November 26, 2001
FURMAN HOLDS OFF CAMPBELL 78-75
BUIES CREEK, N.C. - Anthony Thomas scored a career high 23 points and Furman held on to defeat Campbell University on Monday night in men's basketball action at Carter Gym.
The Paladins (2-1) wrapped a 17-2 run around halftime to take their largest lead of 16 points and 50-34 with 15:36 to play before holding off a late charge from Campbell (2-2).
Thomas, who scored 17 of his points in the second half, canned 7-of-11 shots, including 4-of-7 from three-point range, and added 5-of-6 free throws. Guilherme Da Luz added 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting, plus five assists.
Adam Fellers topped Campbell with 21 points, including four threes. Jonte' Edwards scored 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting before fouling out with 4:28 remaining. Senior forward Bobby Jones hit career highs with 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Furman scored eight of the game's first 10 points before the Camels rallied. Campbell led 28-23 with 4:19 to play in the opening half, but suffered through a 3:45 drought without a field goal and Furman claimed a 35-32 edge at the break when Marijan Pojatina followed his own miss at the buzzer.
Campbell went the first 25:26 of the game without a 3-point field goal before Fellers connected from the left wing, but the Paladins still led by 50-37 with 14:34 remaining. The Camels clawed within 64-59 with 3:45 left on Jones' 12-foot jumper.
Furman built the lead back to 11 on Nick Sanders' lay-up with 1:05 remaining before Tarick Johnson drove the baseline for a dunk, then Brooks Lee stole the ball and made a leaning 3-pointer with 35 seconds left to cut the gap to 72-66.
Triples by Solomon Yearby and Emory Walton brought the Camels within 77-75 with three seconds left. CU still had a chance to tie the game after Da Luz hit the second of two foul shots (Furman made just 4-of-8 from the stripe in the final 0:33) with two seconds to play. However, Johnson's long inbound pass was stolen by Kenny Zeigler to end the game.
Furman shot 53.8 percent (14-26) from the field in the decisive second half and finished the game by making 29-of-64 attempts (.453). Campbell shot 42.9 percent (27-63) on the night and made 7-of-12 treys in the final stanza after going 0-for-7 from long range in the opening half.
Campbell travels to Belmont for its Atlantic Sun Conference opener on Thursday (7:15 cst), while Furman hosts Methodist College on Wednesday. The Camels and Paladins will meet again on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. at Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C.