Feb. 28, 2002

Box Score

CHARLESTON, S.C. - Furman's Anthony Thomas made five key throws in a key second-half run to lead the Paladins to a 65-61 victory over Western Carolina Thursday evening in the first round of the 2002 Mountain Dew Southern Conference Championships at North Charleston Coliseum.

The victory improved the Paladins to 15-13 and ensured their first winning season since 1991-92 while Western Carolina's season ended at 12-16.

Thomas led the Paladins with 16 points, including 11 in the second half. Guilherme Da Luz posted 12 points and six rebounds and Karim Souchu added 11 points and six boards off the bench for the Paladins.

Furman trailed 31-27 at the half and overcame a seven-point deficit in the second half, grabbing a 39-36 lead on a Da Luz three-pointer with 13:38 remaining. The Paladins led the rest of the way, although Western cut Furman's lead to one at the 3:25 mark.

Two Cory Largent free throws pulled the Catamounts to within 51-50 at the 3:25 mark, but Furman responded with seven straight points - five from Thomas - to push its lead back to eight and connected seven more times from the charity stripe in the final 1:43 to seal the victory.

WCU freshman Kevin Martin, the No. 10 scorer in the nation at 22.3 ppg., paced the Catamounts with 18 points. Willie Freeman chipped in 10 points and seven rebounds, while Kelvin Wylie tallied 10 points and seven boards.

With six assists, Western Carolina senior point guard Casey Rogers finished his career as the Southern Conference's third-leading assist man in league history with 647.