February 16, 2004
NDOYE, BOSTAIN POWER FURMAN PAST WESTERN CAROLINA, 72-63
CULLOWHEE, N.C. -- Maleye Ndoye scored a game high 19 points and Robby Bostain added 18 points to lead Furman to a 72-63 Southern Conference win over Western Carolina Monday night at the Ramsey Center.
Ndoye, a senior forward who torched Wofford with 25 points in the Paladins’ 77-73 win Saturday in Spartanburg, scored 13 of his 19 points in the first half, while Bostain, a redshirt freshman, tallied 13 of his 18 points in the second half to help Furman (14-10, 6-7 SoCon) to its second consecutive road victory and sixth road triumph of the season — the most by a Paladin squad since the 1991-92 season.
Western Carolina (12-12, 5-8 SoCon) got 14 points from Emre Atsure and 13 points from David Berghoefer. The Catamounts’ Kevin Martin, who entered the game as the nation’s leading scorer averaging 27.1 points per game, was limited to 12 points, four of which came in the final minute of play with Furman leading by double digits. A year ago the Paladins limited the Western Carolina standout to a season low eight points in a 71-67 Furman win in Greenville.
“I was really pleased at how we followed our defensive game plan and limited Kevin Martin to only 12 points,” said Furman head coach Larry Davis, whose team won for the third time in the last four games. “He (Martin) is a terrific player. To keep him in check and play solid all-around defense as a team like we did tonight was really a big key to winning the game.”
Ndoye knocked down 7-of-9 field goal attempts, including 4-of-6 three pointers, and claimed five rebounds in 25 minutes of action. Bostain, meanwhile, hit on 5-of-10 shots from the field and 7-of-9 free throws. Joining them in double figures were sophomore guard Tony Carter with 13 points and freshman forward Quan Prowell with 12 points. Carter’s performance also included six rebounds and five assists while Prowell claimed six boards and a pair of blocks.
Furman used three-pointers by Bostain and Ndoye to grab an early 13-3 lead before Western Carolina reeled off 10 straight points to knot the game at 13-13 following a bucket by Atsure with 9:19 to go.
The Paladins quickly regained control, using an 11-0 run highlighted by a pair of baskets by Prowell and a three-pointer by Ndoye at the 6:35 mark to forge a 24-13 advantage.
Western Carolina twice whittled the Furman margin into single digits, but the Paladins used a layup by Prowell with 41 seconds left to take a 31-21 lead into halftime.
Furman outscored the Catamounts 9-4 over the first three minutes of the second half to stretch its advantage to 40-25 following another Ndoye trey with 16:58 to go, but Western Carolina answered with a 7-0 run to cut Furman’s lead to 40-32 following a Corey Muirhead layup at the 14:32 juncture.
Furman responded with six straight points to build a 14-point margin on a Prowell layup with 12:53 to go. The Paladins’ lead eventually grew to as many as 18 points at 58-40 on a three-point play by Carter with 7:50 left before Western Carolina made one last run to close to within eight at 63-51 following a Berghoefer layup with 3:18 remaining.
A Carter three-pointer and layup over the next minute and a half quelled any Catamount comeback, however, and the Paladins closed out the contest by knocking down 6-of-8 free throws over the final 1:06.
Furman shot 46.3 percent for the game, converting 25-of-54 field goals, and connected on 14-of-19 free throw tries (73.7 percent). Western Carolina, after connecting on only 9-of-34 field goal tries in the first half for 26.5 percent, finished the contest at a 36.8 percent clip, hitting on 25-of-68 shots.
The teams worked to a 38-38 split on rebounds, with Furman’s Nick Sanders leading the Paladins with eight boards and Berghoefer claiming a game high nine caroms.
Furman suffered 14 turnovers in the contest, but only four over the game’s final 20 minutes.
The Paladins return home Saturday to face The Citadel in a 4:00 p.m. game that will include a halftime ceremony honoring Paladin All-American and 1954 NCAA Player-of-the-Year Frank Selvy, who on Feb. 13, 1954, scored an NCAA Division I record 100 points in a 149-95 win over Newberry in Greenville’s Textile Hall.