SoCon Men’s Basketball Recaps for February 11, 2008
FURMAN 69, UNC GREENSBORO 59
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- George Brozos and Alex Opacic each notched double-doubles and Furman held UNC Greensboro to 30.2 percent shooting from the field as the Paladins downed the Spartans 69-59 in Southern Conference action Sunday afternoon at Timmons Arena.
Opacic scored a game-high 19 points and grabbed a career-best 13 rebounds to record his second double-double of the season. Brozos notched his first career double-double with 18 points and a career-best 10 boards. UNC Greensboro’s Kyle Hines tallied 15 points to surpass 2,000 points for his career.
Furman improves to 5-19 overall and 4-11 in the Southern Conference. UNC Greensboro drops to 13-9 overall and 7-6 in league play.
The Paladins, up 32-30 at the break, led by just one point with 10 minutes remaining when Connor Nolte buried back-to-back buckets to stretch the lead to five. The teams traded a pair of free throws and a pair of baskets before Brozos sunk a three-pointer and Darryl Evans converted a turnover into two points to give Furman a 60-49 lead with 3:20 left.
The Paladins connected on 5-of-6 free throw attempts over the final three minutes and Opacic finished a couple of layups to help Furman hold off the Spartans.
Furman won the battle on the boards with a season-best 45 rebounds, including 11 offensive boards. The Paladins committed just 11 turnovers and held UNCG to the lowest field goal percentage (30.2%) by a Furman opponent this season. UNCG grabbed an early two-point lead, but Opacic’s three-pointer with 15:50 remaining gave Furman a lead it would not relinquish.
Justin Dehm joined Brozos and Opacic in double figures with 10 points while Nolte added nine points and a career-best nine rebounds. Furman shot 40.7% from the floor and outscored the Spartans in the paint 22-20.
Furman made just 5-of-20 free throws, but converted on 16-of-19 trips to the charity stripe.
Hines led UNCG with 15 points and eight rebounds. Kevin Oleksiak added 11 points and Ben Stywall grabbed a team-best 12 rebounds. The Spartans made just 19-of-63 field goal attempts, including 7-of-34 beyond the arc.
UNCG will host Davidson on Wednesday at 7 p.m. Furman travels to face the Wildcats next Saturday in a 3 p.m. contest. SportSouth will televise the Furman versus Davidson clash live on channel 61 in the upstate.