December 17, 2003
OHIO STATE SLIPS PAST FURMAN, 70-68
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Tony Stockman scored Ohio State's last six points and the Buckeyes trailed for most of the game before beating Furman 70-68 Wednesday night.
Stockman, who scored 21 points, broke a tie at 66 on a 3-pointer with 46 seconds left.
After Moussa Diagne hit a layup with 9 seconds left, Stockman made the front end of a double-bonus with 7.7 seconds left to give Ohio State (5-3) a 70-68 lead. The rebound of Stockman's second free throw bounced out to the perimeter and a long pass ended up in the hands of Maleye Ndoye, but his driving layup with 2 seconds left bounced around the rim and fell off. The Buckeyes' J.J. Sullinger grabbed the rebound as time expired.
The Paladins (4-4) hit 12 3-pointers - just one off the school record - in 22 attempts.
Freshman Eric Webb came off the bench to make 6 of 8 3-pointers for a career-best 20 points. Ndoye added 11 points and Tony Carter had 10 for Furman, which capped a five-game road trip.
Brandon Fuss-Cheatham scored 13 points and Terence Dials and Sullinger each added 12 for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State, down for most of the first 26 minutes, surged midway through the second half behind Dials' eight consecutive points. The first two baskets came on goal-tending calls against Furman's Cedrick Price.
Two free throws by Carter at the 3:18 mark put the Paladins ahead 64-62, but Dials grabbed an air ball by Fuss-Cheatham and put it in to tie it with 2:45 left.
Stockman then looped in a high running jumper from the left baseline before Nick Sanders banked in a shot at the 1:13 mark to tie it again and set up the hectic final minute.
The Paladins led 36-32 at the half while hitting 9 of 13 3-pointers. Ohio State missed all seven of its shots behind the arc. Ohio State came into the game last in the Big Ten in defense against the 3-pointer, with opponents shooting 42 percent. No other team in the league was allowing teams to shoot better than 36 percent behind the line.
Furman came in shooting 28 percent behind the arc for the season.
The Paladins' tallest player, Marijan Pojatina, did not play because he had the flu.