 72-70 comeback win at Wake Forest on Wednesday night at Winston-Salem, N.C.

The Seminoles, who trailed 35-21 at halftime, went up 70-69 on Bol Bowen's triple with 15 seconds left before Thomas' dunk made it a three-point game. Cameron Hildreth was awarded three free throws for the Demon Deacons with 0.3 remaining, but made only the middle of the three attempts.

Bol Bowen and Jamir Watkins each scored 15 points, while Malique Ewin paired 14 points with 12 rebounds for Florida State (15-9, 6-7 Atlantic Coast Conference). Thomas tallied eight points off the bench.

Hildreth finished with 22 points, Hunter Sallis poured in 20 points and Tre'Von Spillers had 13 points, but Wake Forest (18-7, 10-4) had its winning streak end at three games.

Hildreth reached the 20-point mark for the sixth time in the last eight games.

The Seminoles were down 44-28 early in the second half before they scored nine straight points to close within seven.

A Sallis layup with nine minutes to go restored the margin at 16, but Florida State kept chipping away and pulled within 63-59 on Thomas' 3-pointer with 3:22 to go. Back-to-back baskets from Ewin knotted the score at 67-67 with 32 seconds to play.

Efton Reid III's dunk gave Wake Forest a two-point edge before Bol Bowen connected on the other end to slide the Seminoles in front.

Florida State made six of its final seven field-goal attempts, including its last four, while the Demon Deacons made just two shots in the final five minutes.

Wake Forest didn't lead for the game's first 10 minutes but started making headway following a Sallis dunk. The hosts drained three 3-pointers during a 14-0 run that created a 24-13 advantage.

Hildreth posted 10 first-half points as the Demon Deacons led 35-21 at the break. They were aided by 10 points following Florida State turnovers.

Despite a solid start to the game, the Seminoles couldn't keep up. They were hindered by 1-for-11 shooting on first-half 3-point attempts as part of 30.8 percent shooting from the floor.

--Field Level Media