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WINSTON-SALEM — Even when things are going poorly, good shooters keep shooting.

And Wake Forest freshman Ari Stewart is a good shooter.

Stewart's 3-pointer from the top of the key with 19 seconds left in overtime gave Wake Forest a two-possession lead and sealed the Demon Deacons' 74-68 victory over Richmond on New Year's Eve at Joel Coliseum.

Stewart finished with just seven points on 2-for-7 shooting. A 46 percent 3-point shooter coming into the game, Stewart was 0-for-4 from that range when he took his decisive jump shot with Wake clinging to a 68-66 lead.

"Ari Stewart hit a big shot there when we really needed it," Wake coach Dino Gaudio said. "I told him that as a freshman, I was proud of him. He kept his head in the game. He didn't dip his head when he wasn't playing a lot in the second half, and he made a really big shot."

Al-Farouq Aminu scored eight of his team-high 16 points in overtime to lead Wake Forest (10-2), and 7-footer Chas McFarland finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds off the bench. Ish Smith added 13 points and seven assists.

Do-it-all point guard Kevin Anderson scored a career-high 31 points for Richmond (10-4), His runner in the lane with 2:24 left in overtime tied it at 65 — the 20th and final tie in a back-and-forth game.

When Richmond built an eight-point lead in the first half — the biggest lead by either team — Anderson scored 14 of the Spiders' 16 points to build the margin.

Gaudio put his best defender — 6-foot-4 L.D. Williams — on the smaller Anderson after that, and Wake got back into the game.

"Kevin's a really good player," Gaudio said. "We saw that when we played them last year. ... He can shoot the 3. He can get to the cup. He puts a lot of pressure on your defense with the dribble. I thought L.D. did as good a job as can be done on the kid."

Williams finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds, but his biggest contribution was defending Anderson. Most of the Richmond guard's points after Wake's defensive switch came with Williams on the bench, screened by a pick or in transition.

"The guys behind me make my job easier," Williams said. "I can get up and pressure kids and make it harder on them because of the guys behind me. I know if I mess up, they're going to clean up my mess. For me to be able to pick up Anderson full-court, being a bigger defender on a smaller guy, it makes it easier for us. ... We pride ourselves on team defense, and that's how it works."

Defense got the Deacons to overtime.

After C.J. Harris' layup tied it at 62 with 42 seconds left, Wake knocked the ball out of Anderson's hands as he drove with 12.5 seconds left. Richmond kept the ball, but McFarland grabbed the rebound after the Spiders' David Gonzalvez a missed a desperate 3-pointer.

McFarland's put-back basket at the other end of the court came moments after the buzzer.

In overtime, Aminu shot 6-for-8 from the free-throw line and hit a layup off a spin move to put Wake ahead for good, 67-65, with 2:04 left.

That set the stage for Stewart's perimeter shot on a night of terrible perimeter shooting.

Richmond hit five of its first seven shots from 3-point range, then went 1-for-17 the rest of the way.

Wake scored its first points when 6-11 center David Weaver hit an uncontested 3-pointer, then the Demon Deacons missed their next 11 3-point shots.

The Deacs finished 3-for-17. But good shooters keep shooting, and Stewart made one when it counted.

Contact Jeff Mills at 373-7024 or jeff.mills@news-record.com

RICHMOND (10-4) — Harper 3-8 2-4 10, Butler 3-5 1-2 8, Duinker 0-2 0-0 0, Gonzalvez 2-11 3-4 8, Anderson 12-21 5-5 31, Garrett 1-2 0-1 2, Brothers 0-1 0-0 0, K.Smith 1-1 0-0 2, Martel 0-0 0-0 0, Robbins 0-0 0-0 0, Geriot 2-8 3-5 7. Totals 24-59 14-21 68.

WAKE FOREST (10-2) — Aminu 3-7 10-15 16, Weaver 1-3 4-4 7, Smith 5-14 2-2 13, Harris 2-6 4-4 8, Williams 5-11 0-0 10, Clark 0-2 0-0 0, McFarland 3-6 7-9 13, Stewart 2-7 2-4 7, Woods 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 21-56 29-40 74.

Halftime—Tied 29-29.
End of regulation—Tied 62.
3-Point goals—Richmond 6-24 (Harper 2-4, Anderson 2-5, Butler 1-3, Gonzalvez 1-9, Geriot 0-3), Wake Forest 3-17 (Weaver 1-2, Smith 1-4, Stewart 1-5, Aminu 0-1, Williams 0-2, Harris 0-3).
Fouled out—Garrett, Harper, Harris, K.Smith.
Rebounds—Richmond 32 (Butler, Garrett, Harper 5), Wake Forest 48 (McFarland 12).
Assists—Richmond 10 (Butler 4), Wake Forest 10 (Smith 7).
Total fouls—Richmond 29, Wake Forest 19.
A—10,210.