February 10, 2004
WINTERS, DAVIDSON UNLEASH THREE-POINT
BARRAGE
IN 83-73 TRIUMPH OVER FURMAN
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Brendan Winters scored a season high 27 points and paced a blistering three-point shooting attack to lead Davidson to an 83-73 Southern Conference win over Furman Tuesday night at Timmons Arena.
Winters, a sophomore guard from Oakland, Calif., connected on 9-of-17 field goal attempts, including 4-of-8 three-pointers, and 5-of-6 free throws to pace Davidson (12-11, 7-5 SoCon) to a season best 15-for-29 three-point shooting performance and its fourth straight victory.
Logan Kosmaski added 16 points and matched a season high with 13 rebounds, Matt McKillop scored 14 points, and Ian Johnson chipped in 10 points to highlight the Wildcats’ 13th consecutive win over Furman (12-11, 7-5), which got 21 points from Maleye Ndoye.
Davidson’s 15 three-pointers broke its own Timmons Arena opponent record of 13 treys set two years ago in 73-70 victory over Furman. The Paladins countered with a school record 14-of-30 three-pointers in the contest but couldn’t overcome a poor first half offensive effort in suffering its third home league loss of the season.
“We really had a terrific first half,” said Davidson head coach Bob McKillop. “Obviously the shooting was the highlight, but we played great defense as well.”
Shooting 36.2 percent from three-point range entering the game, the Wildcats’ 57.7 percent effort versus Furman marked a season best and came against a Paladin squad that had ranked fourth in the Southern Conference in three-point shooting defense (30.7 percent).
Davidson knocked down 8-of-13 shots (61.5 percent) from beyond the arc in the game’s first 20 minutes to take control of the contest.
The Wildcats’ three-point barrage began with a McKillop trey at the 16:07 mark that gave Davidson a 7-3 advantage. Back-to-back treys by Winters and Kosmalski over the next two minutes stretched the advantage to 15-3, and Davidson’s lead grew to as many as 22 points in the game’s opening frame when Johnson connected on a jump shot at the 3:20 juncture to make it 42-20.
Furman, meanwhile, struggled to only a 29.0 percent shooting performance (9x31) in the first half and trailed 44-26 at intermission.
The Paladins heated up from long range in the second half, finding the mark on 10-of-17 three-point attempts, but the Wildcats blunted any comeback with continued solid work from beyond the arc, converting 7-of-13 treys.
After a Kosmalski layup stretched the margin to 48-26 three minutes into the second period, Furman fashioned a 20-8 run, highlighted by four consecutive three-pointers from Ndoye, Moussa Diagne, and Eric Webb, to slice the Wildcat lead to 56-46 with 11:33 to go.
Davidson used a three-pointer by Grace on the ensuing possession and a Winters trey at the 8:28 juncture to push its lead back to 13 points at 62-49 before Ndoye drilled a three-pointer and a jump shot to get Furman to within eight points at 62-54 with 7:15 left.
The Wildcats, however, regained the double-digit advantage with a Winters layup nine seconds later, and added back-to-back three-pointers from McKillop and jump shot from Winters with 4:31 remaining to complete a 10-3 run for a 72-57 lead.
The Paladins final rally featured four consecutive treys, including Diagne’s third of the contest with 1:02 left, to make it 77-69, but Davidson closed by converting 6-of-8 free throws in the final minute.
Nick Booker registered a game high eight assists while Furman’s Tony Carter notched five dishes. The teams worked to a 38-38 split in rebounds.
Furman returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Wofford for a 7:00 p.m. game. Davidson will entertain Georgia Southern Saturday in Davidson beginning at 1:00 p.m.