Aug. 6, 2012
Wake Forest Olympians Home | Olympic Basketball Site | Olympic Field Hockey Site
By Nick Sebesta, Wake Forest Media Relations (@SIDeacons)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Plenty of drama unfolded at the 2012 London Olympics in the past few days with seven out of the eight former Demon Deacons seeing action on the world's biggest stage.
Men's Track and Field
Brent LaRue competed in the semifinals of the 400m hurdles on Saturday, finishing third in his heat with a time of 49.45 seconds, but was unable to qualify for the finals. LaRue, who competed for Slovenia, ran a personal best in the quarterfinals with a mark of 49.38. He finished 13th overall in the semifinal round.
Men's Basketball
The United States men's basketball team pulled off a narrow 99-94 victory over Darius Songaila and Lithuania on Saturday. Songaila had 11 points and three rebounds while Chris Paul had seven points, four steals, seven rebounds and six assists. Facing their first real test of the 2012 London Games, the Americans fought back in the fourth quarter to remain unbeaten in group play. The U.S. has eight points and sits at the top of Group A with France while Lithuania sits in fourth with seven points.
Lithuania defeated Tunisia 76-63 on Monday. Songaila tied for the team-lead in points with 13 while chipping in two rebounds.
Al-Farouq Aminu scored 10 points and added five assists with four rebounds on Saturday in Nigeria's 93-79 loss to Argentina on Saturday. On Monday morning, Aminu tallied three rebounds and two steals in a 79-73 loss to France. Nigeria is in last place in Group A with five points.
Women's Field Hockey
United States Field Hockey was eliminated from competition after a 3-2 loss to New Zealand and a 7-0 defeat to South Africa.
Claire Laubach scored on Saturday in the loss to New Zealand. The Americans fought back to tie the game twice but New Zealand clinched the game with a late goal.
Lauren Crandall and Laubach both registered goals for the U.S. in the tournament while
Michelle Kasold saw major playing time in each match.
Upcoming Events
U.S. men's basketball takes on Argentina at 5:15 p.m. (EST) on Monday evening in the last game in group play. The quarterfinals for men's basketball will begin on Aug. 8 with both the U.S. and Lithuania advancing to the knockout stage.
Hunter Kemper competes in his fourth triathlon on Tuesday morning at 6:30 a.m. (EST) on NBC Sports Network.
