Men's Basketball Southern Conference

SoCon Men's Basketball Results from Friday, November 26

Furman 81, Alaska-Anchorage 71
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Furman's Paladin basketball team survived a white-hot Mark Drake and a 30-11 second half run by the University of Alaska, Anchorage, to defeat the Seawolves 81-71 in consolation action at the Great Alaska Shootout in Sullivan Arena Friday afternoon.

The Paladins used a blistering three-point attack to set the pace early against UAA. Furman's first three buckets were from beyond the arc and the Paladins ended the half shooting 81.8% (9-for-11) from three-point range. Quan Prowell and Eric Webb each scored three first-half treys while Moussa Diagne, Robby Bostain, and Nicholas Sanders all went one-for-one from three-point land. The Paladins were also seven-for-13 (.538) from two-point range and took a 46-28 lead into the halftime locker room.

The second half started out with a made field goal by Diagne, which stretched the Paladin lead to 20, but Furman's domination was short lived, as Seawolf senior Mark Drake ignited a UAA run that moved the host team to within one point, 59-58, with 6:05 left to play. Bostain made an old-fashioned three-point play on a foul by Adam Fitt-Chappell to give the Paladins a little breathing room, and senior Ben Earle connected on a three at the five minute mark to put Furman up by five, 65-60.

There was no quit in the Seawolves, however, and Drake again sank a three-pointer to cut the Paladin lead to two, but Tony Carter had a immediate answer with another Furman three, and then sank a pair of free throws to send Furman's advantage to seven. With 1:31 left to play Furman was up six and UAA began fouling. The Paladins made seven-of-10 free throws in the final minute to hold on for the 10-point win.

Drake, who had five points at the halftime break, ended up with 23 on the game, while Marcus Robinson added 15 to the Seawolf effort and James Hartman contributed 10.

Four Paladins ended up with double-digit showings, and were paced by Bostain's 17, 12 of which came in the second period. Diagne contributed 16 in the Paladin victory, while Prowell added 14, and Well scored 13.

"I thought the first half was the best basketball we have played this year and showed what we are capable of," said coach Larry Davis after the win. "We were more relaxed and had better ball movement in the first half, but when Drake got hot we started to rush a little and didn't take the best shots. Robby (Bostain) made some great plays down the stretch, and he and Tony Carter had a couple of key buckets."

With the win Furman improves to 2-2 on the year, and advances to the championship game of the Alaska Shootout's consolation draw. The Paladins will face the University of Utah Saturday at noon in Sullivan Arena.

Georgetown 69, The Citadel 34
Washington, D.C. - In their first win under Head Coach John Thompson III the Hoyas beat the Citadel 69-34 on Friday, November 26 at the MCI Center. Brandon Bowman led all scorers with 23 points and all rebounders with 13 boards.

It was not only Bowman's fifth collegiate double-double, but established his new career high in rebounding. Ashanti Cook added 14 points and was one of 4 Hoyas (Bowman, Cook, Jonathan Wallace and Jeff Green) with 3 assists. Green and Roy Hibbert combined for a dozen points and a dozen boards.

Georgetown (1-1) jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. An 8-0 run was followed by a 13-0 run. When the Citadel Bulldogs took stock after 5 minutes of game they found themselves at the wrong end of a 21-2 score. The Hoyas shot 48.3% for the half, building a 24 point edge with 8 minutes remaining. At intermission the score was 36-15 with GU holding a 23-14 rebounding edge and an 8-1 edge in assists while shooting 43.8% from beyond the arc.

In the second stanza the Hoyas continued to shoot well from the outside (5-12 from beyond the arc) while rebounding well on the inside (22 rebounds to the Citadel's 14.) The Bulldogs were unable to prevent the scoring bulge from growing as high as 40 points, (69-29 with 2:07 remaining). The final was 69-34.

The Citadel (2-1) got 14 points from junior guard Kevin Hammack, while freshman guard Travis Smith added five. The Bulldogs were led on the boards by freshman forward Warren McLendon who ripped down seven rebounds.

For the game the Hoyas shot 43.4 % from the field, 42.9% from beyond the arc and won the battle of the boards 45-28. GU had 17 assists, 9 steals and 6 blocks while the Citadel had 3 in each category.

Coach Pat Dennis squad will return home on Monday, November 29 to face Chowan at 7:15 in McAlister Field House. The contest against Chowan will start a four-game home stand for the Bulldogs which inlcludes games against the Chiefs, Voorhees, Atlanta Christian and Savannah State.

Richmond 80, Elon 66

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Junior center Kevin Steenberge continued his torrid start, scoring a game-high 21 points to lead Richmond past Elon 80-66 in the Spiders' home opener at the Robins Center on Friday night.

Steenberge, the reigning Atlantic 10 Player of the Week after scoring 30 against Seton Hall on Nov. 19, was 9-for-14 from the floor while gathering six rebounds. The Columbia, Md. native is averaging 25.5 points and 7.0 rebounds after two contests.

Sophomore point guard Daon Merritt also played his second consecutive solid game, chipping in 18 points and dishing a team-high five assists. The Jamaica, N.Y. native is averaging 18.5 points and 6.0 assists this winter.

Steenberge took it to Elon (1-4) from the beginning, scoring two early baskets as the Spiders built a 5-0 lead in the first minute. Elon, who was playing without leading scorer Jackson Atoyebi, used timely shooting to remain close but never led.

A free-throw line jumper by senior Patrick O'Malley with three seconds remaining in the first half gave Richmond (2-0) its largest lead of the first 20 minutes (35-26). O'Malley finished the game with 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting, 3-for-4 from behind the arc.

A 7-2 run to start the second half built the Spiders' lead to 14 (42-48) but the Phoenix closed within seven (46-39) on a Montell Watson triple at the 13:08 mark. Watson led Elon with 17 points off the bench.

A 13-6 run was capped by an O'Malley three-pointer at 8:31, giving Richmond a 17-point lead (62-45), equaling the largest margin of the game.

Junior Jermaine Bucknor reached double figures for the second consecutive contest, scoring 12 and adding five rebounds.

The Spiders next travel to Charlottesville to face Virginia at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The game will be televised by Comcast SportsNet in Richmond.