Paladins waste another big lead in loss at ETSU

Making his first start since Dec. 18, Cooper Bowser had 18 points and 8 rebounds
in Furman's 75-71 overtime loss at ETSU Wednesday. Photo courtesy of Furman

For the fifth time in the past six games, Furman held a double-digit lead midway through the second half at East Tennessee State Wednesday night. The Paladins fell to 2-3 in those games as the Buccaneers rallied for a 75-71 overtime win to remain alone in first place in the Southern Conference standings.

The Paladins (16-8, 7-4) entered Wednesday going for their fourth consecutive win, which would've pulled them into a tie with ETSU for first in the league. That appeared to be the destination when Furman took a 51-37 lead with 10:20 remaining. But the Bucs responded with a layup drill over the next four-and-a-half minutes to completely wipe out that deficit.

Furman actually blew this big lead quickly enough to have plenty of time to recover and retake the lead before ETSU's Jaylen Smith hit a three with 15 seconds left to force overtime. The Bucs (17-7, 9-2) made each of their first four shots in overtime to take a seven-point lead and held on for the victory. The Paladins suffered 21 turnovers in losing a game in which they shot 52.7 percent from the floor and led for 36:54 of.

"There's a lot of things you can look at and feel like, 'We should've been better here. We should've been better there.' At the end of the day, we've got to make sure their best shooter on the floor doesn't get a wide-open three when we're up three," Furman coach Bob Richey said of the game-tying three in regulation on the Furman Radio Network's postgame show. "That was a freshman breakdown there. They haven't been in this environment. They're not used to it.

"It was a hard fought game. We outrebounded them by seven and it's hard to outrebound a team like (ETSU), but we turned it over way too much. Even with that, I thought we still should've won the game. ... It's a thin margin, the difference between feeling just absolutely crushed and feeling elated. It's the difference of not losing their best shooter on their last possession of (regulation)."

The only time in the last six games that the Paladins didn't have a commanding lead midway through the second half was at UNC Greensboro. Ironically, Furman won that game by 23 points after leading 53-52 with 9:20 remaining. That gutsy win followed gut-punching losses to rivals Wofford and The Citadel in which the Paladins blew second-half leads of 13 and 19 points, respectively. Following the UNCG game, Furman had back-to-back five-point wins. In those two, the Paladins saw a 14-point lead with 11 minutes left cut to two against Samford and an 11-point lead with less than seven minutes left cut to three against Chattanooga. Furman led that game by as many as 24 in the first half and 19 early in the second half.

So when the Paladins took a 35-23 lead into halftime in Johnson City, it marked the second consecutive game in which Furman held the opposition to 23 in the first half but it certainly didn't want to let up in the second half. Coming out of the locker room, it didn't. A Charles Johnston three pushed the lead to 15 early on. It was a return to lob city also for the Paladins as Cooper Bowser made his first start since Dec. 18. His dunk with 11:23 left extended the lead to 11 and made him 8-for-8 from the floor. Unfortunately for Furman, it was his last bucket of the night as he was just 0-for-2 the rest of the way.

After Tom House's layup pushed the lead to 14 with 10:20 left, ETSU just annihilated Furman down low. Over a stretch of 4:05, the Bucs made five consecutive shots - all layups. The last of those was by Blake Barkley and tied the game at 53-53 with 6:01 remaining. The times ETSU didn't get a layup during that 16-2 run, it was fouled on drives to the basket and made 6-of-7 free throws during it.

"We fouled too much in the last 10 minutes and they ended up with 32 points in the paint after having eight in the first half," Richey said. "It was like the Chattanooga game. We played this phenomenal defense in the first half and then just can't sustain it. We've got to figure it out."

Johnston finally stopped the bleeding when he answered Barkley's layup with a three-pointer. The lead changed a couple of times down the stretch of regulation. After Alex Wilkins' layup gave Furman its final lead at 59-57 with three minutes left, he had a turnover and then missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Coming off a 33-point performance against Chattanooga, Wilkins - an 84 percent foul shooter - made 2-of-5 free throws Wednesday.

The next time down, Wilkins tossed a lob to Bowser who was fouled. Bowser, a 60 percent foul shooter, made his only two free throws of the game and Furman led 61-57 with 1:12 left. The Paladins forced a miss, but ETSU got the offensive rebound and Cam Morris drew Johnston's fourth foul. Morris hit just 1-of-2 free throws to cut the lead to three. On Furman's ensuing possession, Cole Bowser had the ball as the shot clock was in the final seconds. He drew a second defender and tried to hit his open brother down low with a bounce pass, but the Bucs deflected it and Barkley came up with the steal. Smith then drilled the game-tying three from the top of the key.

"We're up three and I thought we had the two-on-one right there and I thought we were going to throw it up to Coop right there," Richey said. "Unfortunately, we threw it down and turned it over." 

After Smith's three, Furman called timeout. With 15 seconds left, the Paladins had plenty of time left for a potential game-winning shot but haven't had the best end-of-half possessions of late. That trend continued when Wilkins suffered his 11th turnover of the game on what was to be another lob to Cooper Bowser. Seeing as how there was about 1.5 seconds left when he lost control of it, I'm not sure there would've been time for a catch and dunk.

"It was the same play we ran for Coop when he was fouled (late in regulation)," Richey said. "We had the two-on-one, I thought we were going to make the play and win it but unfortunately, the ball came out."

"We've got to learn to do the things that are critical to close out games. We've got three overtime losses and we've had second-half leads in all three - two of them double digits in the second half. We're just not closing games like we need to. ... Our youth is having to learn the hard way. It's a little painful because we're playing some really good ball for a decent amount of the games." 

ETSU's Brian Taylor opened overtime with a three, before Cole Bowser answered with a three. After Morris made a layup, Bowser missed a three and Smith drained another three. Morris then came up with a steal off a Johnston turnover and his layup pushed the Bucs lead to 71-64 with 2:48 left. After layups by Wilkins and Ben Vander Wal, Vander Wal made 1-of-2 free throws with 32 seconds left to cut the lead to 71-69 but Furman couldn't get any closer. Barkley and Smith each made a pair of free throws in the final 24 seconds to seal ETSU's victory.

In addition to the turnover issue was the lack of steals on the other end. Furman had just one steal while the Bucs had 13. That led to an 18-2 advantage in fast break points for ETSU, who also had an 19-3 edge in bench scoring. Three points from the bench in an overtime game in which Johnston and Vander Wal both fouled out of is a tough factor to overcome. While the teams were nearly even on fouls, calls on the Paladins were more costly as they went 6-of-10 from the foul line while the Bucs made 16-of-22.

Wilkins had a game-high 19 points for Furman, while Cooper Bowser finished with 18 points and eight rebounds. House had 11 points and a game-high four assists, while Johnston also scored 11 and had a game-high two blocks. Vander Wal had nine points and eight rebounds and a team-high plus-eight in the plus-minu column.

Now for a glass half-full perspective. Furman has faced every SoCon team, but has yet to play a conference game with all of its key players healthy. The Paladins have had at least a 13-point lead in eight of their last nine games. The only game they didn't in that stretch was a four-point win at Samford in which they led by as much as nine in the second half. In the first two conference games this season, Furman's biggest lead was by nine in a win over Mercer but only two in a three-point overtime loss to Western Carolina.

So this team has shown flashes of being able to play extremely well against all but one team in this league thus far. As injured guys return to the mix, you'd think those flashes should grow longer and large leads should become more sustainable.

One of those key injured guys is Asa Thomas, who's expected to return to action Sunday when Furman hosts UNCG at 1 p.m. Thomas, a Clemson transfer who's averaging 13.2 points per game and shooting 40.5 percent from three this season, hasn't played since Jan. 10. Sunday's game will be televised by ESPN2.

In brightest spotlight, Wilkins shines for Paladins

Furman's Cole Bowser (6), Ben Vander Wal and Alex Wilkins (10) celebrate. Wilkins
had 33 points in the Paladins' win over Chattanooga. Photo courtesy of Furman

It was deja vu all over again for the Furman basketball team Sunday against Chattanooga. For the second consecutive game, the Paladins saw a big lead nearly get completely erased, allowed far too many offensive rebounds and took a double-digit amount of fewer shots than the opposition. And for the second consecutive game, Eddrin Bronson closed out the scoring with a pair of free throws in the final seconds to seal a five-point Furman win.

On a day in which the Paladins' Cooper Bowser returned to action for the first time since suffering a turf toe injury on Dec. 18, Sunday was also the first chance to show off the new and improved Timmons Arena to an ESPN2 national audience. Unfortunately, said television coverage dictated that the "show must go on" despite the university being closed to the public because of snow and ice left behind in the wake of Saturday's winter storm. That meant only students, faculty and families of players and coaches who could arrive safely were in attendance.

Those fans likely already knew what a national audience found out Sunday - Alex Wilkins is special. The freshman sensation had a career-high 33 points, five assists and two steals to power the Paladins to a 75-70 win. Wilkins made 10-of-16 field goals, including 6-of-8 three-pointers, and 7-of-8 free throws. It was the most points by a Furman freshman since Jonathan Moore's freshman record 34-point effort against Georgia on Dec. 15, 1976.

"In a nationally televised game, we needed some energy. The decision to not let the public come to the game was out of my hands, so you've got to do the best you can with it. We tried to generate as much student awareness on social media as we could and create some kind of atmosphere," Bob Richey said on the Furman Radio Network's postgame show. "I thought the students did a great job. You could really feel them especially when we were making that run in the first half.

"Alex is a little under the weather today and he decided to tell me as the game started. He asked for three subs in the first 14 minutes of the game and I was like, 'what's going on? You can't miss (a shot) out there and you keep asking for subs.' He was like, 'Coach, I'm super congested,' but he's a warrior and a competitor. ... We're putting the ball in his hands and the game on his shoulders in those late, critical moments. To see him deliver, it's just amazing what he's been able to accomplish as a freshman."

While a pair of Furman turnovers in the first 23 seconds of the game helped Chattanooga take a 2-0 lead at the 19:12 mark, the Paladins (16-7, 7-3 Southern Conference) dominated the rest of the half. The Mocs (9-14, 3-7) didn't score again until the 12:32 mark. By that time, Furman had raced out to a 16-2 lead. Bowser's first dunk in his return came off a terrific wrap-around pass by Ben Vander Wal and gave the Paladins their biggest lead at 38-14 with 4:07 left in the first half.

Chattanooga got the lead down to 42-23 at the half and keep whittling away after halftime. A Wilkins' three pushed Furman's lead to 49-30 with 17:33 left. The Mocs responded with a 13-0 run over the next four-and-a-half minutes before Wilkins drilled another three with 13 minutes remaining.

The lead was cut the four with 50 seconds left before Wilkins hit 5-of-6 free throws over Furman's next three possessions. After Chattanooga's Tate Darner made a three to slice the lead to 73-70 with 13 seconds left, Bronson drained a pair of free throws to close out the scoring.

"We needed every bit of that lead that we got. It's pretty obvious that we're struggling with leads right now ... but you've got to play well to get those leads," Richey said. "At the end of the day, this team is 16 wins in right now and right at the top of the league. It doesn't matter how you win the game. We're 7-3 in the league with four freshmen out there. Nobody else is doing that. When you have youth and inexperience, you're going to deal with ups and downs."

Brennan Watkins had 19 points and three steals to lead Chattanooga, while Teddy Washington had 16 points and three steals off the bench. Despite the Mocs having 13 offensive rebounds and Furman seven, Chattanooga had just a 15-11 advantage in second-chance points. Jordan Frison, who scored 25 points when the teams first met this season in Chattanooga, was held to nine points and three turnovers Sunday. That was thanks to the efforts of Furman freshman Cole Bowser.

"It's amazing what Cole is doing. A guy that wasn't even out there a month ago and now we're putting him on their best player," Richey said. "The storyline is Alex Wilkins going for 33 and Cole Bowser guarding their best player. He (Bowser) goes for plus-17, while Frison is at minus-22. ... We've got some of the best freshmen at our level in the whole country and they're growing up right in front of our eyes." 

Bronson finished with nine points off the bench, as did Cooper Bowser. After fouling out of the Samford game last Thursday, Vander Wal had seven points, seven rebounds, four assists, two blocks, two steals, one foul and no turnovers.

Bowser was unsurprisingly a little rusty as he went 3-of-5 from the floor to slightly dent his previous national-best 81.2 shooting percentage. Furman's lob game was a little off and the Paladins missed three dunks as a team, but fans were certainly excited to see that style of play back in the mix. Furman shot 50 percent from the floor, including 45 percent (9-of-20) on three-pointers, and 76.2 percent (16-of-21) from the foul line.

Sunday's performance by Wilkins came on the heels of a 20-point showing - in which he made 7-of-9 field goals - in Furman's 78-73 win over Samford last Thursday. Those two outings helped Wilkins earn Furman's first Southern Conference Player of the Week honor this season. Wilkins is averaging 18.7 points and 5.1 assists per game this season. He and Arkansas' Darius Acuff Jr. are the only Division I players to rank among the top 10 freshmen in the nation in points and assists per game.

Furman returns to action Wednesday night when it plays at East Tennessee State at 7 p.m. The Paladins enter Wednesday in a three-way tie for second place in the SoCon. Furman would move into a tie for first place with a victory.

"We're struggling on the glass. We're not able to practice as long. It's literally impossible because we're having to make sure that we're fresh for games. ... We've got to stay healthy and not have any more injuries," Richey said. "We're going to have to figure that out because going up to Johnson City, that's something they're historically good at.

House, Wilkins help Furman sweep Samford

Alex Wilkins had 20 points in just under 21 minutes of action in
Furman's 78-73 win over Samford. Photo courtesy of Furman

For the third time in the past four games, Furman held a seemingly comfortable double-digit lead with about 10 minutes to play Thursday. After nearly completely blowing said big lead for the third time, the Paladins found a way to not. Tom House scored 21 points and Alex Wilkins had 20 - averaging a point per minute - as Furman held on for a 78-73 win to complete a season sweep of Samford.

A Furman program built on deflections and scoring transition points off those had zero points off turnovers Thursday as it forced only four and had no steals. Those turnovers were two shot clock violations - one on the Bulldogs' opening possession of the game and another on their second possession of the second half, a traveling violation and an offensive foul. Meanwhile, the Paladins committed 14 turnovers, had two starters foul out, allowed 16 offensive rebounds and attempted 18 fewer field goals than Samford.

The winning factors for Furman were offensive efficiency and defensive effort. The Paladins (15-7, 6-3 Southern Conference) shot 64 percent in the second half and 58.3 percent (28-of-48) for the game, while holding the Bulldogs to 40.9 percent (27-of-66). Furman also finally had a game in which foul shooting was in its favor as the Paladins made 15-of-20 free throws (75 percent) and Samford made 12-of-22 (54.5 percent).

"It was a heck of a win tonight for our group as we just continue to learn. Learning is a lot more fun when you're winning. ... It was a classic 'find a way Furman' group win tonight. It wasn't pretty and we didn't do a great job on the defensive backboard at all," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "But our group did an unbelievable job managing foul trouble with our leading scorer being out of the game for the last four minutes.

"For it to be a nationally televised game, you hate to see that kid (Wilkins) have to go sit out those last four minutes, but it was another huge opportunity for our team to have to go out there and finish the game in those circumstances. That's what I'm most proud of."

The game was tied with five minutes left in the first half when Wilkins headed to the bench with his third foul. Three-pointers by Eddrin Bronson and House, and a three-point play by Ben Vander Wal with 15 seconds left helped the Paladins take a 35-33 lead into halftime.

Nowhere were Furman's winning factors more evident than over the first 10 minutes of the second half. Wilkins let everybody know that was back on the floor to start the half as he scored seven points in a 63-second span. A minute-and-a-half later, Wilkins' three-point play pushed Furman's lead to 49-39.

At the 14:33 mark, Wilkins was driving for more but was whistled for an offensive foul. His fourth sent him to the bench, but the Paladins didn't miss a beat. Owen Ritger's layup capped what was a 22-8 run as Furman took a 57-43 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining.

In other words, the Bulldogs had the Paladins right where they wanted them. At a similar juncture of the game, Furman led rivals Wofford by 15 points and The Citadel by 19 points only to lose both games. So when Samford went on a quick 6-0 spurt, Richey called timeout to try to nip that in the bud and put House and Charles Johnston back on the floor. On the possession coming out of the timeout, Johnston found House for what was originally ruled a three-pointer but was video reviewed to a long two.

The Bulldogs didn't go away though as SoCon leading scorer Jadin Booth heated up. Booth, who had six points on 1-of-10 shooting over the first 30 minutes of Thursday's game, answered House's long shot with a three on the other end. It was still 59-52 Paladins when Wilkins checked back in at the 7:57 mark and seven seconds were on Furman's shot clock. Wilkins was dribbling at the top of the key when he suddenly realized there was one on the shot clock, but his long three splashed through like he had fully squared up to shoot it anyway.

Samford (10-12, 3-6) responded with a 12-4 run. Booth scored the final six points of that flurry to cut the lead to 66-64 with 2:58 left to play. During that run, Wilkins was called for a controversial foul on a drive to the basket. That third offensive foul on Wilkins gave him five, fouling him out of the game with 3:59 remaining. With its leading scorer on the bench, Furman answered the Bulldogs' run with three consecutive buckets. After Johnston's layup off an assist from Bronson, Bronson hit a jumper and then found House for a three-pointer.

"Booth's a tremendous player. He's as good a shooter as this league's seen in a long time. It felt like the momentum was slipping at that juncture (when Wilkins fouled out), but Ed Bronson did an unbelievable job late in the game," Richey said. "He had an unbelievable pivot to find House for the three that put us up nine. He had multiple defensive plays there where I thought he did an incredible job making them take tough twos."

House's three appeared to be a final nail in Samford's coffin as the Paladins led 73-64 with 50 seconds to play, but once again the Bulldogs didn't go away. Booth hit back-to-back threes sandwiched around a pair of free throws by Furman's Cole Bowser to slice the lead to 75-70. With 35 seconds left, Furman was called for a five-second violation as Bronson didn't call timeout in time. Vander Wal was then whistled for his fifth foul on a three-point attempt by Samford's Kam Martin two seconds later.

Fortunately for the Paladins, Martin - an 84 percent foul shooter - made just one of his three attempts to cut the lead to four. A foul fest ensued. After Collin O'Neal missed the front end of a 1-and-1, he was watching the ball on defense when he collided with Samford big man Dylan Faulkner and was called for a foul with 24 seconds left. Faulkner missed the front end of the 1-and-1, but Martin grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled by Johnston. Martin hit both free throws this time, cutting the lead to 75-73 with 22 seconds left.

Bronson made it a two-score game again when he hit a pair of free throws with 18 seconds left. The Paladins managed to make it through a defensive set without fouling as Samford's Keaton Norris missed a jumper. O'Neal made 1-of-2 free throw with eight seconds left to close out the scoring.

"Bronson's play on two feet on the left side clear out was incredible. Then he made two huge free throws to put us up four," Richey said. "I'm just proud of him. In totality, I think Ed's expectation was this season would be a little bit more fruitful that it's been to this point but he's had a great attitude through it. He's continued to battle through it. He was ready tonight to got out there in a critical moment, in winning time, and make some tremendous plays for us."

Wilkins got his 20 points in just under 21 minutes of playing time. He made 7-of-9 field goals, including 3-4 three-pointers, had three assists and a block. The freshman had five turnovers, but three of those came on offensive fouls. While Samford forced 14 turnovers and made six steals, Furman allowed just two fast break points.

After making 7-of-10 three-pointers in the Paladins' previous game at UNC Greensboro, House was hounded by Samford on the perimeter. For House to go 2-for-7 from three and still net 21 points is a sign of just how far his game has evolved. He also had four rebounds, two blocks, no fouls, no turnovers and a game-high plus-minus of plus-14.

"Obviously when you start hitting threes, everybody plays you a little big differently. You get a little bit more freedom to attack and take what the defense gives you," House said. "I think really we're just getting into a better offensive rhythm as a team."

Vander Wal was the lone other Paladin in double figures as he had 11 points - on 4-of-4 shooting, six rebounds, three assists and no turnovers. Johnston finished with eight points, 16 rebounds, three assists and a block, while Bronson had seven points and three assists off the bench.

Booth had a game-high 23 points and no turnovers, while Faulkner had 19 points, 12 rebounds - including eight offensive, four assists and no turnovers to lead Samford.

Despite Furman University and Timmons Arena currently being closed to the public due to Saturday's winter storm, the Paladins will still host Chattanooga at 1 p.m. Sunday on ESPN2. Driving on campus is not permissible due to the snow and ice, so game access will be limited to students and employees who are able to safely attend the game. Ticket holders will be issued a refund or credit that will be communicated by the ticket office.

Pleasing the national television overlords is my only guess as to how the game was not postponed.

Shorthanded Paladins answer the bell at UNCG

Tom House made 7-of-10 three-pointers in Furman's 89-66
win at UNC Greensboro. Photo courtesy of Furman

After a roller coaster of a road trip in which the Furman men's basketball team played twice in a 48-hour span, the Paladins have had nearly a full week to recuperate and prepare for Thursday's home game against Samford. The game is set for a 5 p.m. tip-off at Timmons Arena and will be televised by CBS Sports Network.

Furman will try to pick up where it left off in what Bob Richey described as one of the most memorable victories during his tenure last Friday afternoon at UNC Greensboro. The Paladins were coming off a second consecutive gut-punch of a loss in which they once again blew a large second half lead in an overtime loss at The Citadel last Wednesday. They were again down to seven healthy scholarship players available and also traveled straight from Charleston to Greensboro after what was originally scheduled to be a 5 p.m. Saturday tip was moved to 3 p.m. Friday to get ahead of last weekend's winter storm.

The Paladins (14-7, 5-3 Southern Conference) overcame all of that by shooting the lights out in the second half to cruise to a 23-point win. Here's a look back at both games from last week.

Furman 89, UNC Greensboro 66

Seeing a 19-point lead midway through the second half disappear in an overtime loss at its oldest rival was a sickening experience for the Paladins, figuratively and literally, last Wednesday. Somewhere along the trek from Citadel to UNCG, Furman's team caught a bug that affected staff and players.

Abijah Franklin's fever was so high that he stayed back at the team hotel. Eddrin Bronson woke up with the same illness and tried to give it a go in pregame warmups, but was too sick to play. That once again left the battered Paladins with just seven scholarship players available to try to bounce back from an awful loss less than two days earlier.

While it wasn't nearly as bad as the whistles in Charleston, there was also foul trouble for the Paladins. But by the time leading rebounder and second-leading scorer Charles Johnston fouled out with two minutes remaining, this game had long been decided. Alex Wilkins had 27 points, six assists, two steals and no turnovers, while Tom House poured in a season-high 25 points to lead Furman to its first ever win at UNCG's on-campus arena. The Paladins, who had not played there since 2007, were 0-7 in Bodford Arena entering Friday.

"We've had some great wins, but it's been a crazy 48 hours. Really, it's been a wild month since leaving Manhattan with the constant trickle of injuries and then having to deal with some heartbreak of not being able to finish the last two games," Richey said on the Furman Radio Network's postgame show. "Our team handled that heartbreak from the other night as well as they possibly could. You can't doubt this group's care, connection and how hard they play together. ... Our staff did a great job in terms of quickly getting to the next game.

"They'll remember this game for the rest of their lives. On the road, quick turnaround, five-hour bus trip, no practice, two walk-throughs, two guys sick. The hotel this morning was the wildest thing you've ever seen. I don't know if my my strength coach or trainer have slept. This is a culture win."

After blowing a 15-point lead with 10 minutes to play against Wofford on Jan. 17 and a 19-point lead with 10:34 remaining at Citadel, Furman had just a 50-49 lead with 10:03 left Friday. From that point on, the Paladins made 12 of its last 14 field goal attempts, including 6-of-7 three-pointers.

Over the previous three games, Furman was 6-of-40 from three after halftime, but it made 7-of-12 in the second half Wednesday. That helped the Paladins shoot 66.7 percent in the second half and 55.2 percent for the game. Furman connected on 14-of-27 (51.9 percent) three-pointers for the game, primarily thanks to House. After going 0-for-6 from beyond the arc at Citadel in his first game back from a concussion, House drained 7-of-10 treys on Friday.

Cole Bowser was a huge factor in helping Furman win the rebounding battle. He finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds for his first collegiate double-double. Ben Vander Wal had 10 points, eight assists and no turnovers, while Johnston had nine points, six rebounds, a block and a steal. As a team, Furman had 23 assists and only five turnovers.

"I couldn't be more proud of our leadership. When you look at the seven that played, everybody did something tonight," Richey said. "Tom House put on a show and Ben Vander Wal to be at plus-25 was huge. Alex really got cooking in the second half. He gets six assists and no turnovers. ... It goes back to the values of the program - when the ball moves, everything's better."

Justin Neely had 20 points and nine rebounds to lead the Spartans (8-13, 4-4).

The Citadel 77, Furman 75, OT

After playing with fire on its previous two trips to Charleston, Furman finally got burned Wednesday. This marked the third consecutive season in which the meeting at McAlister Field House went to overtime, but this was the first time that the Paladins lost.

Nobody was probably thinking about overtime at the half. Furman took a 40-28 lead into the locker room after shooting 59.3 percent from the floor while holding the Bulldogs to 37.9 percent. Overtime was still not a thought when the Paladins extended their lead to 19 on a dunk by Vander Wal with 12:36 left and to 19 again on a pair of free throws by Collin O'Neal with 10:50 left.

Then lunacy ran amok.

The 13-win team with the 19-point lead shot just four free throws (making three) the rest of regulation. Meanwhile, the five-win team deep in the hole on the scoreboard made 9-of-10 free throws the rest of the regulation. After both teams had six free throws in the first half, Furman attempted six in the second half while Citadel shot 18. The last of those came with 10 seconds left when the Bulldogs' Sola Adebisi converted a three-point play to tie the game at 67-67, forcing overtime.

In overtime, a pair of free throws by Wilkins gave Furman a 75-74 lead with 1:21 remaining. It appeared that the Paladins were going to get the ball back with 58 seconds left when Vander Wal appeared to draw a textbook charge. Instead it was a foul on Vander Wal and Adebisi made 1-of-2 free throws to tie the game.

It was still tied with what looked to be around six seconds left on the TV broadcast clock when Bowser was whistled for his fourth foul. However, the game clock kept going down to 3.3 seconds left. Adebisi made both free throws and Wilkins' heave from beyond midcourt was off the mark as time expired.

Some may question why Furman didn't ask for a clock review. Perhaps the TV broadcast clock was not accurate. The bigger question should be, why should Furman have to ask for a clock review? How many games have you seen where it takes 10 minutes to play the final 10 seconds because officials adjust the clock after everything?

Nevertheless, things beyond a team's control shouldn't matter in a 19-point game midway through the second half. Furman led 60-46 with 7:13 left, but over the next five minutes it went 1-for-6 from the floor (including three missed layups) with three turnovers to help the Bulldogs cut the lead to 62-61 with less than three minutes left in regulation.

"We watched the last 12 minutes of the game to see what all changed. It's easy to talk about certain plays, but they could see it quickly on film that what really changed was our spirit," Richey said Friday. "It was a lack of connection in those hard moments with so much youth and some many players not being out there (due to foul trouble) in those critical moments. There was a little bit of panic that set in. All of sudden the crowd gets into it and before long, it just feels like everything is going against you."

Johnston had 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Wilkins had 15 points and nine assists to lead Furman, despite both finishing with four fouls apiece. Vander Wal had 12 points and six rebounds, Franklin scored 11 and Bowser had nine rebounds also for the Paladins.

Adebisi made 9-of-10 field goals and 4-of-5 free throws to finish with a game-high 22 points and nine rebounds in 42 minutes for Citadel.

Wofford's stunning rally sinks Paladins

Abijah Franklin had 14 points, six rebounds and two steals off the bench
in Furman's 74-70 loss to Wofford. Photo courtesy of Furman

The four Furman freshmen who faced Wofford for the first time Saturday learned a quick lesson about this wild rivalry: No lead is ever safe.

The Terriers trailed by 13 points with less than 10 minutes remaining before rallying for a 74-70 win in front of another sellout crowd at Timmons Arena. Wofford pulled off the comeback thanks to a 17-0 run over a seven-minute stretch.

"Give Wofford credit. That was a tremendous run late in the game. ... They hit a huge three after we were able to come back and tie it and then finished it off at the free throw line," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "I thought there was a lot of good that we did over the first 30 minutes of the game. Then we started struggling to guard, especially on the perimeter. On a lot of their drives, they got to the rim way too easily.

"We got way too stagnant offensively. We just didn't get enough movement. Eleven assists for us are way too low. ... I thought our shot selection was probably one of the worst it's been all year. We somehow still scratched 70, but we're leaving a lot on the table. We've got a ton of guys out and had more tonight. My heart breaks for those guys, but when you're on your own court, I think our whole program feels like we should have been able to gut that out."

That 17-0 run was all the more shocking given what immediately preceded it. With 10:52 left, Cole Bowser looked like his big brother, Cooper, when he slammed home an alleyoop pass from Alex Wilkins. That got Timmons as loud as it's ever been this season, pushed Furman's lead to 57-46 and forced a Wofford timeout.

Coming out of the timeout, the Paladins' defense forced a shot clock violation. On the next trip down offensively, Wilkins threw another lob. This one went to Charles Johnston, but it was very high and appeared to be headed out of bounds. However, Johnston made a fantastic play to leap up and volleyball tap it back to Ben Vander Wal for a layup. That got the home crowd rocking again as Furman took its biggest lead of the game at 13.

Then everything changed. The Terriers' Cayden Vasko drove down just to the right of the paint and banked in a tough, running jumper. On the other end, Furman's Eddrin Bronson missed a three-pointer and the tone for the next seven minutes was set.

After Vander Wal's layup made it 59-46 with 9:55 remaining, the Paladins' next made field goal came on Wilkins' fadeaway jumper with 2:08 left that tied the game at 63-63. In between those two makes, Furman went 0-for-7 from the floor - all of which were three-pointers - and had three turnovers.

"I think a couple of them were good looks that rimmed out and a couple were probably forced. Credit to Wofford for making a big punch when they needed to and we couldn't respond in the way that we needed to," Vander Wal said. "Missing shots can kind of be contagious and then we probably tightened up a little bit as things got hairy."

Meanwhile, the Terriers went 8-for-12 from the floor during that same stretch to take a 63-59 lead. They grabbed offensive rebounds after three of those four misses and had a steal after the other. Seven of those eight made shots came in the paint as Wofford dominated down low.

Following all those missed threes, Furman finally snapped a seven-minute scoreless streak when Wilkins drove to the basket and was fouled with 2:59 left. He made both free throws before his tough, game-tying jumper the next time down. The Terriers answered when Nils Machowski rattled home a three-pointer.

On Wofford's next trip, Abijah Franklin tapped a steal to Vander Wal near the Terriers' basket. Vander Wal fired a quick pass to Wilkins, but Kahmare Holmes intercepted it and laid it in. That was a backbreaker for Furman as it pushed the lead to five with 1:07 left. Franklin drilled a long three with 11 seconds left to cut the lead to 72-70, but Machowski hit a pair of free throws to seal the win.

It didn't seem like Furman necessarily got comfortable with the lead, but they certainly were fatigued. While Tom House and Collin O'Neal participated in pregame shoot-around, they still weren't cleared for action leaving the Paladins with just eight scholarship players available for the second game in a row.

That number dwindled to seven on Saturday when Mason Smith left with what appeared to be a significant knee injury midway through the first half. Much like Cooper Bowser, House and O'Neal, Smith was playing his best ball of the season at the time of his injury. He had five points and three rebounds in 4:30 off the bench Saturday. Furman outscored Wofford by 10 during that time frame.

"I've never quite seen anything like this in my career, but it's just what we have right now. ... It's hard to lose when you feel like you had the opportunity to win. At the same time, your heart breaks for our team because they keep battling," Richey said. "It's not just numbers. It's real guys over there. ... I'm hoping there will be purpose inside this pain as we get guys back. It's a hope that this depth we're creating and and the experience these young player have gotten will help us down the stretch. At this level, all that really matters is what happens down the stretch."

In addition to the physical toll another injury puts a team through, there's also the mental anguish of seeing a teammate go down that Richey was alluding to.

"I really hurt for Mason. What he's done and how hard he's competed to stay engaged when he wasn't playing at all and then to see how well he was playing. He came in tonight and changed the game. ... To see him go down the way he did is just a crusher," Richey said. "I've got a lot of respect for that guy. He's going to go do big things in his life because of his resolve and resiliency. To see that injury just puts a knot in your stomach."

Without being asked about it during the players' postgame press conference, Vander Wal requested a moment to speak about Smith as well.

"We really don't know what's up with his knee yet, but the way he's handled himself the last couple of months has been admirable. I'm proud to be his teammate. The way he's stepped up for us these last couple of games and the way he carried himself when he hasn't played as much as he wants to, I just wanted to give him a shout-out," Vander Wal said. "Sometimes you don't understand why things happen to great people and he's one of the best people in this program."

In addition to outscoring Furman 44-26 in the paint, Wofford (12-7, 4-2 Southern Conference) also enjoyed an 18-11 edge in points off turnovers. The Terriers forced 12 turnovers while making only eight. Holmes and Machowski had 20 points apiece to lead Wofford. Chace Watley scored 15 also for the Terriers, while Brian Sumpter had 10 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, two steals and a blocked shot.

Against one of the worst teams in the country at defending the three, Furman shot just 27.6 percent from there Saturday including 3-for-15 in the second half. While Franklin hit 3-of-4 threes and Vander Wal and Smith each made their only tries, the rest of the Paladins combined to go 3-for-23 from beyond the arc. While they improved Saturday, the Terriers still rank 340th nationally in three-point defense, allowing 37 percent.

Wilkins led Furman (13-6, 4-2) with 19 points and four assists. Franklin had 14 points, six rebounds and two steals off the bench. Vander Wal was the lone other Paladin in double figures with 10 points. Johnston, Furman's second leading scorer and leading rebounder, was held to five points on 1-of-5 shooting - all threes - and five rebounds.

Not to turn this into an editorial, but Saturday left me with two big takeaways. With a player like Wilkins, who can create his own shot, make difficult shots and drive to the basket, Furman should never have a stretch of being outscored 17-0. Secondly, I'm not sure how successful the Paladins can be if Johnston goes an entire game with no shot attempts inside the arc.

Furman returns to action Wednesday in Charleston when it faces rival The Citadel at 7 p.m.

Short-handed Paladins earn gritty win at Samford

Alex Wilkins had a career-high 28 points and five assists as Furman
won at Samford, 77-73, Wednesday. Photo courtesy of Furman

The Furman men's basketball team went deep into its bench to help earn wins at Chattanooga and over VMI last week, but it couldn't do the same at Samford Wednesday night. Injuries to starters Tom House and Asa Thomas suffered in the VMI game left the Paladins with only eight scholarship players available Wednesday.

Three of those eight got in serious foul trouble, but "find a way" Furman somehow found another way. Freshman sensation Alex Wilkins scored a career-high 28 points as the Paladins knocked off the Bulldogs, 77-73. Wilkins also had five assists and maybe most importantly, managed to stay on the court for the final 6:28 while playing with four fouls. Despite the foul situation, Wilkins defended well enough to help Furman hold Samford to no field goals over the final 4:32.

"You can call it adversity or whatever. Injuries are part of the game. For guys to be hungry for their opportunities and to compete the way they're competing, they're not perfect, but they're playing their guts out," Furman coach Bob Richey said on the Furman Radio Network's postgame show. "Life rewards that and sports rewards that. It's incredible what we're doing with what we have out.

"When we played the Alabama exhibition game, only four of these guys (who played Wednesday) played. It's tremendous to see how quickly guys are growing up. ... Lex had a special performance, but the entire group just stepped up. You look at the box and it's eight (points), nine, eight, eight, etc."

While the numbers may have called for the Paladins (13-5, 4-1 Southern Conference) to try to slow things down, just the opposite happened from the start. While Samford (9-9, 2-3) was more deliberate and pounded the ball inside, Furman was jacking three-pointers and throwing the ball all over the place early on. The Paladins offset turnovers by making five of their first eight threes - two by Wilkins, the second make of the season for Mason Smith and the first two attempts of Cole Bowser's career.

After assisting on Bowser's second three, Wilkins hit a jumper the next time down as Furman took a 21-19 lead with 11:45 left. Then a swoon hit the Paladins. Over the next three minutes, Furman went 0-for-5 from the floor - all threes - and had two turnovers. That helped the Bulldogs take a 28-21 lead before Smith hit his second three with 8:06 left in the half.

Then swooning resumed. The Paladins made two of their next 12 shots, including 0-for-4 from three, over the next five minutes. Fortunately for Furman, it had no turnovers during that cold stretch and it also turned the defense up. As such, Samford was only ahead by four points when Abijah Franklin made a steal and got the ball to Wilkins. Wilkins found Charles Johnston who soared in for a dunk to cut the lead to two with 3:03 left.

With 1:19 left, Franklin hit a three to put the Paladins back in front, 38-37. As the first half clock expired, Wilkins made a jumper to make it 40-40 at the break. The game was tied at the half despite Samford shooting 53.6 percent compared to Furman's 40 percent. The Bulldogs dominated points in the paint, 24-10, and points off turnovers, 14-7. The Paladins had just seven second-chance points despite nine offensive rebounds. Getting tied at the half required cleaning things up for Furman, which had seven turnovers in the first half but none over the final 8:34.

For the third consecutive game, the Paladins followed a great end to the first half with a great start to the second half. After Ben Vander Wal missed Furman's 14th three-pointer of the game as the shot clock expired on Furman's opening possession of the second half, the Paladins started attacking the basket.

Johnston hit Vander Wal on a backdoor cut for a layup the next offensive trip before Wilkins had layups on back-to-back possessions. After Eddrin Brown hit a pair of free throws, Owen Ritger hit a pretty turnaround jumper down low as the shot clock expired to push Furman's lead to 50-42 with 15:35 left. The only hiccup of the fast start came when Bowser picked up his fourth foul just over two minutes in.

"We were down 36-30 and the crowd was into it, but we finish the first half on a 10-4 run to knot it up at 40," Richey said. "This team has been pretty good coming out of the locker room after halftime and we go on another run to get a little bit of a margin. We've got to keep that up."

After trailing for much of the first half, Furman never trailed after halftime. The lead grew to as much as nine three different times on layups by Bronson, Johnston and Wilkins midway through the second half.

Vander Wal's layup with 8:37 left gave the Paladins a 65-57 lead, but Wilkins was whistled for his fourth foul just 12 seconds later and he headed to the bench. Less than four minutes later, Samford had the lead down to one at 67-66 on Keaton Norris' jumper with 4:33 left.

Furman made only one three-pointer in the second half, but it sure was huge. Johnston, who was also playing with four fouls, answered the Bulldogs' score with a three. Wilkins hit a jumper on the next possession and just like that, the Paladins were back up by six with 3:36 remaining.

After the jumper by Norris, Samford went 0-for-6 from the floor the rest of the way. Bowser hit a pair of free throws with 18 seconds left to push the lead to five and seal the win.

"Cole Bowser bangs two threes in the first half then has to step up to the line as a guy in his third college game," Richey said. "It's a one-and-one with a three-point lead and he hits both of them."

Wilkins' 28-point effort was the most by a Furman freshman since Devin Sibley scored 29 against East Tennessee State on Feb. 14, 2015. No other Paladin reached double figures, but Johnston scored nine, while Vander Wal, Bronson, Bowser and Frankin each had eight points. Johnston also had 14 rebounds, two steals and just one turnover before fouling out with 32 seconds left. Smith added six points and a career-high 11 rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench.

Despite going 1-for-11 from three in the second half, Furman made 14-of-21 two-pointers and had just three turnovers. After shooting 53.6 percent in the first half, the Bulldogs were held to 34.5 percent (10-of-29) in the second half. Samford leading scorer Jadin Booth, who was averaging 20.4 points per game entering Wednesday, had 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting. Dylan Faulkner led the Bulldogs with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

"It's a true, glued together, connected team right now," Richey said. "Out of the eight we played tonight, six are freshmen or sophomores and they just continue to battle."

Furman improved to 4-1 on the road this season. Over the past decade, the Paladins have collected 78 true road victories. Nationally, only Belmont (92), Vermont (90) and UC Irvine (82) have more during that same time frame.

It will be the third consecutive sellout at Timmons Arena when Furman returns to action Saturday against Wofford at 5 p.m. Unlike the last two games, this one has been sold out since last Sunday. Prior to the men's game, the Furman women will host Western Carolina at 2 p.m.

Bronson helps banged up Paladins crush VMI

Eddrin Bronson matched a career-high with 16 points off the bench
in Furman's 69-48 win over VMI. Photo courtesy of Furman

Timing is everything.

When Furman suffered its only Southern Conference loss this season to Western Carolina on Jan. 3, Coach Bob Richey came to the realization that he needed to trust his bench more. It's precisely what the Paladins did the next time out as 10 players, including the debuting freshman Cole Bowser, contributed to a big win at Chattanooga last Wednesday.

That was going to remain part of the plan moving forward. When Furman took the court against Saturday against VMI, that change in philosophy from the previous game seemed prescient. The Paladins overcame the loss of two more key players to injury thanks to an incredible defensive effort as they rolled to a 69-48 win before another sell out crowd at Timmons Arena.

Eddrin Bronson led the effort off the bench as he matched his career with 16 points. His role expanded Saturday after Tom House and Asa Thomas left the game in the first half with injuries and didn't return.

"Their zone is unique. With us playing four freshmen in our top eight today, I knew we were going to have to win in some other grittier areas of the game rather than expecting crisp, clean zone execution. I thought our team did that," Richey said. "We were really good on the backboards, which they thrive in. They chase down their misses and get a lot of offensive rebounds.

"I couldn't be more proud of our defensive effort. I think that's our biggest defensive effort that we've put in a game collectively all season. ... We had some guys really, really step up today. Ed Bronson did a phenomenal job on both ends of the floor. Alex (Wilkins) played his best defense of the year today by far."

It was a rough and tumble start Saturday. VMI 6-foot-8 freshman Alexander Daushvili hit the floor two minutes in and spent the rest of the day on crutches. At the 10:14 mark, House took an inadvertent elbow to the face on a loose ball and the back of his head touched the floor after he fell. After a couple of minutes down, House wobbled off to the bench and didn't return. Three minutes later, Thomas was fouled on a rebound and he slightly limped off and didn't return.

It was 22-22 at that point thanks to a game-tying three-pointer by Bronson just before Thomas' defensive rebound. With two starters sidelined and fellow starter Cooper Bowser still out with a foot injury, that's when this formerly not very deep Furman team somehow really started to shine. The Paladins outscored the Keydets 15-5 over the final 8:02 of the first half to take a 34-27 lead into the break. The first eight of those came on a personal 8-0 run by Bronson.

"Coach Richey told me earlier this week that he's sticking with me. That trust helps me to go out there and play with confidence and just do what I'm capable of doing," said Bronson, who had a big blocked shot before entering the scoring column Saturday. "That's (block) definitely an energy play that gets you into the game and gets your blood going. Aggressiveness has been a big thing for me, so things like that definitely help."

VMI went 2-for-13 from the floor over those final eight minutes of the half and was 9-for-30 (30 percent) for the half.

Cole Bowser went from having his redshirt removed last Wednesday to starting the second half three days later. There was no let up by Bryson or the rest of Furman's lineup defensively after halftime. After Wilkins opened the half with a three-pointer, the Keydets' first possession ended on a shot clock violation. A Wilkins' turnover led to a VMI three-pointer, but the freshman atoned with another three.

That three started a 13-0 run over the next four minutes as Furman led by double digits the rest of the way. Bronson hit two more threes during that run, which Charles Johnston capped by making 2-of-3 free throws after getting fouled on a three.

Following its three-pointer at the 18:45 mark of the second half, VMI's next made field goal came 12 shots later at the 12:05 mark. After shooting just 30 percent in the first half, the Keydets shot just 23.1 percent (6-of-26) in the second half and made 26.8 percent for the game.

Furman (12-5, 3-1) got the 21-point win despite suffering 20 turnovers and making just 10-of-18 free throws. The Paladins dominated the glass, 48-32, including 18 offensive rebounds. They outscored VMI (6-11, 1-3) in the paint, 22-10.

Wilkins had a game-high 17 points, four assists and three steals for Furman. In addition to his 16-point effort in 24:15 off the bench, Bronson had a pair of blocked shots. Ben Vander Wal had 11 points and six rebounds, while Johnston finished with six points, 15 rebounds, five assists, two steals, two blocks and just one turnover.

"Ben Vander Wal is consistent and plays like a warrior every day. Chuck Johnston gets 15 rebounds today and was so aware in all of his coverages. Then we had freshmen chasing around these elite shooters. Their two best average 19.5 three-point attempts per game," Richey said. "There were 10 times in the game where we got three consecutive stops on defense. I'm not sure that we've had a D1 game where we've gotten 10 of those during our time here."

TJ Johnson, VMI's leading scorer averaging 19.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game entering Saturday, had a team-high 15 points on 4-of-12 shooting Saturday. He also had four rebounds and six steals.

Furman returns to action Wednesday night at Samford at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs, who are 5-1 at home this season, are coming off an 88-79 loss at Chattanooga Saturday. Senior Jadin Booth leads Samford (9-8, 2-2) averaging 20.4 points per game and is shooting 41.2 percent on three-pointers.