EAST TENNESSEE STATE THUMPS FURMAN 66-47
JOHNSON CITY, TENNESSEE -- Adrian Meeks and D.J. McDuffie scored 12 points each to lead East Tennessee State to a 66-47 win over visiting Furman in Southern Conference basketball action Saturday afternoon in front of 2,342 fans at the Memorial Center.
The Buccaneers, who led from start to finish, raced to an early 8-0 lead and were never threatened by the Paladins, who trailed 35-15 at intermission. The closest Furman got in the second half was 12 points at 42-30 following a steal and layup by Karim Souch with 12:28 left, but East Tennessee State throttled Furman quickly thereafter with a basket by Dimeco Childress and two free throws by Meeks to make it 46-30.
East Tennessee (10-7, 5-1 SoCon), winners of five straight, dominated the game in virtually every area, shooting 46.0 percent from the field (23-of-50) to Furman's 38.1 percent (16-of-42) and outrebounding Furman (7-8, 2-4 SoCon) 38-26. Meeks led the Buccaneers' boardwork with a game high 11 caroms. Furman got 13 points from Guilherme Da Luz and Karim Souchu.
"Once again we shot the ball poorly and got behind and were never able to recover," said Furman head coach Larry Davis. "We had some good looks at the basket early, but we didn't make the shots. I thought East Tennessee State played well, especially defensively. They really got after us and rebounded the ball very well. We're obviously struggling right now, so we'll have to look at the film, re-evaluate, and try to improve."
Furman returns to action on Monday night against Chattanooga in Chattanooga. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.