Diamondback Online - The University of Maryland's Independent Daily Student Newspaper

Issue date: 2/29/08 Section: Sports

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Coach Gary Williams had slowly started losing his voice during the week and it was completely gone before last night's game, so James Gist decided he would be the one to deliver a pregame speech.

Gist told the Terrapin men's basketball team to forget about the NCAA Tournament and just worry about one game at a time - an area where Gist admitted the Terps had lost their focus.

Then the senior forward went out and played arguably his best game of the season.

In the Terps' most important game to date, Gist and Greivis Vasquez just would not allow the team to lose. Gist set a new career high with 31 points, and Vasquez scored 24 as the Terps picked up a crucial 74-70 win over Wake Forest at Joel Coliseum. From start to finish, and especially in the second half, Gist and Vasquez carried the Terps to a victory in a game many of the players had said was a "must-win."

"When you get to a level like this, you can't really focus on whatever everybody else is saying and what else is going on around you," Gist said. "It's everybody in the locker room that's going to be able to do it."

Making the win somewhat remarkable was the fact that the Terps (18-11, 8-6 ACC) did not make a field goal during the final 9:10 and scored only six points in that span.

"We were able to do some things defensively to keep us in the game, especially down the stretch where we didn't score," said Williams, who got his voice back as the game progressed.

Williams said he wasn't sick, but Bambale Osby was. The senior center came down with an illness earlier in the week and hadn't been at full strength. With Osby playing tired and sporadically, and Landon Milbourne in foul trouble, the Terps turned to Gist and Vasquez.

At one point in the second half, the two combined to score 16 straight points. Overall, they scored 23 of the Terps' 34 second-half points.

There was also a bit of a role reversal for Gist and Vasquez. Gist was drilling outside shots while Vasquez was constantly - and successfully - posting up smaller Wake Forest guards.

"We tried it once and it worked," Williams said. "We thought that we could get some of that going. You never know, but that was one thing we thought we could take advantage of."

Vasquez also had four rebounds and eight assists, many of which went to Gist. Gist made 9 of 15 field goals, 3 of 4 3-pointers, 10 of 12 free throws and pulled down 11 rebounds. It was the type of game the Terps desperately needed from Gist.

Continued...

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