Second Half Decisive in Eagles? Loss at Furman
2/12/2009 5:07:00 AM | Men's Basketball
GREENVILLE, S.C. ? A decisive run by Furman in the second half proved to be too much to overcome for Georgia Southern as the Eagles dropped a 70-60 Southern Conference decision Thursday night (Feb. 12). The Eagles dropped their sixth straight, now 7-16 overall and 5-10 in the league.
Georgia Southern battled throughout the game despite being down to eight players in uniform. Anthony Marshall (Lake Worth, FL/Lake Worth) is still recovering from his injury last Saturday, but could be ready for the Wofford game Saturday. Junior guard Blake Thompson (Cartersville/Woodland) suffered an injury this week during practice and did not make the trip.
Tied at 32-32 at halftime, Georgia Southern scored 10 points by the first media timeout of the second half, leading 42-37, but Furman went on a 7-0 run to regain the lead. With the game tied, the two teams traded 3-pointers midway through. Antonio Hanson (Fort Worth, TX/Independence CC) nailed a ?3', followed by Tyler Troupe (Gallatin, TN/Iowa Western CC).
Furman responded with Connor Nolte then Justin Dehm hitting consecutive ?3s'. When the Eagles missed on a long range shot, Dehm made his second straight trey and Furman never trailed again. Georgia Southern cut the deficit to three on Troupe's follow-up dunk on a miss with 4:29 remaining but could not get any closer.
The game was a stark contrast to the first game when the Paladins (6-18, 4-11) missed all six attempts from long range and committed 32 fouls.
“I thought we gave a good effort, and we had a good game plan but we gave up too many second shots. We looked fatigued in the end but that's to be expected with only eight players,” said head coach Jeff Price.
Sandy Perry (Perth Amboy, N.J./Barton County CC) and Hanson gave the Eagles an early 4-0 lead, keeping Furman scoreless for the first 3:20. Later in the half Furman staged an 8-0 run, erasing the Eagles' 14-12 lead. Ben Drayton III (St. Marys/Camden County) scored six of the team's first 14 points before a four minute scoring drought gave the Paladins the lead.
Colby Wohlleb (Boca Raton, FL/Boca Raton) completed a three-point play, hit a field goal then drained a 3-pointer in a five minute span to pull the game even at 26-all. Hanson scored four straight then Troupe drove to the basket with 25 seconds left in the half to tie it at 32.
In the first half, Troupe, Drayton and Wohlleb scored eight points each as the Eagles shot 56.5 percent from the field (13-23) and out-rebounded Furman 18-14. In fact, Wohlleb surpassed his season-high in the first 20 minutes (six points on two occasions).
“We fought throughout the game and we were right in it, but we didn't finish,” said Price. “I thought our defense was good, but part of defense is rebounding and we gave up too many second chance points tonight. We'll regroup and get ready for Saturday night.”
GS held a 36-35 edge on the glass but Furman grabbed 16 offensive rebounds that it turned into 19 points.
The Eagles shot 46.3 percent from the field overall compared to Furman's 39.1, and went 5-of-7 from the free throw line but all in the first half. The Paladins hit nine 3-pointers, went 11-of-16 from the line and turned the ball over eight times.
Wohlleb doubled his previous season-high scoring 13 points. Troupe also scored 13 points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds. Perry scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half and blocked three shots.
Drayton and Hanson scored 11 points each. Freshman guard Jeb Brannen (Register/Pinewood Christian) had played only 15 minutes all season long (seven the previous game against UNC Greensboro) with two rebounds. Brannen grabbed three rebounds and dished out three assists with no turnovers in 15 minutes.
Nolte scored a game-high 17 points, in addition to his seven rebounds, off the bench for the Paladins. Dehm added 16 points, five rebounds and six assists. Barnes and Jordan Miller contributed 10 points and five rebounds each.
The Eagles travel to Wofford on Saturday night (Feb. 14). Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. and will be televised live on SportSouth.
