NEW YORK – Wake Forest erased a four-point deficit in the final 42 seconds to come away with a 65-63 victory over the Columbia men's basketball team. Brandon Childress' turnaround jumper bounced in with 1.2 seconds left to put the Demon Deacons (1-1) up for good.
 
Mike Smith posted a game-high 23 points and became the 29^th Lion to reach 1,000 career points with 13:57 remaining in the second half. Smith shot 8-of-15 from the floor and dished out seven assists in 37 minutes of action.
                                                          
"It was a tough game," said head coach Jim Engles. "I thought we played well enough to win. Wake Forest made some big plays at the end there. We got some good contributions, especially from some of our younger guys. We've got a good group of kids and happy we came down here and competed well against an ACC team. We have a tough schedule coming up and this will allow us to build some confidence."
 
The Lions (0-2) trailed by as many as eight with 6:33 on the clock before rattling off nine in a row to go on top, 52-51, when Smith found an open Jake Killingsworth from the right corner. Wake Forest went back up by four with 2:28 to go before a personal 8-0 spurt from Smith put Columbia in front, 63-59, with 50 seconds left.
 
Chaundee Brown converted on a traditional 3-point play with 42 seconds left to make it a one-point contest and after regained possession after an offensive foul was called with the Lions trying to break the Deacons' full-court press. Brown was fouled again while shooting, knocking down 1-of-2. However, the ball bounced off a Lion and went out of bounds to give Wake one final chance with 17 seconds on the clock.
 
Childress took the inbounds pass, drove to the foul line and spun just inside the lane and his shot took a friendly roll in. Columbia, who needed to go the length of the floor in 1.2 seconds, got the ball to Smith, who heaved a half court shot that was off the mark.
 
Killingsworth posted eight points to go with a career-high 10 rebounds.
 
Wake Forest was held to just 2-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc. Brown led the Deacons with 20 points and nine rebounds.
 
The Lions could not have drawn up a better script to start the game, jumping out to an 11-3 lead with 12:03 left in the first half after a Cameron Shockley-Okeke put-back. However, the Demon Deacons used an 11-0 run, capped by four consecutive points from Chaundee Brown to go up 16-13 at the 7:26 mark.
 
Columbia regained the lead on a Shockley-Okeke corner trey and led 23-20 when Mike Smith's pull-up jumper dropped with 2:06 before the break. A pair of free throws and layup by Brandon Childress gave Wake Forest the lead back just under a minute later, and after swapping buckets, the Deacons held a 26-25 margin heading into the locker room.
 
The Lions will host Binghamton Wednesday, November 13 in their home opener at Levien Gymnasium. Tickets can be purchased by visiting gocolumbialions.com/tickets or calling 888-LIONS-11.
 
Fans can also catch the action live on ESPN+.

For the latest on the Columbia men's basketball, follow @CULionsMBB on Twitter and Instagram, and the web at GoColumbiaLions.com.