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Charleston Edges Furman In Southern Conference Thriller 67-65
Feb. 11, 2006
Greenville, S.C. - David Lawrence buried a three-pointer from the left corner with one minute remaining to break a 64-64 deadlock and lift the College of Charleston to a 67-65 victory over Furman in front of a crowd of 3,713 Saturday evening at Timmons Arena.
After Furman's Moussa Diagne converted one of two free throws with 37 seconds left, Lawrence missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity. Robby Bostain's driving layup with nine second remaining was blocked by J.R. Hairston, but Eric Webb picked up the loose ball launched a three-pointer. Bostain grabbed the offensive board off of Webb's miss, but missed a put back that was rebounded by the Cougars forcing the Paladins to foul.
"I have all the confidence in the world in our guys," said Davis of Furman's late flurry of shots. "Bostain is going to make that shot 99 out of 100 times and I have confidence Eric can make that three from the corner. We can't worry about it though because we have to turn around and get ready for Wofford on Monday night."
Charleston gave Furman one more chance when Hairston's free throw with 2.9 seconds left missed and was deflected out of bounds to the Paladins. Following a lengthy discussion to put 1.6 seconds on the clock, Furman's last gasp fullcourt pass was tipped away securing the CofC victory.
Trailing 44-29 with 17 minutes to go, Furman began to chip away at the deficit. Bostain sunk two free throws, Eric Webb buried a three-pointer and Tony Carter sliced to the basket for a lay in to trim the margin to eight at 44-36 with 16:10 left.
After cutting the deficit to three on a Gerad Punch basket, Jadee Jones banked in a jumper on a Webb assist to give the Paladins a 49-48 advantage with 9:43 left. The lead changed hands four times and the contest was tied six times in the next eight minutes before Lawrence's game-winning shot.
The Cougars took a 38-27 lead into the halftie break on the strength of an 18-5 midway through the period. Holding an 18-16 lead, Charleston limited the Paladins to a lone three-pointer over a six minute stretch to extend its lead to 36-21.
Josh Jackson paced the Cougars with14 points while Dontaye Draper contributed 13 points and eight assists. Lawrence, who made 4-of-7 three-point attempts, finished with 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds.
The Cougars shot 52.0% (26-50) from the floor and 52.9% (9-17) from beyond the arc. The College of Charleston was 6-of-10 at the line, but just 1-of-4 in the second half. The Cougars, 14-8 overall and 7-4 in the Southern Conference, held a 33-28 edge in rebounds.
Bostain led four Paladins in double figures with 19 points while grabbing five boards. Diagne scored 12 points while Webb and Carter chipped in 11 each. Furman shot 50% (14-28) from the field in the second half and 45.6% for the contest. The Paladins, who entered the game ranked second in the league in both three-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage, made only 5-of-19 treys and 8-of-14 shots at the charity stripe.
Charleston returns home Monday night to host the Georgia Southern Eagles in a 7:00 p.m. contest. Furman, 13-10, 6-5 SoCon) wraps up its three-game homestand with a 7:00 p.m. tip against the Wofford Terriers.
