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Jones Nets Career-High 18 To Push Furman Past Mercer, 83-69
Dec. 30, 2006
Greenville, S.C. - Sophomore Jadee Jones paced five Paladins in double figures with a career-high 18 points to lead Furman to an 83-69 victory over Mercer before 1,206 Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena.
Jones connected on 6-of-10 field goal attempts, including 5-of-9 from beyond the arc, as the Paladins shot 56.7% (34-60) from the field. Furman, who led wire-to-wire, opened up a 48-35 halftime lead shooting 67.7% (21-31) from floor and 6-of-9 from three-point range in the opening 20 minutes.
"I thought we were very good offensively, but I'm a little concerned about our defense," said Furman head coach Jeff Jackson. "I'm not sure we are doing everything we need to do defensively from a team standpoint. That said, I'm happy with the win."
Mercer (5-7) stayed within striking distance by shooting 57.7% for the game. Guard Shaddean Aaron led the Bears with a game-high 25 points on 11-of-14 shooting from the field. Calvin Henry netted 11 and Sam Dolan and James Florence each added 10 points in the loss.
Mercer began the second half on an 8-2 run to trim the Paladin lead to 50-43 with 17:49 remaining. Furman answered with an 11-4 run of its on to up the advantage to 77-63 and put the game out of reach with 4:49 left.
Robby Bostain joined Jones in double figures with 16 points and seven assists. Gerad Punch tied a career-high with 15 points while grabbing a game-high eight rebounds. Moussa Diagne scored 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting and Alex Opacic tallied 11 points to round out Furman's double figure scorers. Eric Webb added 10 assists for Furman.
The Paladins held a 28-21 edge in rebounding and got 34 points from its bench. With the victory, Furman finishes the non-conference portion of its schedule at 6-5.
Furman, 6-6 overall and 0-1 in league action, returns to Southern Conference play when it hosts Chattanooga in a 7:00 p.m. contest Wednesday at Timmons Arena.
