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Furman Falls At Home To Georgia Southern, 57-55
Feb. 12, 2007
Greenville, S.C. - Georgia Southern held Furman to just one field goal in the final 6:40 and Donte Gennie buried two free throws with 2:23 remaining to lift the Eagles to a 57-55 victory over the Paladins Monday evening at Timmons Arena.
The loss snapped Furman's (13-12, 7-7 SoCon) three-game Southern Conference winning streak and the Paladins' six-game winning streak at Timmons Arena. The Eagles (11-14, 4-10 SoCon) claimed their first win in their last five outings to complete a season sweep of Furman.
Georgia Southern built a 32-20 halftime lead on the strength of 50.0% shooting from the floor and three treys from Gennie. Trailing 39-29 with less than 15 minutes remaining, Robby Bostain opened a 12-0 Paladin run with a jumper. Tony Anderson followed with a layup and, after a three-point play from Bostain, the freshman buried a trey to tie the game at 39-39 with 12:40 left.
After George Brozos converted two foul shots to give Furman its first lead of the night at 41-39 with 12:08 left in the game, Gennie reeled off five straight points to put the Eagles back ahead.
Following two ties and two lead changes Moussa Diagne took a pass from Eric Webb and slammed it home to give Furman a 51-49 lead with under seven minutes on the clock. The Eagles then put together an 8-2 run holding the Paladins without a field goal until Alex Opacic's layup pulled Furman to within 57-55 with 1:50 to go.
Furman forced a turnover and used a timeout to set up a play with under a minute left. Louis Graham, however, swatted Webb's floater to give the Eagles possession with 49 seconds remaining. After an Eagle timeout and a missed three from Dwayne Foreman, Furman had the ball with one last chance. Bostain took a pass and curled around the top of the key, but his tightly defended three-pointer with two seconds left did not draw iron.
Gennie led Georgia Southern with 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including 4-for-4 beyond the arc. Jimmy Tobias joined Gennie in double figures with 10 points. The Eagles shot 49.0% (24-49) from the floor and 5-of-8 from three-point range.
Bostain connected on 8-of-16 field goal attempts to lead Furman with 18 points. Tony Anderson came off of the bench to tally 10 for the Paladins. Furman shot just 39.6% (21-53) from the field, including 3-of-16 beyond the arc. Georgia Southern held a 32-29 edge on the boards.
Furman looks to rebound Saturday afternoon when it faces The Citadel Bulldogs in a 1:05 p.m. contest at McAlister Fieldhouse. Georgia Southern returns home to host Elon on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
