When Wake Forest needed its biggest buckets, it went to the smallest player in the rotation.

When Wake Forest needed its biggest rebounds, it went to the biggest player left in the rotation.

Kevin Miller scored 25 points and Hunter Sallis scored 24 to lead Wake Forest in a 71-61 win against Towson on Friday night at TD Arena in a consolation bracket game of the Charleston Classic.

Miller’s big night matched a career high (he played in 34 games at Central Michigan) and it was his personal 6-0 run that broke a 58-58 tie in the final 3-plus minutes. The 6-foot, 175-pounder made a layup off of a steal, a baseline jumper through contact, and a twisting layup to give Wake Forest (2-2) a 64-58 lead with 1:35 left.

After all three of those scores, the Deacons got a defensive stop and Zach Keller collected the defensive rebound. That was quite the development, as Wake Forest was outrebounded 45-26.

Wake Forest will play LSU in the fifth-place game, slated for a 3 p.m. start on Sunday. LSU beat North Texas 66-62 in the earlier consolation bracket game Friday.

It’s a chance to leave Charleston with two wins and enter a seven-game homestand with some momentum. Starting with next Friday afternoon’s game against Charleston Southern, the Deacons play at Joel Coliseum seven times in a 37-day span—including non-conference games against Florida (Nov. 29) and Rutgers (Dec. 6).

Wake Forest overcame its rebounding deficiencies by only turning the ball over five times, shooting close to 50% (26 of 53), and collecting seven steals (three of them by Miller).