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Top-Seeded Davidson Hands Furman Season-Ending Loss, 91-68
March 2, 2007
North Charleston, S.C. - The No. 1 Davidson Wildcats held No. 5 Furman to a season-low 15 points in the first half en route to a 91-68 victory in the semifinals of the Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament at the North Charleston Coliseum on Friday night.
The top-seeded Wildcats (28-4) got 30 points from SoCon Rookie of the Year Stephen Curry and another 20 points and seven assists from guard Jason Richards. Three Paladin seniors scored in double figures in their final game, with Eric Webb's 16 leading the way. Moussa Diagne added 15 on 5-of-8 from the field and Robby Bostain contributed 14.
A Tony Anderson three-pointer at the 11:32 mark of the first half pulled the Paladins within two, 14-12, but the bucket would be the last of the half for the Paladins. Davidson outscored Furman 16-3 over the final 11 minutes and took a commanding 30-15 lead at the break. Both teams were forced to play much of the opening 20 minutes without their leading scorers as both Curry and Diagne were on the bench in foul trouble.
Furman made only five first-half field goals, shooting a mere 22.7 percent from the field. The Wildcats connected on 37.9 percent from the floor and held a 26-15 advantage on the boards.
Both teams came out firing in the second half, especially Curry who made up for his time on the bench by nailing three consecutive treys to give Davidson a 25-point advantage, 46-21, at the 15:20 mark. Despite shooting 57 percent in the final half, the deficit was too large and Furman could not stop the Wildcat attack. The Paladins would never get closer than 18 for the remainder of the game.
For the game, Furman connected on 42 percent (21-of-50) from the field, 37.5 percent from long range. The Wildcats drained 29-of-60 (.483), including 12-of-28 from downtown. Davidson also scored 17 points off Paladins turnovers and held a 38-31 advantage on the glass.
The Paladins end their season with a record of 15-16 overall and say goodbye to four outstanding seniors in Diagne, Webb, Bostain and Gerad Punch.
