February 7, 2004
FURMAN SNAPS GEORGIA SOUTHERN'S
13-GAME WINNING STREAK
WITH 77-72 TRIUMPH IN STATESBORO
STATESBORO, Ga. -- Maleye Ndoye tallied a game high 26 points and Furman used a stifling zone defense to defeat Georgia Southern 77-72 in Southern Conference men's basketball action at Hanner Fieldhouse Saturday night.
Furman (12-9, 4-6), ranked second in the SoCon in scoring defense coming into the contest, held Georgia Southern (17-4, 8-2) to just 36.6 percent shooting in the game while recording 12 steals on 16 Georgia Southern turnovers to end the Eagles' 13-game winning streak, the nation's fifth-longest.
"We were a little sluggish out of the gate but didn't panic, made a nice run late in the first half, and then played some excellent ball in the second half to win the game," said Furman head coach Larry Davis, whose team earned its first win in Statesboro since the 1997 campaign. "When we fell behind by double digits in the first half, I looked at our team and there wasn't the slightest bit of fear in their eyes. They believed in themselves and kept working, and it came together for us in a very difficult place to play. I'm very happy for our guys."
GSU looked to be in control early in the game as it raced out to a 32-17 lead with 6:35 to go in the first half. The Eagles connected on 12-of-27 field goals during the run while holding Furman to just 5-of-18 from the floor during the span.
Georgia Southern steadily built their lead over the first 12 minute as it claimed a 24-17 advantage and then used an 8-0 run, fueled by six points from Chad Fleming, to grab its biggest lead of the evening.
Furman took over from there as it limited Georgia Southern to just three field goals the remainder of the half while slicing its deficit to four points. Moussa Diagne started the run with a jumper before Maleye Ndoye added a pair of jumpers to get the GSU advantage to singe digits. Quan Prowell, seeing his first action after missing four games with a knee injury, added a free throw and Ndoye a three-pointer before Marijan Pojatina hit one-of-two free throws as Furman scored 11 straight points.
Sean Olivier ended the Eagle slump with a lay-up, but Ndoye wrapped a lay-up and a three around an Elton Nesbitt three to cut the Paladin deficit to 37-33 at the intermission.
Georgia Southern pushed its lead back to seven, at 42-35 with 16:47 remaining in the game, before Furman used a 10-1 run to grab its first lead at 45-43. Tony Carter fueled the run with a pair of jumpers while Ndoye broke a 43-43 tie with a lay-up to give Furman the lead with 13:29 to go.
The two teams traded baskets for the next four minutes before Furman once again used a run to grab the lead for good. The Paladins outscored Georgia Southern 16-4 over the next seven minutes. Six different Paladins scored during the spurt, which ended with Furman leading 66-54 with 2:51 remaining in the game.
Georgia Southern attempted a comeback over the final three minutes, cutting its deficit to six on four occasions, only to have Furman connect on nine-of-10 free throws over the final 1:16 to seal the win.
Joining Ndoye in double figures were Carter, who tallied 12 points along with six rebounds, and four steals, and Robby Bostain with 11 points. Eric Webb added eight points, including a pair of key late three-pointers, and Nick Sanders contributed six rebounds and a career high six assists. The Paladins shot 49.0 percent from the floor on the evening, including 42.9 from beyond the three-point arc.
Frank Bennett led Georgia Southern with 22 points, including 13 in the final three minutes of play, and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Nesbitt added 16 points, but connected on just 5-of-19 field goal attempts. The Eagles posted a narrow 43-41 advantage in rebounding.
Furman returns home to Timmons Arena to host Davidson at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday evening.