Jan. 28, 2006

Box Score

Greenville, S.C. - Furman's Robby Bostain netted a career-high 29 points to lead the Paladins to a 73-61 victory over North Dakota State in non-conference men's basketball action Saturday afternoon in front of 2,463 at Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C.

Bostain connected on 8-of-10 shots from the field, 4-of-5 shots from beyond the arc and 9-of-9 free throw attempts to top his previous career-best of 27 points against Kennesaw State on December 29.

"We all had a bad taste in our mouth after Monday night's game so it was nice to get back on track today," said Bostain. "North Dakota State is a solid team and it was good to pull out a win."

Leading 54-52 with 5:55 remaining, Furman extended its lead to four on a Moussa Diagne jumper then stretched the advantage to seven on a Bostain three-pointer less than a minute later. After the Bison cut the margin to three at the final media timeout, Diagne converted another jumper before sinking a trey off of an Eric Webb pass to up the lead to 64-56 with 2:12 remaining. Bostain put the game away in the final two minutes making 6-of-6 free throw attempts to give Furman the 73-61 victory.

North Dakota State took an early 2-0 lead nine seconds into the contest but, after a Diagne three-pointer at 19:28, Furman would never trail again. The Paladins held NDSU to 31.3% (10-32) from the field in the first half to build a 29-24 lead at intermission en route to their eight win in their last ten outings.

Diagne joined Bostain in double figures with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field. Tony Carter and Webb each notched nine points while Stanley Jones recorded a career-high five blocked shots in 23 minutes of play. Furman shot 51.0% (25-49) from the field and 40.0% (10-25) beyond the arc. The Paladins sunk 13-of-14 attempts from the charity stripe.

Andre Smith and Mike Nelson paced the Bison with 14 points a piece. North Dakota State (12-10) shot 41.7% (25-60) for the game, but connected on 15-of-28 shots in the final 20 minutes. The Bison claimed 35-26 edge in rebounds.

Furman, 12-7 overall and 5-2 in the Southern Conference, jumps back into league play on Monday when it visits Western Carolina. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. at the Ramsey Center in Cullowhee, N.C.