Feb. 19, 2005
Box Score
SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Eric Marshall scored 25 points, including 23 in the second half, to help Wofford overcome a seven-point deficit and post a 77-70 win over visiting Furman in Southern Conference basketball action Saturday night at Ben Johnson Arena.
Furman led 61-54 with just under six minutes left before Wofford put together a 13-2 run to take a 64-63 lead following a Marshall layup with 2:56 to go. The Paladins later tied the game at 65-65 on a layup by Moussa Diagne at the 2:07 mark, but the Terriers' Tyler Berg gave Wofford the lead for good with a three-point play with 1:43 remaining. Marshall stretched the advantage to 70-65 with his final basket of the night with 0:37 left.
The win was the first for Wofford (13-12, 6-8 SoCon) in its last five games against Furman (15-11, 8-6 SoCon), which had claimed the two previous meetings in Spartanburg. It also avenged a 75-58 loss to the Paladins in Greenville on Feb. 12.
"Wofford shot the ball very well tonight. Give them credit," said head coach Larry Davis. "Defensively, we just didn't get it done down the stretch. We had our chance there with about five minutes to go, playing on the road, but we just didn't play very well from a defensive standpoint when the game was on the line."
Diagne paced Furman with a career high 24 points and claimed seven rebounds. Nicholas Sanders chipped in 11 points, and Eric Webb rounded out the Paladins' double figure scoring attack with 10 points. Furman shot 51.9 percent from the field (27x52), but the Terriers countered with a 60.0 percent performance (27x45). Wofford also canned 17-of-21 free throws (81.0 percent) after entering the contest ranked ninth in the SoCon in free throw percentage (62.9 percent).
Furman trailed 36-32 at intermission and 48-41 with 15:18 to go before fashioning a 20-6 run to take a 61-54 lead following Diagne's jump shot with 5:42 remaining.
The Paladins will break for final exams before returning to action on Wednesday when they entertain the College of Charleston in the final home game of the season. The Paladins and Cougars are currently tied for third place in the SoCon South Division with 8-6 league marks, one game behind second place Georgia Southern, and two games up on fifth place Wofford.
