The College of Charleston wins in double-over-time against Furman

The Cougars would keep the game close in the 2nd half as the patented Bobby Cremins' man-2-man defense began to close the Paladins' lead. Although Furman held a better percentage in field-goals shooting 43% to the Cougars 39%, the Cougars seemed to have more heart, especially in the paint. The "shake and bake" combo of Josh Jackson and Jermaine Johnson outscored the Paladins in the paint, 28 to 22 in the 2nd half. Furman kept themselves in the game with the 3-ball, but Charleston's Dontaye Draper, Tony White Jr. and recently off the injured-list, Renardo Dickerson answered with their own barrage of baskets from behind the arc. (Photo of Furman Paladin compliments of Furman Sports)

Josh Jackson had some trouble from the Charity Stripe as did his counter-part Jermaine Johnson, but as the final minutes of regular time passed, every Cougar to reach the line came up big. The Cougars would tie the game on six separate occasions and lead three times. Sidelined with 2 fouls in the 1st half, Dontaye Draper scored all of his 12-points and had 3-rebounds in the 2nd half. Alex Opacic and Moussa Diagne kept the Paladins in the game and forced over-time on the Cougars.

1st OT: The first OT was absolutely horrid as the Cougars put up paltry numbers. The College did stay alive with clutch baskets from Josh Jackson and Dontaye Draper. The first OT would end with a 68-68 tie game.

2nd OT: Tony White Jr. would open the 2nd OT with a basket as he drew the foul by Furman guard Eric Webb. (Webb would foul out of the game with 6-points after this infraction.) TW Jr would make the shot from the Charity-Stripe for his 10th point of the game, giving the Cougars a 3-point lead (71-68). Taking the ball down the court, George Brozos was fouled and made two-crucial baskets for the Paladins shortening the Cougs lead to 1. Moussa Diagne would rebound and bring the ball back for a jump-hook and the foul against Dontaye Draper-his 4th foul. The Paladins led 73-71. (The Cougars were unable to stop Diagne's jump-hook shot all night long.)

On the Cougars end, Josh Jackson scored with the foul, making both baskets, giving the Cougars a 2-point lead 75-73, with 2:27 left on the clock. Moussa would score once again with his jump-hook shot, tying the game at 75. Josh would pick up the foul again, making 1 of the 2 baskets. After a miss from the Paladins, Dontaye drove the lane and made a left-handed lay-up, putting the Cougs back up by 3, 78-75. Furman's Tony Anderson would miss a basket on the other end of the court, but pull the foul from David Lawrence-his 2nd, shortening the Cougars lead to 1 with 15.6 seconds left on the clock.

With the clock running out, Evans would foul Dontaye on the in-bounds. Draper would get a "shooter's bounce" from his first shot and then "nada but net" his second from the Charity-Stripe, giving the Cougars a 80-77 lead. Cremins called a time-out with 14.5 seconds left on the clock to talk things over. Furman would get three different looks at the basket, but as the clock ran out, Anderson couldn't get the basket to fall.

The Cougars made it out of G-Vegas with a win, 80-77. Great job by the players and the coaching staff tonight! Furman, thanks for playing!