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Furman Survives Wofford For SoCon Victory, 68-65
Jan. 15, 2007
Greenville, S.C. - Robby Bostain and Tony Anderson each converted a pair of foul shots in the final 10 seconds to help Furman hold off Wofford for a 68-65 Southern Conference victory before 2,106 Monday night at Timmons Arena.
Leading by two with under three minutes left, Bostain and Eric Webb buried back-to-back three-pointers to give Furman a 64-56 lead with 2:25 remaining. Drew Gibson trimmed the cushion to four with a pair at the charity stripe and the Terriers netted consecutive layups off of Webb turnovers to slice the lead to 64-62 with 39 seconds left.
Following a Wofford timeout, Furman held the ball for 25 seconds before Bostain drew a two-shot foul on a drive down the right side of the lane. After the senior converted both free throws, Wofford's Shane Nichols answered with a trey from the left corner with 1.2 seconds to go. Tony Anderson drew a foul on the inbounds attempt and sunk both ends of the double bonus to put the game out of reach at 68-65.
Webb and Bostain each tallied a team-high 16 points, while fellow senior Moussa Diagne added 15 and Alex Opacic chipped in 10. Gerad Punch, despite failing to score, grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.
Furman shot 40.7% (24-59) from the floor and converted 9-of-23 (39.1%) attempts from beyond the arc. After not attempting a foul shot in the first half, Furman connected on 11-of-15 at the charity stripe over the final 20 minutes. The Paladins posted a commanding 44-28 edge on the glass that included 15 offensive rebounds.
Nichols scored a game-high 19 to lead the Terriers, including 4-of-8 from three-point range. Gibson scored 17 and Marshall added 10 points and seven rebounds. Wofford shot 41.5% (22-53) from the field and 13-of-16 at the foul line. The Terriers made 8-of 21 three-pointers and shot 45.2% from the floor in the second half.
Furman, who shot 46.7% from the field in the first half, built a 33-26 lead at the intermission. The Paladins held the seven-point advantage until Wofford reeled off an 8-0 run to take a 44-43 lead with 11;53 left in the game. Furman regained the lead for good at 9:59 as Webb drained one of his four three-point field goals.
The win, which snaps Furman's three game losing streak, improves the Paladins to 8-9 overall and 2-4 in the Southern Conference. Wofford dips to 5-13 overall and 0-7 in league play.
Furman resumes its three-gae homestand hosting the Western Carolina Catatmounts Saturday at 4 p.m. at Timmons Arena. Wofford entertains Chattanooga on January 20, at 2 p.m.
