GREENSBORO, N.C.- Furman's Eric Ward held off a third-set rally by Diego Goya to clinch a 5-2 victory over the UNCG men's tennis team in a matchup of the top two teams in the Southern Conference April 8 in Greensboro.

UNCG and Furman entered the match with perfect conference records, but the Paladins now sit alone in first place in the conference at 8-0 (15-8 overall) with two SoCon matches left, while the Spartans fell to 8-1 and 13-4.

Furman led the match 3-1 and Ward led 5-2 in the third set when Goya won two straight games to come within 5-4. But Ward won the last game to finish off Goya and give the Paladins the clinching point.

UNCG's Tony Mule´ won at No. 1, 7-6, 6-4 over Lee Nickell, while Furman's James Cameron outlasted Nigel Mitten in the final singles match, 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4) at No. 2.

Furman won the doubles point after sweeping all three matches and won two of the first three singles matches, while Tanner Haddon recorded a 6-2, 6-2 win over Patrick Fillnow at No. 6 to make the score 3-1 in favor of the Paladins.

The Paladins move on to face conference foe East Tennessee State on Wednesday in Johnson City, Tennessee. The match is slated to begin at 2:00 p.m.

Furman 5, UNCG 2
April 8, 2001
Singles Results
1. Tony Mule´ (UNCG) def. Lee Nickell (Furman) 7-6, 6-4
2. James Cameron (Furman) def. Nigel Mitten (UNCG) 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (4)
3. John Chesworth (Furman) def. John Clark (UNCG) 7-5, 6-4
4. Chris Henderson (Furman) def. Marcio Torres (UNCG) 6-3, 6-4
5. Eric Ward (Furman) def. Diego Goya (UNCG) 6-3, 2-6, 6-4
6. Tanner Haddon (UNCG) def. Patrick Fillnow (Furman) 6-4, 6-2
Doubles Results
1. Cameron-Chesworth (Furman) def. Torres-Mule´ (UNCG) 8-3
2. Fillnow-Andrew Rogers (Furman) def. Bo McWhorter-Haddon (UNCG) 9-8
3. Charlie Lloyd-Henderson (Furman) def. Mitten-Goya (UNCG) 8-2