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Second Half Rally Lifts Charleston Over Furman, 67-55
Jan. 13, 2007
Charleston, S.C. - Senior Dontaye Draper tallied 20 points and the College of Charleston limited Furman to just 19 second half points as the Cougars downed the Paladins 67-55 in Southern Conference action Saturday evening at John Kresse Arena.
Charleston, who trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half, finished the game on a 19-6 run while holding Furman to only two baskets over the final 9:55. The Cougars forced Furman into an 8-for-31 shooting effort from the floor while converting 14-of-20 free throws on the other end of the court following intermission.
Charleston dominated the final nine minutes connecting on 11-of-16 foul shots and holding Furman to 15.4% (2-13) from the field. The Paladins, who shot 46.2% from three-point range in the first half, managed just two treys in 12 second half attempts to finish 8-of-25 from long range.
Furman buried six first half three-pointers and Moussa Diagne netted 16 of his game-high 24 points as Furman built a 36-31 lead at the break. Forward Josh Jackson gave the Cougars their first lead of the second half at 46-44 on a jumper with 11:23 left. After trading baskets, Diagne put the Paladins back on top at 49-48 on a three-point play with under 10 minutes remaining.
David Lawrence scored 15 points and Jackson added 11 to join Draper in double figures. Phillip McCandies helped Charleston to a 41-38 rebounding edge with a game-high 10 boards. The Cougars shot 39.6% (21-53) from the field for the game while making 19-of-26 attempts at the charity stripe.
Furman, who dropped its third straight game and fourth straight on the road, shot a season-low 32.8% (21-64) from the field. Robby Bosatin reached double figures with 10 points while Gerad Punch contributed nine points and six rebounds. Diagne paced the Paladins with eight boards.
The loss drops the Paladins to 7-9 overall and 1-4 in SoCon play. Charleston improves to 11-7 overall and 4-2 in the league.
Furman opens a three-game homestand on Monday when it hosts Wofford in a 7 p.m. contest at Timmons Arena.
