Jan. 31, 2005

Final Stats

Greenville, S.C. - Despite a career-high from Catamount freshman Trey Hopkins and another solid performance from junior David Berghoefer, Western Carolina was not able to hold on, falling at Furman, 73-66, Monday night in Timmons Arena.

Furman's Eric Webb scored 18 points and Nick Sanders tallied a career high 16 points to lead the Paladins.

Webb converted 6-of-10 3-point attempts, including four in the second half, to help Furman (12-8, 5-3 SoCon) erase an eight-point deficit en route to the victory over Western Carolina (7-15, 2-7 SoCon). Ben Earle also drained a pair of treys midway through the second half as the Paladins made 3-pointers on six straight possessions.

Western Carolina got a game high 26 points and eight rebounds from Berghoefer, while Hopkins added his career high with 19 points. Kyle Greathouse chipped in 13 points.

Both teams shot 49.0 percent from the field, but the difference in the contest was registered from 3-point range, where Furman, ranked third nationally in 3-pointers made (10.17/game) and percentage (42.7 percent) entering the game, drained 11-of-24 attempts (45.8 percent), including 7-of-16 in the second half. The Paladins also made 14-of-21 free throws to Western Carolina's 10-of-15.

Sanders' career high 16 points topped his previous standard of 14 registered in an 81-75 loss at Davidson on Jan. 5. Robby Bostain rounded out Furman's double figure scorers with 10 points.

Furman jumped out to an 11-0 lead six minutes into the game before Western Carolina battled back to make it 30-28 following a Hopkins 3-pointer with 44 seconds left in the half. The Paladins, however, closed with a Webb 3-pointer with seven seconds remaining to take a 33-28 lead into intermission.

A 16-3 Western Carolina run to start the second half, highlighted by three Greathouse 3-pointers and a total of 11 points over the span. Western had a 9-0 run to start the half before a Bostain 3-point play by Furman. Then, the Cats' used a Berghoefer jump shot and a pair of buckets by Greathouse for a 7-0 run to take a 44-36 lead with 14:24 to go, WCU's largest advantage of the game.

Furman, however, responded over the next five minutes with a 3-point barrage from Webb and Ben Earle that accounted for six of the Paladins' next seven baskets and helped the purple and white take a 57-51 lead just over nine minutes remaining.

Western Carolina battled back to tie the game at 57-57 on a layup by Hopkins with 6:30 to go before Webb finished off the 3-point onslaught with a trey at the 5:25 juncture to put Furman ahead for good at 60-57.

The Paladins remained in front down the stretch by scoring their final points from the free throw line, sinking 9-of-12 from the line over the final 4:02.

Western Carolina will stay on the road to play at the College of Charleston this Thursday beginning at 7:00 p.m. The game will be telecast on C-SET. Please check your local listings for availability in your areas.