Head Coach Mike Dement
Opening statement ... "That game was very similar to the last game we played against Georgia Southern in that we played well, got ahead, and then couldn't stop them. They banked in a three, hit a deep three, and our reaching fouls put them on the line and stopped the clock. We missed some free throws at the end. We had a lot of freshmen at the line late, but those guys came through, they hit some big free throws. Brandon Evans gave us a big lift off the bench and hit some big foul shots. Brian Cole and Darrius Sellers gave us great games as well. Cole hit two foul shots when they were making their big run, even though he's not a great foul shooter percentage-wise."

On his thoughts as Saaka drove to the basket instead of taking a three-point shot ..."I thought we did a good job of picking him up right away. Once he got inside the arc, we thought he was going to kick it out. We hadn't really done a good job of staying in front of Saaka or any of them, but they're a quick team. They did what they needed to do, get quick buckets and quick fouls.

On the 14-0 run early ... "We were playing well. It was like the last time we played them down at their place. We built a big first half lead and they made a run to close the half. We made a nice run out of halftime and most importantly, made another run around the 9-or-8 minute mark. We had talked about how we play well at times, but sometimes we make our runs too early and try to hold on. This game, we made more than one run and we took an 8-10 point lead at a time that made them have to press."

On the contributions from the bench ... "We've been in foul trouble for the past couple of games. Brian came in and hit a big three. He doesn't necessarily look like he should be taking them but he has made them throughout the course of this year. He made a nice play on the 2-on-1 at the end, chased down the long pass and made his free throw, and he had a couple of blocks as well. Brandon has not played as much, he's been under the weather. He missed a few practices. Now he's just starting to get back and I thought he was big taking it to the hole early and drawing a couple of fouls."

Furman Paladins

Head Coach Jeff Jackson
Opening statement ... "I thought both teams had a good feel for each other offensively and went hand-in-hand on the defensive end. I thought we did a nice job getting back into the game. I don't want to say we just missed some shots because I don't want to do anything to take away from a very good defensive effort from the Spartans, but I thought we just missed some shots, had some opportunities that didn't go for us and came up one play short."

On the rally at the end of the game ... "Well, that's something we are always going to do. We had a great chance and we're very fortunate to have the young men with the type of character that give us what we need to have in terms of the effort and intensity. As a young team, in terms of guys being in situations like that, we just need to continue to work to grow forward. It's a work in progress. This is Darryl's (Evans) first full year playing the point guard position so there are a lot of things that even though physically we've grown to the point we can contend with people there are still some experiences we need to garner so we can be the type of program that year in and year out can be at the top of the SoCon."

On the first and second half shooting difference... "We calmed down. I thought we were a little hyped at the beginning of the game I think with our desire to be successful. In the second half we calmed down and got into a little bit of a rhythm and that's why we were able to shoot a much better percentage."

Senior guard Darryl Evans
On the outlook for next season... "Right now it hurts a little bit, well a lot, but next season looks promising for us. We get everyone back and we have a lot of new guys coming in and I'm excited about it."