Wake to Play Preseason Games in Canada

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest will make a preseason trip to Ontario, Canada, in mid-October to play exhibition games against Brock University and Ryerson University.

The Demon Deacons will take on Brock on Friday, Oct. 19, in St. Catherines, Ontario, and then play at Ryerson on Saturday, Oct. 20, in Toronto. Both games will tip off at 7 p.m. EDT.

"The trip gives us two extra games to prepare for the season," said head coach Jeff Bzdelik. "With a young team, including seven freshmen and two sophomores, I didn't want to go all the way across the world for an international trip in August because I was worried about the fatigue factor when you get into February and March. We're just going to take a 90-minute flight up to Toronto in October and play two games against two universities up there."

Wake Forest will take on Ryerson in the Mattamy Athletic Centre at the Gardens, which was the home of the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs from 1931-99.

Brock and Ryerson are no strangers to playing American NCAA teams. Last season, Brock played host to Murray State and North Florida, while Ryerson hosted Baylor and also played road games at Santa Clara, Stanford and Rhode Island.

This season, both universities will host Tulsa on back-to-back days Aug. 15-16. Ryerson will also play at Detroit Mercy in late October and at Dayton in early November.

The Brock Badgers finished 10-12 last season, while the Ryerson Rams went 13-9 and advanced to the CIS Final 8 for the first time in 14 seasons.

The Deacons will also have an opportunity to visit Niagara Falls and tour the city of Toronto during the trip.

Wake Forest will be making its first international preseason trip since 2006-07, when the Deacons played two exhibition games in the Bahamas in early September.

The Deacons will open the regular season on Friday, Nov. 9. The complete 2012-13 schedule will be announced in August.

Wake Forest is returning four scholarship letterwinners, including the ACC's top two leading returning scorers in C.J. Harris (16.7 ppg) and Travis McKie (16.1 ppg). The Deacons are also welcoming in seven freshmen this season.