THE CITADEL GETS BY FURMAN 66-56
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Citadel placed four players in double-figures scoring, led by Cliff Washburn's 17 points and nine rebounds, as the Bulldogs defeated long-time rival Furman, 66-56, in the regular-season finale Sunday night.
With the victory, The Citadel improved to 16-11 overall and 9-7 in the Southern Conference while Furman slipped to 10-15 overall and 5-11 in the league. The win pits the Bulldogs against Western Carolina in the first round of the 2001 Mountain Dew Southern Conference Tournament, which begins Thursday at the Bi-Lo Center in Greenville. Furman will play Appalachiain State on Thursday night at 8:30 p.m. in a first round tournament contest.
Joining Washburn in the Bulldogs' scoring parade included Alan Puckett with 12 points, and 10 points each by Travis Cantrell and Mike Roy.
Furman was led by Karim Souchu with 16 points and was followed by Anthony Thomas' 12 and Marcus Dilligard's 10.
"Our guys hung tough tonight," said an elated Citadel coach Pat Dennis afterwards. "They made a few runs at us, and give them credit as they picked it up some in the second half."
The Citadel led at halftime, 36-26, when Furman opened the second half with a 10-2 run, cutting the lead to two, 38-36,when Dilligard scored on a layup with 12:49 remaining.
The Bulldogs responded with a run of its own, highlighted by an Alan Puckett free throw with 10:25 left to make the score 46-36.
Furman again made a run with 1:41 left in the game when Souchu scored on a layup to bring the Paladins within four, 60-56. However, a free throw by Roy, another by Michael Joseph, two more free throws by Roy and another pair by Joseph iced the game.
"At the end when we made the comeback, we had a couple of good looks at it but didn't make them," said Furman coach Larry Davis. "We got some stops defensively, but we weren't able to capitalize offensively. They were too tough when it counted."