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Diagne Rallies Furman Past Appalachian State In Overtime Thriller, 76-72
Feb. 3, 2007
Greenville, S.C. - Moussa Diagne scored a career-high 28 points, including a game-tying three-pointer with 1.4 seconds left in regulation, as Furman rallied past Appalachian State for a 76-72 overtime victory before 3,467 Saturday evening at Timmons Arena.
After forcing overtime, Diagne netted seven points in the five minute period as Furman led the rest of the way. The Thies, Senegal, native converted a three-point play to start the overtime and Tony Anderson answered a Donte Minter layup with a trey to push Furman ahead 63-59 with 4:03 left.
Appalachian trimmed the lead to one with a Minter layup at the 2:24 mark, but Diagne made the front end of a two shot foul and buried a jumper after missing the second foul shot to help Furman regain control. Furman connected on 7-of-10 foul shots in the final 1:30 to hold Appalachian at bay for the Paladins' sixth consecutive victory at Timmons Arena.
After leading most of the first 30 minutes, Furman's chances appeared to be fading when the Mountaineers put together a 12-1 run to open up a 51-39 lead with 6:32 remaining. With Appalachian State still hold an 11-point cushion with under three minutes left, Furman started its rally. Jadee Jones drained two free throws and Diagne converted a three-point play in the lane to cut the ASU lead to 55-49. Eric Webb stole the ball from Demetrius Scott and Jones scored on a floater in the lane to pull Furman to within four with 1:54 left.
Following a Gerad Punch free throw and a Jeremy Clayton bucket on the other end, Anderson slice to the basket for a layup with 23 seconds left. Diagne fouled Minter on the inbounds and the Paladins regained possession when the junior missed the front end of a one-and-one chance. Furman used its final timeout to set up the last play and Diagne sunk a three off of an assist from Webb on the left wing with 1.4 seconds left to tie the game at 57-57.
Diagne made 10-of-12 shots from the field, including 2-for-3 beyond the arc, to lead all scorers. Senior Robby Bostain tallied 17 points while Anderson reached double figures with 13 points off of the bench. Diagne led the team with eight rebounds and Webb added a game-high nine assists.
Furman shot 55.3% from the field, including a perfect 4-for-4 in overtime. Despite making just 19-of-31 shots at the foul line, the Paladins converted 10-of-15 at the charity stripe in the extra period.
D.J. Thompson paced the Mountaineers with 24 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and 9-of-11 at the foul line. Clayton registered a double-double with 14 points and a game-high 10 boards, while Minter added 19 points.
Appalachian recovered from a 20-point first half to shoot 55.1% from the field, but the Mountaineers made good on just 14-of-27 free throws. Furman won the rebounding battle 31-28.
Furman, 12-11 overall and 6-6 in the Southern Conference, returns to the road to face Elon on February 10, at 2 p.m. The game will be televised live on SportSouth. Appalachian State (17-6, 9-3) visits Georgia Southern Monday at 7:30 p.m.
