February 2, 2004
ELON STOPS FURMAN, 67-60
ELON, N.C. -- Scottie Rice scored a game high 20 points and Scott Nowlin delivered four key free throws in the final minute of play to give Elon a 67-60 win over Furman in Southern Conference basketball action Monday night at Alumni Gym.
Rice, a 6-oot-4 guard from Hagerstown, Md., connected on 8-of-10 field goal attempts and all four three-point tries to lead Elon (8-13, 4-5 SoCon) to its third straight victory.
Furman (11-9, 3-6 SoCon) was paced by Robby Bostain's 13 points. Maleye Ndoye added 12 for the Paladins in the first ever basketball meeting between the two schools.
Elon shot a solid .543 percent from the field, hitting on 25-of-46 attempts and .800 percent from the free throw line, making good on 12-of-15 tries. The Phoenix also claimed a 32-25 rebounding advantage. Furman, meanwhile, shot only .431 from the field (22x51) and a paltry .588 from the line (10x17).
Furman trailed 38-33 at intermission after Rice took a pass from Steven Harvin and drained a three-pointer from the deep corner as time expired.
A jump shot by Jackson Atoyebi and a pair of baskets by Rice accounted for a 6-1 spurt to start the second half and give Elon a 44-34 lead, but the Paladins got a layup from Moussa Diagne and three-pointer from Ndoye to cut it to 44-39 wtih 15:12 to go.
After the Phoenix again pushed the lead back to 10 points at 51-41 on a jumper by Harvin at the 10:48 juncture, Furman rallied with a 13-4 run spiced by Ndoye's three baskets and a three-pointer by Eric Webb with 5:41 left to make it 55-54.
Montell Watson's two free throws with 3:24 to go gave Elon a 61-56 advantage, but Furman answered again with a three-pointer by Tony Carter off a Bostain assist at the 2:02 mark to narrow it to 61-59.
The Paladins had a chance to tie the game at 61-61 with 1:04 to go, but Bostain couldn't convert the second of two free throws, and Elon on the ensuing possession pushed the advantage back to three points at 63-60 after Eric Webb was whistled for a foul and Nowlin drained a pair of free throws with 35 seconds remaining.
Furman failed in its bid to tie the game when a Bostain perimeter pass was deflected and recovered by Harvin with 0:18 to go. Following a timeout, Nowlin was fouled on the inbounds pass and sent to the line, where he canned another pair of free throws for a 65-60 lead with 17 seconds left.
Carter's ensuing three-point attempt was blocked, and Cameron Kirby's layup in the final seconds closed out the contest.
Furman returns to action on Saturday when it travels to Georgia Southern for a 7:00 p.m. game.