Feb. 16, 2004

Final Stats

Cullowhee, N.C. - Furman got 19 points from Maleye Ndoye and 18 from Robby Bostain as the Paladins handed Western Carolina a 72-63 setback Monday night at the Ramsey Activity Center. Furman improves to 14-10 overall and 6-7 in the Southern Conference, while the Catamounts fall to 12-12, 5-8.

After a Ndoye steal, Bostain drained a 3-pointer to open the scoring and Furman never relinquished the lead the remainder of the game. The Paladins would go on to open a 13-3 advantage with 12:55 left in the first half. However, thanks to six straight points by Kevin Martin, Western Carolina came back to tie the game at 13-13 with 9:19 left before the break. Furman answered with an 11-0 run, thanks to five straight points by Quan Prowell and 3-pointers by Eric Webb and Ndoye, and never looked back.

Western only had four turnovers and forced 10 by the Paladins in the first half. However, Furman shot 44 percent from the field, making 5-of-13 3-pointers, while Western shot just 26.5 percent, making just 1-of-10 3-pointers.

Furman raced out to a 15-point lead to start the second half only to have Western trim its deficit to eight (40-32) with 14:46 remaining. The Paladins went on another run over the next seven minutes, pushing their advantage to 18 (58-40) with 7:50 left. The Catamounts battled their way back to make it an eight-point game (61-53) with 3:18 left, but could get no closer.

Emre Atsur led the way for Western Carolina with 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting overall, including 4-of-9 from 3-point range. David Berghoefer just missed a double-double, scoring 13 points and pulling down nine rebounds. Martin, the nation's leading scorer with a 26.4 season average, added 12 points. Entering the game second nationally in free throw attempts and free throws made, the junior did not have a free throw attempt in the contest. It marked just the third time in his career he has not attempted a free throw in a game. Corey Muirhead contributed 10 points and seven rebounds.

For the Paladins, Ndoye was 7-of-9 from the field overall and 4-of-6 from 3-point range in scoring his game-high 19 points. He added five rebounds and two assists. Bostain did most of his damage at the free throw line, making 7-of-9. Tony Carter added 15 points and five assists, while Prowell had 12 points and six rebounds off the bench.

Western Carolina will return to action Saturday (Feb. 21) at Elon. Tip-off is set for 7 pm.