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Furman Upends Chattanooga For First SoCon Win, 69-56
Jan. 3, 2007
Greenville, S.C. - Furman's Alex Opacic tallied a career-high 20 points on 8-of-8 shooting from the field to lead the Paladins to their first Southern Conference win of the season, a 69-56 victory over Chattanooga, in front of 1,913 Wednesday evening at Timmons Arena.
With Furman trailing 43-42 and less than 10 minutes remaining in the second half, Opacic scored eight points, including a pair of treys, to key a 16-0 spurt to give Furman its biggest lead of the game at 58-43 with 4:22 left. Kevin Bridgewaters scored six straight points to trim the lead to nine, but Furman converted 8-of-10 free throws in the final two minutes to secure the victory.
"We really concentrated on defense the last couple of days in practice, and I think it paid off tonight, especially in our second half run," said Furman head coach Jeff Jackson. "We got solid production off of the bench. Alex did a really good job. We've challenged him to be tougher, and he stepped up to that challenge."
Tied 27-27 at the break, Furman and Chattanooga traded the lead eight times in the opening nine minutes of the second half before Opacic pushed the Paladins in front for good. Furman, just 35.5% (11-31) from the field in the first half, shot 50% (12-24) from the floor and connected on 14-of-19 free throws after intermission to outscore the Mocs 42-29 over the final 20 minutes.
Fellow sophomore Jadee Jones joined Opacic in double figures with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field and 2-for-4 beyond the arc. Sophomore Stanley Jones tallied nine points and six rebounds, while Gerad Punch contributed eight points and seven boards. Moussa Diagne added a game-high eight boards to go with eight points, while Robby Bostain netted nine points.
Furman finished at 41.8% from the field and 33.3% (8-of-24) from three-point range. The Paladins converted 15-of-20 shots from the charity stripe and held a 35-29 rebounding advantage. Chattanooga shot 40.4% from the floor, but just 28.0% (7-25) from long range. The Mocs made 11-of-17 free throw attempts.
Bridgewaters led the Mocs with 14 points, all in the second half. Keddric Mays and Niccheaus Doaks each added 12 points. Ricky Hood registered a team-high seven rebounds.
After falling behind 5-0 to start the game, Furman used an 11-0 run to help build a 23-12 lead with 7:19 left in the period. UTC answered with a 15-4 run, keyed by seven points from Doaks, to pull even at half. The Paladins outscored the Mocs 26-18 in the paint and received a combined 32 points from five players off of the bench.
The loss drops Chattanooga to 7-8 overall and 0-3 in league play. UTC opens a three-game homestand hosting Appalachian State Saturday at 6:00 p.m.
Furman, winners of seven of its last nine versus the Mocs, improves to 7-6 overall and 1-1 in the Southern Conference. The Paladins return to action Saturday when they travel to Statesboro, Ga., to face the Georgia Southern Eagles. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
