NIT Turns Into Irish Wake

Wake Forest players hugged at center court, their midseason struggles a distant memory as they celebrated the NIT championship.

Robert O'Kelley, the tournament MVP, made five 3-pointers and finished with 19 points to lead Wake Forest to a 71-61 victory over Notre Dame in the final of the National Invitation Tournament at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.

Craig Dawson added 13 points and Darius Songaila 12 for the Demon Deacons (22-14), who won their first NIT final in the first game between the schools.

Notre Dame's Troy Murphy finished with 20 points on 8-for-16 shooting, but was mostly held in check, getting most of his points late. David Graves added 17.

None was bigger than this one.

Wake Forest played throughout with energy and determination, looking much better than it did in its semifinal victory over North Carolina State on Tuesday night when it had 23 turnovers.

The Demon Deacons beat Vanderbilt, New Mexico, defending NIT champion California and North Carolina State to reach the final for the first time.

The Demon Deacons nursed big leads throughout, then stopped the Irish's final comeback attempt.

Trailing 61-45 with just over five minutes remaining, Notre Dame (22-15) went on an 11- run, getting within 63-56 on Murphy's layup with 52 seconds remaining.

Songaila made a free throw with 50.4 seconds left to make it 64-56 and O'Kelley pushed the margin to 10 with two free throws with 34.9 seconds left.

Graves made a 3-pointer with 27.6 seconds left and then made two free throws with 27.3 seconds left to make it 66-61. Jere Macura fouled Songaila with 26.2 seconds left, and Songaila made one of two free throws to give Wake Forest a 67-61 lead.

Jimmy Dillon fouled O'Kelley with 13.8 left, and he made both free throws. Songaila's two free throws with 3.4 seconds left sealed it.

Wake Forest started the second half with a 15-6 run, stretching its lead to 53-33 on O'Kelley's 3-pointer with 12:36 remaining.

The Irish, who dominated Michigan, Xavier, Brigham Young and Penn State to get to the final, were thoroughly outplayed by the Demon Deacons.

For the first time in its run through the NIT, Notre Dame was unable to make its shots, going just 8-for-21 in the first half, and their star player was held in check. Further magnifying Notre Dame's frustration, coach Matt Doherty argued a no-call and was given a a technical with 1:59 remaining.

Murphy had just three points until his reverse layup at 6:29 made it 26-18. Harold Swanagan's free throw at 6:00 got the Irish within 26-19. Wake Forest went on an 11-1 run to lead 37-20, capped by O'Kelley's 3-pointer at 1:49.

Notre Dame regained some confidence by scoring the last eight points of the half, including a pretty spin move by Murphy at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 37-28.

Penn State (19-16) beat North Carolina State (20-14) 74-72 in the consolation game that preceded the final.

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