Feb. 23, 2005

Box Score

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Josh Jackson's layup with 1:16 left in overtime broke a 64-64 tie and propelled the College of Charleston to a 72-66 win over Furman in Southern Conference basketball action Wednesday night in front of 2,016 fans at Timmons Arena.

Jackson's decisive basket followed a steal by teammate Stanley Jackson with 1:36 left. College of Charleston (17-9, 9-6 SoCon) then held Furman scoreless on the Paladins next four posssessions and scored their final six points at the free throw line to earn the victory.

The loss was only the second home defeat for Furman (15-12, 9-6 SoCon) in 13 games this year. The Paladins missed a chance to win the game in regulation when, with the scored tied 62-62, Robby Bostain's 14-foot jump shot from the left wing bounced off the rim as time expired.

Tony Mitchell scored 10 of his team high 15 points in the second half to fuel a College of Charleston comeback from a seven-point halftime deficit. Stanley Jackson added 14 points and seven rebounds, and Dontaye Draper tallied 12 points. Josh Jackson rounded out the Cougar double figure scoring effort with 10 points and seven rebounds.

Furman got a game high 18 points and eight rebounds from Moussa Diagne and 14 points from Bostain. Tony Carter added 12 points for the Paladins.

Furman led 34-27 at intermission and held a 43-34 advantage following a Gerad Punch layup with 14:43 to go.

College of Charleston, however, stormed back with a 20-5 run, taking its first lead of the second half at 47-46 following a Stanley Jackson jump shot with 11:07 to go.

Tony Mitchell's 3-pointer at the 9:45 juncture made it 52-48 and basket by Josh Jackson with 8:25 remaining completed the 20-5 run and stretched the advantage to 54-48.

The Paladins narrowed the advantage to 54-53 following a Ben Earle 3-pointer and layup by Moussa Diagne. Bernard Jackson's dunk gave the Cougars a three-point lead, but another Earle 3-pointer knotted the contest at 56-56 with 4:15 to go.

From that point Furman twice overcame deficits and took its final lead of the second half at 62-60 on two Diagne free throws with 0:47 remaining in regulation. Dontaye Drapers' driving layup with 24 seconds left tied the contest, however, and Furman's bid to win the game in regulation failed with Bostain's miss, which led to overtime.

The College of Charleston shot 44.1 percent from the field (26x59), including 51.9 percent in the second half. Furman, meanwhile, converted just 39.0 percent of its shots (23x59), including only 2-of-9 attempts in overtime.

The Cougars claimed a narrow 39-38 advantage on the boards.

Furman wraps up the regular season on Saturday with a road game at Chattanooga beginning at 2:00 p.m. The College of Charleston plays its final regular season game on Saturday when it entertains cross-town rival The Citadel beginning at 6:00 p.m.