January 5, 2004
EAST TENNESSEE STATE, TIM SMITH EDGE FURMAN 69-68
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- East Tennessee State's Tim Smith scored a game-high 22 points, including a driving bank shot with 3.6 seconds remaining, to lift the Buccaneers to a 69-68 victory over Furman in front of 2,261 Monday evening at Timmons Arena.
Smith, a sophomore from Newport News, Va., connected on 10-of-15 field goal attempts and 2-of-4 three pointers. The 2003 Southern Conference Freshman of the Year also tallied four rebounds and three steals in the victory.
The Paladins, who led most of the second half opened up the biggest lead of the second 20 minutes at 59-53 on a Moussa Diagne dunk off of an inbounds pass from Tony Carter with 4:49 remaining. After a Buccaneer timeout, East Tennessee State got a Smith jumper and free throws from Jerald Fields and Zakee Wadood to trim the deficit to 59-57 with 3:07 left.
Furman's Maleye Ndoye and Smith exchanged three point buckets and Carter and Wadood traded layups making the score 64-62 with 1:55 to go. After Anthony James cut the margin to one with a trey at 1:27, each team failed to score on their next possession and ETSU fouled Nick Sanders with 00:37 left. Sanders sunk both free throw to up the Furman lead to 68-65.
With 25 seconds remaining Smith collected a Ben Rhoda miss and layed it in to trim the margin back to one. Furman escaped East Tennessee State's pressure, but Carter's bounce pass on the fast break went out of bounds giving the Buccaneers the last possession.
Smith penetrated down the left side of the lane and spun around a Furman defender before banking in the game-winner.
"It was great game tonight," said Furman head coach Larry Davis. "Both teams played hard and we had an opportunity to win the game. Thats all we can ask for."
Furman, 7-5 overall and 0-2 in Southern Conference play, hit 44.4% of its shots from the field in the first half to claim a 29-28 advantage at the intermission. ETSU, 9-4 overall and 2-0 in league play, had the hot hand after the break connecting on 15-of-29 (51.7%) shots and making four of its seven three point attempts. The Buccaneers shot 42.2% from the field and 42.9 % from the three point line for the game, while Furman made 43.1% of its shots and just 27.8% of its three pointers.
Wadood joined Smith in double figures with 20 points and eight rebounds, while Jerald Fields chipped in a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards for the Bucs.
Furman was led by Carter's 12 points. He was joined in double figures by Ndoye with 11 and Sanders with 10. Sanders, a junior from Leavenworth, Kansas, tallied a career-high tying 11 rebounds in the loss.
Furman returns to action on Saturday when it entertains visits the College of Charleston in a 6:00 p.m. contest at the Johnson Center in Charleston, S.C.