Fort Worth, Texas -- TCU shot 59.6% from the field, including 70% in the second half, to hold off Furman, 80-69, in non-conference basketball action on Monday evening at the Wilkerson-Greines Activities Center in Fort Worth, Texas.

With the win, the Horned Frogs improved to 9-0 on the season, while the Paladins slipped to 2-5.

TCU connected on 28-of-47 field goal attempts, including 14-of-20 in the final period, and hit 18-of-27 free throws in the second half to overcome a 51% shooting effort from the Paladins. Point guard Kyan Anderson scored 21 points to lead four Horned Frogs in double figures.  Amric Fields scored 14 points, while Kenrich Williams and Trey Zeigler contributed 11 and 10, respectively.  TCU controlled the paint, outscoring Furman 46-24 in the lane and posting a 17-3 edge in second chance points.

The Horned Frogs fashioned a 23-10 lead over the opening 11 minutes before Croone, who scored 15 points in the first 20 minutes, netted five straight points to a ignite a Furman comeback.  The Paladins outscored TCU 19-10 over the final 9:30 to trim the deficit to 33-29 at the half.

Kendrec Ferrara netted the first bucket of the second half to pull Furman within two points at 33-31 before TCU pushed the margin to double digits.  Three-pointers from Ferrara and Devin Sibley helped Furman climb back within six points at 56-50 midway through the second half, but Anderson scored five points in a 6-0 Horned Frogs run that brought the score to 62-50 on Chris Washburn's free throw with 8:07 to play.

Furman cut the lead back to just seven points on two occasions, but TCU converted at the foul line in the final minutes to keep its perfect record intact.

Croone finished with a game-high 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting and reached double figures for the 26th consecutive game.  He added four boards, three steals and three assists.  Sibley tallied a career-high 14 points and Ferrara also reached 14 points before both players fouled out down the stretch.  Beans rounded out Furman's double figure scorers with 10 points.

The Paladins 51% shooting was the highest by a TCU opponent this season and just the second Horned Frog foe to top 37%.  Furman also hit 8-of-20 three-point attempts and converted on 15-of-18 trips to the charity stripe.

The Paladins are back in action on Saturday when they travel to Boiling Springs, N.C., to take on the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs.  Tip-off at Paul Porter Arena is slated for 7 p.m.

Fans can listen to the game on the Furman IMG Sports Network on flagship station WGOG 96.3 FM and Fox Sports 1440 AM with play-by-play voice Dan Scott and color commentator Ron Smith delivering the action.  The audio broadcast will also be available by logging onto Tunein.com  Live video of the contest will be provided for free through the Big South Network.  Links for the broadcast and live statistics will be available at FurmanPaladins.com.


Jordan Caskey, Furman Sports Information