Furman 68, Berry College 64
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Furman erased a 15-point halftime deficit to snap an eight-game losing streak with a 68-64 victory over NAIA member Berry College in men’s basketball action on Monday evening at Carolina First Court at Timmons Arena.
Trailing the Vikings 46-31 with under 14:30 remaining in the game, Justin Dehm keyed a 27-6 Paladin rally over the next eight minutes with eight of his 10 second half points to give Furman a 58-52 lead. Berry trimmed the lead back to two at 61-59 on a pair of Will Blackwell free throws with 1:02 left, but Furman converted 4-of-5 free throws in the final minute to secure its first victory since topping Emory University 67-51 on November 14.
The Paladins (2-8) turned up the defensive pressure in the final 15 minutes forcing 14 Viking turnovers and scoring 20 points of Berry miscues. The Paladins also buried 30-of-41 free throw attempts, including 18-of-24 in the second half.
Furman opened the game with a 2-0 lead after Berry was issued a technical foul for dunking during warm-ups and Dehm stepped to the line to sink two free throws. The two teams traded the lead several times over the opening five minutes before Berry reeled off seven straight points to grab a 16-10 advantage at 13:23.
The Vikings extended the first half lead to 12 points behind guard Daniel Ferguson’s 12 first period points before carrying a 35-26 lead into the lockerroom. Berry tallied the first five points of the second half to take a 40-26 advantage and held a double digit edge until Furman’s spurt midway through the half.
Jordan Miller paced Furman for the fifth straight game with 16 points. Dehm and Noah States each added 14 points while Alex Opacic chipped in with 10 points. The Paladins shot just 34 percent from the field, but committed only 11 turnovers and tallied eight steals.
Chris Clark scored a team-high 16 points for Berry. Ferguson poured in 14 and Jonathan Crawford added 11 points and nine rebounds. The Vikings shot 50 percent (22-44) from the field, including 7-of-16 beyond the arc, and held a 34-30 edge on the boards.
The Paladins return to Southern Conference action on Saturday when they host Western Carolina in a 4 p.m. tilt at Timmons Arena.
Chattanooga 102, Tennessee-Wesleyan 70
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -- Stephen McDowell scored 22 points and Chattanooga defeated Tennessee Wesleyan 102-70 on Monday night.
McDowell connected on 8 of 11 from the field in 19 minutes of play, as five other Chattanooga (5-6) players scored in double figures. Ty Patterson scored 13, Chris Early and Kevin Goffney each had 11 and Ricky Taylor and Nicchaeus Doaks tallied 10 apiece.
Early had 10 rebounds as the Mocs outrebounded Tennessee Wesleyan (3-8) 55-29.
Chattanooga scored 30 points off of 20 Bulldogs' turnovers.
Jessie Booher and Willie Maclin scored 15 points each for the Bulldogs, who were outscored off the bench 55-30.
Davidson 79, College of Charleston 75
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Davidson guard Stephen Curry scored 29 points leading Davidson to a hard-fought, 79-75, win over the College of Charleston in Southern Conference action before an overflow crowd of 5,368 at the Carolina First Arena on Monday.
With the win, Davidson improved to 9-2 overall, 2-0 in the Southern Conference, while the Cougars fell to 10-2 and 2-1.
Davidson went into the break with a 44-33 lead after being paced by an even 50 percent shooting performance from the field hitting 17-of-34 attempts. The Cougars got 11 points and seven boards from Jermaine Johnson in the first stanza.
In the second half, the Cougars made several furious runs at the Davidson lead, tying the game up on three separate occasions throughout the half. The Cougars used a 10-2 run to cut the margin to 77-75 on a jumper by Andrew Goudelock with 51 seconds left. Curry hit two-of-four free throw attempts down the stretch, including the game-clincher with five seconds left.
Goudelock led all Charleston scorers with 22 points, while Johnson added 16 points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
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