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Winston-Salem, N.C. - A cold start and free throw shooting cost Coastal Carolina in its 86-74 loss at Wake Forest.

The game was much closer than the score indicated as CCU (2-4) fell behind by 25 points in the first half only to battle back to within four of the home-standing Demon Deacons.

After trailing by 25, CCU made the first of three runs during the game. An 18-7 run at the end of the first half closed the score to 37-23 at half.

CCU did not stop there as they came out in the second half to continue that run and cut it to 44-40 on an Elijah Wilson three with 14:56 left in the game, but that would be as close as the Chants could get.

Wake (5-1) pushed the lead back out to 17 (79-62) with 1:43 left, before CCU put together one more run to cut the lead to 79-70 with 1:13 left.

From there the Deacons hit their free throws to push the lead back out to the final margin.

Free throws happened to be the difference in the game as Wake Forest hit 21 of their 24 attempts, while CCU only hit eight of its 14.

Wilson led the Chants with 20 points, but had four teammates reach double digits with him. Demario Beck finished with 13, Colton Ray-St Cyr had 12 and Joseph Williams-Powell and Jaylen Shaw had 10 each.

CCU battled hard on the boards playing against four post players that ranged from 6'-10" to 7'-1". Both teams finished the game with 41 rebounds and CCU turned the ball over 12 times compared to 14 for Wake.

Ray-St Cyr picked up the Chants second double-double on the season with a team-high 13 rebounds to go with his 12 points.

WFU had four players reach double digits lead by John Collins 20. Brandon Childress scored 15, Mitchell Wilbekin had 14 and Bryant Crawford added 12.

Wake finished the game shooting 47 percent from the field and CCU shot 37 percent.

Wake had a 37-23 halftime lead with Collins (9) and Childress (8) leading the way. The Demon Deacons shot 45 percent from the field, but started off the game hitting 11 of their first 20 shots (55%) in building a 25-point lead (30-5) with just over eight minutes left in the first half.

CCU was just the opposite, only hitting two of its first 12 shots (17%). They were able to recover a little in the final few minutes of the opening half to finish shooting 28 percent, but were able to hit five of their 12 three point field goals (42%) and closed the half out scoring WFU 18-7.

Wilson had eight and Beck had seven to lead the Chants.

After a seven-day road trip Coastal Carolina will take a much-needed break for a couple of days. CCU will host its next five games beginning with a Nov. 29 showdown with Chattanooga. That game is scheduled to tip off at 7 p.m.