Reed leads Clemson over Wake Forest

Marcquise Reed scored 21 points and Jaron Blossomgame had 17 points and 10 rebounds as Clemson snapped a three-game losing streak with a 95-83 victory over Wake Forest on Tuesday night.

The Tigers (14-11, 4-9 Atlantic Coast Conference) had lost their past two games to Syracuse and No. 12 Duke by a combined three points. This time, Clemson opened a double-digit lead at halftime and, despite a few scary moments for fans at Littlejohn Coliseum, held on to win their fourth in a row over the Demon Deacons (15-11, 6-8).

The Tigers saw a 21-point lead shrink to 87-81 when John Collins hit two foul shots, Bryant Crawford poked the ball away from Shelton Mitchell and followed with a 3-pointer moments later. But Mitchell and Avry Holmes each made two foul shots to extend the Tigers margin.

Collins finished with a career high 29 points, his ninth consecutive game with at least 20 points for Wake. That’s the longest such streak in ACC play since North Carolina State’s T.J. Warren accomplished it in 15 consecutive games.

Collins, who made 12 of 14 shots, surpassed his previous best of 27 set against Miami last month. He also had 10 rebounds.

Mitchell and Holmes had 15 points apiece for Clemson, which hit 29 of 57 shots to finish at 50.9 percent from the field – the second time in three games they topped the 50-percent mark.

The Tigers outscored Wake Forest 29-15 over the final nine minutes of the opening half to give themselves a solid working margin – and avoid any late-game drama.