Just when Pepperdine thought it was ready to exorcise its Atlantic Coast Conference demons, the nastiest Demon Deacon of all showed up on the scene.
Wake Forest senior center Darius Songaila scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half as the Demon Deacons held off the Waves 83-74 in a Midwest Regional first-round game at Arco Arena on Thursday afternoon.
Wake Forest (21-12) advances to play Oregon on Saturday while Pepperdine (22-9) fell to 0-12 against ACC opponents.
Wake Forest senior guard Craig Dawson scored a game-high 19 points while senior guard Broderick Hicks added 15.
The No. 10-seeded Waves were led by junior guard Devin Montgomery’s 18 points.
The No. 7-seeded Demon Deacons scored the first nine points of the game and ran out to a 13-point advantage on two occasions, the last at 17-4 with 14:02 remaining in the first half.
But Pepperdine, which seemed intimidated to start the game, crept back, getting within three points at the half, 38-35.
The Waves tied the score at 40-40 less than two minutes into the second half and grabbed their first lead of the game, 43-42, with 17:22 to play.
Then came Songaila, who scored in double figures for the 19th consecutive game, the 32nd time in 33 games this season.
It was the most points scored by Wake Forest in a NCAA tournament game since the Demon Deacons beat Iowa 84-78 on March 21, 1993.
