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The Vikings closed out the win by going 12-for-15 from the free-throw line in the final five minutes.
Cleveland State started three seniors and Wake Forest none, and the Vikings looked like the more poised team early. They sank their first three shots — two 3-pointers by Jackson and one by Cole — for a 9-0 lead. Meanwhile, the Demon Deacons committed eight turnovers in the first 11½ minutes.
“We had to hit them early in order to be in that game,” Waters said. “We surprised them. It took them a while to realize what was occurring out there, and then it became a ballgame.”
When the Vikings made five consecutive shots during an 11-2 run, they led 29-12. But they missed their final six shots of the first half, and a pair of 3-pointers by Johnson helped cut the margin to 39-30 at halftime.
Wake Forest freshman center Tony Woods made his first career start in place of Chas McFarland, who had started all but four games in the past two seasons. McFarland entered the game after less than five minutes, but by then the Demon Deacons trailed by 10.
The miracle Vikings of 1986 went on to the regional final before losing in the final seconds to Navy and David Robinson.
“A lot of people still remember that issue back then,” Waters said, “but many people don’t because it’s so long ago.”
His team now faces a rare second-round matchup of low seeds.
Since the NCAA tournament field was expanded to 16 seeds per region in 1985, there have been only seven matchups between teams seeded No. 12 and No. 13. It happened twice last year: Western Kentucky played San Diego and Villanova played Siena, both games taking place in Tampa.
This year’s Vikings made the NCAA field only because they won the Horizon League tournament for the first time. It’s their first postseason berth of any kind since playing in the NIT in 1988.
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