March 4, 2004
EAST TENNESSEE STATE OUTLASTS
FURMAN, 94-84;
WEBB TALLIES GAME HIGH 28
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (March 4, 2004) – North Division top seed East Tennessee State survived a quarterfinal scare at the 2004 Southern Conference Basketball Championship today but held off Furman, 94-84.
Senior post player Jerald Fields had been quiet for the most part, but in the final four minutes stepped to the forefront and carried the Bucs. Fields scored nine of his 15 points in the end stretch to help ETSU hold on to a hard-fought lead after trailing by as many as nine points in the second half.
“Over the final 10 minutes we stepped up on defense,” said ETSU coach Murry Bartow. “We really feed off our defense. In one stretch, (Furman) was scoring at will, but our guys remained calm.”
Until Fields took over, Tim Smith was the man for the ETSU, carrying the Bucs at times. Smith finished with 24 points, eight rebounds, five assists and four steals. James Anthony added 18 points, including a stick back on a missed free throw to seal the game late.
Not to be outdone, Southern Conference Player of the Year Zakee Wadood turned in a 14 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, three steal performance. He also blocked two shots, making him East Tennessee State’s all-time leader in that category.
ETSU needed all the help they could get to negate the performance of Furman’s Eric Webb. The Paladin freshman hit 8-of-17 shots, including 6-of-11 3-pointers, sank all six free throw tries, and finished with a season high 28 points, topping the 20 he scored in a 70-68 loss at Ohio State in December.
“That was a heck of a basketball game,” said Furman coach Larry Davis. “If that had been on TV, it would have shown how great the Southern Conference is. We laid everything on the line and played hard. The key of the game was our turnovers. We had 20. You can’t turn the ball over against a team like ETSU and expect to win.”
All-Southern Conference forward Maleye Ndoye added 22 points for the Paladins (No. 4 seed, South) and Nick Sanders had eight points and 12 rebounds.
Hot shooting from the perimeter for Furman gave the Paladins a 49-47 halftime lead in a game a fast-paced game.
Webb carried the unconscious hand for Furman, sinking 6-of-9 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes and had 20 points before the break. In one stretch, Webb scored 11 points as part of a 17-4 run that saw the Paladins erase a 10-point deficit and take a five-point lead.
ETSU had a good half of its own with Tim Smith and James Anthony doing most of the damage. The duo combined for 23 points to help keep the Bucs within striking distance.
ETSU (25-5) advances to Friday’s 6 p.m. semifinal contest where it will meet the winner of the Davidson versus Elon contest. With the loss, Furman (17-12) concludes its season.