Charleston, S.C. -- Freshman Devin Sibley poured in a career-high 25 points and Furman outscored The Citadel 47-32 in the second half en route to a 74-62 victory over the Bulldogs in Southern Conference men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at McAlister Fieldhouse in Charleston, S.C.

The Paladins shot 51.9% from the floor, including 59.3% in the second half, and committed just six turnovers to improve to 5-12 overall and 3-4 in the SoCon.  The Citadel shot just 33.3% in the second half and was outscored 32-18 in the paint as it fell to 8-10 overall and 3-4 in league play.

"I thought this was our best team effort of the year, and a lot of guys really stepped up and played well," said second-year Paladin head coach Niko Medved, who improved to 3-0 versus The Citadel.  "We wanted to do two things today, play terrific team defense and take care of the ball  We did both of those things."

Furman trailed 30-27 at intermission, but quickly pulled even and grabbed the lead for good on Larry Wideman's trey with 15:52 remaining.  Leading 48-45 with under 9:30 left, the Paladins put together a 13-4 run to take control.  Sibley, who scored 20 of his game-high 25 points in the second half, opened the run with a three and added a three-point play following a dunk from Kris Acox.

The Citadel's Quinton Marshall answered with a layup before Sibley drained another three and Kendrec Ferrara finished in the paint following an offensive rebound to give the Paladins a 61-49 lead with under seven minutes to play.  The Bulldogs got no closer than nine points the rest of the way as Furman connected on 16-of-27 field goal attempts and 5-of-10 three-point tries in the second half.

"Devin's a kid who can really score and he's fearless," said Medved.  "He's really starting to look comfortable out there and confident.  It's fun to see guys find him because he really adds another dimension for us."

Sibley hit 7-of-11 shots, made 3-of-4 three-point attempts and converted on 8-of-10 trips to the foul line while adding four rebounds and a pair of blocked shots.  Ferrara scored 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting and Croone tallied 11 points, four boards and five assists.  Acox scored 10 points on 5-of-11 shootng to go with his career-high 13 rebounds.

The Paladins outscored The Citadel by 14 points in the paint and managed a 10-2 edge in points off turnovers.  Furman compiled a 34-25 rebounding edge, including 14 offensive rebounds.

Ashton Moore led the Bulldogs with 16 points, while Marshall contributed 14 points.  The Citadel shot 44% from the field.

Furman returns to action on Thursday when it concludes its three-game road swing with a 7 p.m. tip-off at Wofford.

Thursday's games can be heard 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.  The audio broadcast will also be available by logging onto TuneIn.com.  Links for the broadcast and live statistics will be available at FurmanPaladins.com.


Jordan Caskey, Furman Sports Information