Jan. 5, 2008

Box Score

Greenville, S.C. - Stephen McDowell tallied 21 points to lead four Chattanooga players in double figures as the Mocs remained unbeaten in Southern Conference play with a 77-60 victory over Furman Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena.

Chattanooga (10-5, 5-0 SoCon) held Furman to 30.0% shooting from the field in the first half while connecting on 7-of-17 first period treys to open up a 45-34 lead at the intermission. The Mocs built a 43-25 lead with less than two minutes left in the period before Connor Nolte netted seven straight points to help Furman end the half on a 9-2 run.

Bobby Austin and Alex Opacic drained back-to-back threes to trim the lead to 47-40 with 17:41 left, but a pair of Nicchaeus Doaks dunks helped spark a 12-0 run by the Mocs to put the game out of reach.

McDowell made 5-of-14 three-pointers for Chattanooga. Doaks totaled 17 points while Marcus Watts added 10 points and seven rebounds. Matt Gwynne added a game-high 10 rebounds as Chattanooga outrebounded Furman 46-34 and outscored the Paladins 30-14 in the paint.

The Mocs shot 48.2% (27-56) from the field, made 8-of-24 treys and converted 15-of-23 attempts at the foul line. Kevin Bridgewaters led all players with six assists.

Freshman Connor Nolte paced Furman with a career-high 13 points while grabbing five rebounds. Justin Dehm netted 4-of-9 three-point attempts to finish with 12 points and Alex Opacic chipped in with 11 points. The Paladins shot a season-low 28.8% from the field and made just 9-of-36 three-points. Furman, the SoCon's leading free throw shooting team, made 17-of-22 at the charity stripe.

Furman will travel to Western Carolina on Thursday at 7 p.m. before hosting Elon on January 12, at 4 p.m.