After SoCon title loss, Paladins land NIT invite

Furman's PJay Smith (0) drives against Wofford's Kyler Filewich in the Southern
Conference Tournament championship game. Photo courtesy of the SoCon

It appeared that a pretty sweet Furman basketball season ended on a sour note March 10, when the Paladins suffered yet another heartbreaking loss to Wofford a the Southern Conference Tournament. One of the first things Furman coach Bob Richey mentioned following Furman's 92-85 loss in the championship game was the high level of basketball on display for television audiences watching ESPN that night and ESPNU for the semifinals the night before.

"Similar to last night, what an unbelievable college basketball game. Unfortunately, we came out on the wrong side of it," Richey said. "But you know, through the national TV audiences yesterday and tonight, I think you continue to see the quality of our league. Unfortunately at this level, one advances and the other doesn't."

While that continues to be true for the NCAA Tournament, the National Invitational Tournament is another story. The quality of SoCon hoops must've caught the attention of someone involved with this year's NIT.

A few hours after Wofford learned its postseason destination in the NCAA Tournament selection show Sunday, the NIT field was announced. As expected, SoCon regular season champion Chattanooga earned a spot, but so did Furman and Samford. The Paladins (25-9) will play at reigning NIT champion North Texas at 8 p.m. Wednesday on ESPN+. Wednesday's winner will advance to face Arkansas State, which defeated Saint Louis 103-78 Tuesday, on either Saturday or Sunday.

North Texas (24-8) is coming off a loss to third-seeded UAB in the American Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals. The Mean Green finished second in the American with a record of 14-4. They went 15-1 at home this season and 9-3 in non-conference play. Those three non-conference losses all came to teams that made the NCAA Tournament - at McNeese (68-61), to Utah State (61-57) in the NIT Season Tip-Off championship game in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., and at High Point (76-71).

It's the first time since 2019 that four SoCon schools have made a postseason tournament. Wofford went to the NCAA Tournament and Furman made the NIT that season as well. UNC Greensboro also made the NIT six years ago, while East Tennessee State competed in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.

Terriers spoil another Furman final chapter

ASHEVILLE - As fifth-seeded Furman advanced to the SoCon final, it did so by knocking off fourth-seeded Samford for the third time and top-seeded Chattanooga for the first time this season. There was quite a bit of talk in the media room by folks not associated with either team that Sunday's semifinal between the Paladins and Mocs was the "real championship game."

It was kind of an unusual take considering that sixth-seeded Wofford and seventh-seeded VMI, who met in the other semifinal, had each stomped Furman earlier this season before the Paladins split with both by winning the rematch. Still, Furman was the hottest team in the league after ending Chattanooga's 12-game winning streak by extending its own streak to six consecutive wins. 

It was an incorrect dismissal on two other counts. First, once Furman defeated UTC in the first semifinal that Sunday evening, there was no doubt that the Terriers were winning the other semifinal. That's no knock on the Keydets and the amazing job Coach Andrew Wilson did this season. It just seems that kismet intertwines Furman and Wofford in moments like these.

Secondly, folks that haven't seen this rivalry regularly have no idea just how hard Wofford plays Furman. Given the historical success of football and the success of basketball over the past decade, the Paladins get plenty of opponents' best shots. But none of those compare to the fight that Furman's fellow private school from 35 miles away always brings to its SoCon "big brother."

In this year's final, Furman erased Wofford leads of 13 in the first half and eight in the second half, but the Terriers had the final push. The Paladins had an 83-79 lead with less than two minutes to play before Wofford ended the game on a 13-2 run to pull out the victory in an electric atmosphere at the Harrah's Cherokee Center.

"Give Wofford credit. I think (Coach) Dwight's (Perry) done a great job with this team. They've got a lot of talent. They've got the best big man in the league (Kyler Filewich) and (Corey) Tripp is a senior, who's one of the best guards in the league. Then they had other guys step up and make some big shots today," Furman coach Bob Richey said afterwards. "It felt like one of those games where it was just back and fourth and the team that was going to finish with the most momentum was probably going to win the game. Unfortunately tonight, that was them."

A little over a week after racing out to a 28-9 lead less than 12 minutes into the game in Spartanburg, it was a different story for Furman to start the final. The Paladins looked like a team coming off a grueling overtime win against the No. 1 seed the day before, while Wofford looked like one coming off a 20-point win in a game it led from start to finish.

The Terriers led 8-0 just 70 seconds into the game and Furman had just one possession in that time span. Filewich began the contest with a layup. After the Paladins' Garrett Hien missed a three-pointer, the Terriers' Justin Bailey drilled a three and drew the first of Furman's 23 total fouls. Bailey missed the free throw, but Tripp grabbed the offensive rebound and passed to Jackson Sivills. Sivills knocked down a three to complete the six-point possession.

It only got stranger for Furman for the next seven minutes. While the Paladins were a successful team in every sense of the word this season, Smith and Nick Anderson were scoring machines for the Paladins in Asheville. They were obviously a focus of Wofford's defense, but neither neither managed to get off a shot for the first eight-and-a-half minutes of the championship.

By the time Smith attempted his first field goal at the 11:33 mark, Furman trailed 15-5 and six other Paladins had gone a combined 2-for-9 from the floor with five turnovers. After making that three, Smith hit a pair of free throws the next time down and then converted a four-point play before Anderson tried his first shot at the 10:08 mark.

The Paladins trailed 27-13 before Hien's putback with eight minutes to go sparked a run. Hien and Charles Johnston combined for all of Furman's next 12 points before a Smith three-pointer cut the lead to 32-31 with 2:15 remaining. Johnston's three gave the Paladins their first lead at 37-35 with 1:03 left. On Furman's next trip., Hien found Ben VanderWal for a dunk and then Hien swatted away Sivills' last second three as the Paladins took a 39-37 lead into halftime.

"I'm really proud of our group," Richey said. "For us to get off to the start that we did ... and respond the way we did to take the lead going into half, I thought was a credit to our character, culture and what our guys are about."

While Furman maintained the lead for the first 10-plus minutes of the second half and grew it to six a couple of times, Wofford stayed close at the foul line as the Paladins were continuously whistled for fouls. From the 15:02 mark of the second half to the 9:22 mark, Furman was called for nine fouls, committing at least one of seven of the Terriers' eight possessions.

The foul train steamrolling the Paladins stopped for a few minutes, but that didn't slow down Wofford. The Terriers had four consecutive possessions in which they didn't draw a foul, but they had a layup and three consecutive three-pointers to take a 75-69 lead with 7:36 left. Wofford took its biggest lead of the second half at eight thanks to a pair of free throws by Sivills with 6:53 remaining.

Furman responded with one last rally, as it went on a 14-2 run. After Smith's layup off an Anderson steal gave the Paladins the lead, Anderson hit a three off a Smith steal to push the advantage to 83-79 with 2:34 left. On a night in which it only committed 10 turnovers, Wofford had six of those from the 5:02 mark to the 2:18 mark against Furman's vaunted 1-3-1 zone defense. The last of those six came on a a steal by Hien with 2:18 left. That led to a Smith three-point attempt that bounced off the back rim no good.

A seven-point lead with less than two minutes to play could've been a backbreaker for the Terriers. Instead, they answered with a Filewich layup and a three by Sivills to take the lead back for good at 84-83 with 1:26 left. Wofford went 8-for-8 from the foul line, while Furman went 1-for-5 from the floor, over the final 39 seconds to seal the win.

In the second half, the Terriers (19-15) shot 68.4 percent (13-of-19) from the floor, made 8-of-13 threes, and shot 84 percent (21-of-25) from the foul line. For the game, Wofford shot 54.2 percent and hit 26-of-33 free throws. For comparison's sake, in the Terriers' win in Greenville this season, they made 4-of-7 free throws and made 15-of-21 in the loss in Spartanburg.

"We got down eight but continued to fight and took the lead. We had a couple of tough possessions there and quickly went from up four to down one. In games like that, that can change outcomes," Richey said. "Our guys have been so resilient all year. We lost 70 percent of our scoring and a lot of key pieces, but this group stayed together.

"Obviously, we wanted to win this game. That's no secret. But for what they've been able to accomplish when it was really just us that believed that we had a shot to do it and the way they fought, battled and grew, this will be a team that I remember for the rest of my life."

Sivills had 20 points to lead Wofford, while Bailey had 19 points and seven rebounds. Dillon Bailey added 15 points. Filewich, who was named the Tournament's Most Outstanding Player, had 13 points and six rebounds, while Tripp finished with 11 points, eight assists and six rebounds.

If there ever was a season where the losing team could've easily had the Tournament's MOP, it would've been this one for Smith. After not trying a shot for the first eight minutes, Smith finished off an incredible weekend with a game-high 27 points, seven assists, four rebounds, two steals and one turnover. He extended his consecutive made free throws streak to 43 as he went 11-for-11 from the foul line for Furman, which made 18-of-20 free throws as a team.

"This program has meant a lot to me. I've made brothers and made relationships that will last forever. I love all my teammates, Coach Richey and all my coaches," Smith said. "I appreciate everything they've done, and this program has done a lot for me. I really appreciate it."

Anderson had 15 points, while Johnston finished with 12 points and six rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench before fouling out. Hien had 13 points, five rebounds and four assists before fouling out and Cooper Bowser scored 11 also for Furman.

As the final seconds ticked away, Hien - a fifth-year senior - turned to wave to the huge Furman crowd behind its bench and end zone.

"That was really just a thank you for five amazing years. They've been great since I've been here. Tonight specifically, we're not in this game without them," Hien said. "We get down 10 to start the game, then we make a little run and they really get into it. It was amazing. Even when we were down ... they've always had my back and always had our back."

Now Hien gets at least one more chance to wear his beloved purple and white.

Furman ousts top seed, advances to SoCon final

PJay Smith had 25 points in Furman's 80-77 overtime win over Chattanooga in
the SoCon Tournament semifinals. Photo courtesy of SoCon/Jeremy Fleming

ASHEVILLE - From 1981 to 2021, the Furman men's basketball team played in the Southern Conference Tournament championship game just two times. On Monday night, the Paladins will play in the final for the third time in the last four seasons. In an absolute classic Sunday at the Harrah's Cherokee Center, fifth-seeded Furman knocked off No. 1-seed Chattanooga, 80-77 in overtime.

The Paladins (25-8) advance to face sixth-seeded Wofford with the SoCon title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament on the line Monday at 7 p.m. on ESPN. The Terriers (18-15) defeated seventh-seeded VMI, 85-65, in Sunday's other semifinal. It's a matchup of the lowest seeded teams to reach the final since 1988, when fifth-seeded Chattanooga topped seventh-seeded VMI in the same building Monday's title will be decided in.

Furman's victory snapped the nation's fourth-longest winning streak as Chattanooga had won 12 consecutive games. It also ended a run of seven consecutive SoCon Tournaments won by the No. 1 seed. It's just the second time since 2006 that a No. 1 seed hasn't reached the final.

"What a game. First, I want to give Chattanooga credit. Dan Earl's done a tremendous job with that group and that program. I've got a lot of respect for him. They went on a 12-game winning streak and were the hottest team in the league. Won the regular season outright. ... One of us had to lose today. Fortunately it wasn't us, but that was a heck of a ball game," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "Play after play, punch after punch, response after response, it was an unbelievable basketball game that you got five extra minutes of. Congratulations to them. It's hard to win 24 games. I'm assuming they'll get to keep playing in the NIT. Hopefully the metrics will be good enough for that."

Richey got a bit emotional when reflecting on what his program has experienced since the disappointment of last year's SoCon Tournament. Furman was the No. 5 seed last season as well, but lost to top-seeded Samford in the semifinals.

"It's been an unbelievable year in a lot of ways with this group. Glory to God for allowing me to lead it, but we had a tough day in this building a year ago in a lot of ways. ... We had a lot of things that we went through as a program the last 12 months. That hard locker room we had a year ago is the same one we entered into today," Richey said. "Sometimes life is challenging, and you've got to endure and you've got to push through. This team has been written off time and time again. ... We were underdogs yesterday to a team we swept in the regular season.

"Nobody had us winning this game today. But then you look at the little thing to the left and it says 24-8. Today it now says 25-8, which means no team in the Southern Conference has as many wins as this group. But everybody wants to talk about everybody else for some reason and that's fine, but this team has embraced that. The reason they've embraced that is because of the hard we went through in the spring when Twitter and y'all's (media) world thought that everybody was leaving our program and we had no players."

Richey extended his arms out to both sides where Nick Anderson sat to his left and PJay Smith to his right as he continued.

"You know what? We had players. More importantly, we had values and we knew what we were built on as a program. You're seeing it shine out. You're seeing these guys have a conviction. Usually in life, when you go through hard, you develop conviction which allows you to have endurance," Richey said. "We had to display that in a lot of ways today. ... We had to respond, respond and respond. To be able to lead this group and for them to be 25-8, playing for the third championship in four years, I couldn't be more proud of them.

"I've been able to coach with a tremendous peace this weekend because there's no pressure when you have purpose. This group right here has created purpose. You can see it when they play. You can see the resolve, the resiliency and the connection they're playing with."

It was a back-and-fourth game all night as they were 16 lead changes and 10 ties. In the final seconds of the first half, PJay Smith's three-pointer cut Chattanooga's lead to 35-34 at the half. Despite losing each of the regular season meetings, Sunday was the first time that the Paladins trailed the Mocs at the break.

At different points this season, Furman has had different players step up offensively. It seemed like that could be something that pays off this time of year and it did Sunday. Charles Johnston capped an 8-0 run early in the second half with a three that gave the Paladins their biggest lead of the game at 49-41.

A couple of minutes later, Johnston had a putback of his own missed three to push the lead to eight again at 55-47 with 11:56 remaining. The Mocs (24-9) responded with a 12-0 run before Johnston ended Furman's 5:49 scoring drought with a layup. Johnston, who had scored a total of 10 points over his last eight games since Feb. 2, finished with nine points and five rebounds in less than nine minutes off the bench Sunday.

"These guys (Smith and Anderson) scored a lot of points but Garrett Hien had the highest plus-minus tonight. Ben VanderWal continues to make winning plays. Tom House and Eddrin Bronson, all those guys do too," Richey said. "What about Chuck Johnston, who played five minutes last night in the quarterfinal game, and the seven consecutive points he had tonight and the belief he played with. Every single person in that locker room has believed and that's what's been fun about this."

After Johnston's scoring streak, Nick Anderson had eight consecutive points for Furman including an off-balance floater in the lane that gave Furman a 65-64 lead. UTC's Honor Huff, who had an unbelievable shooting night tried to answer but VanderWal made a tremendous block of Huff's corner three. Undeterred, Huff made his seventh and eighth three-pointers of the game on the Mocs' next two possessions as they took a 70-65 lead with 1:33 remaining.

On Furman's ensuing possession, Smith answered with a three. After a Chattanooga turnover, Smith's fadeaway jumper tied the game with 27 seconds left. The Mocs played for the last shot of regulation. After Trey Bonham drove to the basket, Cooper Bowser blocked his layup attempt to force overtime.

Anderson hit a jumper in the paint for Furman's lone bucket in overtime, which snapped a 72-72 tie and gave the Paladins the lead for good. A key sequence came with Furman clinging to a 75-74 lead in the final minute. As the Paladins were setting up their half-court offense, VanderWal caught a pass. Wieland came racing at VanderWal to try to foul the 53.2 percent free throw shooter, but VanderWal quickly took one dribble to his left away from Wieland. He then twisted his body to avoid being fouled and fired a pass to Anderson, who drew the. Anderson, an 88.4 percent foul shooter, hit both free throws to push the lead to three with 34 seconds left.

Wieland's layup with 19 seconds to play cut the lead to one before Smith was fouled. Smith drilled both of his free throws to make it 79-76 with 16 seconds left. The Mocs then had a an inexplicable turnover as Bonham was looking at the inbounds pass from Garrison Keeslar, but then looked away after it was thrown. The ball ended up going straight to Furman's Eddrin Bronson, who fell as he collided with Bonham. From the seat of his pants, Bronson fired a pass to Anderson, who was fouled with 12 seconds left. Anderson made 1-of-2 to make it 80-76.

Bonham grabbed a rebound of his own missed layup and drew a foul with 3.4 seconds left. Bonham made the first throw and missed the second. The Mocs got a hand on the rebound before it was knocked out of bounds by Bowset, leaving UTC one last chance to tie. Bonham's long three as time expired sailed right of the rim.

After Huff's eighth three-pointer with 1:33 left in regulation, he didn't try another the rest of the game. Huff never made more than one three in the two regular season meetings against Furman, but it wasn't really needed as UTC dominated the paint in both of those games. Frank Champion did quite a bit of that damage, but unfortunately for the Mocs he was injured in practice on Tuesday and sidelined for the tournament.

"The last two games, they beat us 75-35 in the paint. So tonight's game plan was guarding the paint. We get to the first media (timeout) and it's 9-9 (all Huff threes) and they've got no paint points," Richey said. "The staff was like 'do we change up?' I was 'no, stick with the plan.' ... He's (Huff) a really good player, but we can't give up the paint. You see tonight the paint (scoring) was 32-28 (for UTC) ... so it was much tighter tonight.

"A lot of times when you play teams that shoot threes, you get caught up in it. They're going to make threes. Honor Huff's a really good player. Trey Bonham and Bash (Wieland) are really good players, and let's not act like the other guys aren't good players. What ends up happening is if you focus so much on that three-point line, you get extended. We gave up 14 unaffected layups in two games against them, so we had to make sure we stuck with our plan regardless of what was going on on the floor. We did extend a little bit of coverage on Huff once he was hot. We ended up putting PJay on him. PJay's an unbelievable defender, but you gotta pick - are we going Huff or Bonham, two of the best guards in the league. ... Typically, putting PJay Smith on somebody is a pretty good solvent for us."

Smith finished with 25 points, eight rebounds and four assists, while Anderson had 23 points for Furman. Hien was the lone other Paladin in double figures with 10 points and plus-minus of plus 13. Bowser had seven points, seven rebounds and two blocks. VanderWal had just two points, but he might have been the MVP of the game. He had seven rebounds, including six offensive, five assists, no turnovers and the big block of Huff's three.

"We wouldn't be here without Ben. He's a warrior who plays extremely hard. Like Nick (Anderson) said, Ben does everything he or I wouldn't do," Smith said. "Everybody needs somebody like that on a team. ... He's accepted his role and just makes winning plays every time."

Huff finished with a game-high 28 points and made 8-of-11 threes. Wieland had 16 points, eight rebounds and two steals, while Bonham had 14 points, five rebounds and two steals also for Chattanooga.

Furman rolls over Samford into SoCon semifinals

Nick Anderson (7) had 26 points in Furman's 95-78 win over Samford at the
Southern Conference Tournament. Photo courtesy of SoCon/Jeremy Fleming

ASHEVILLE - The last time Furman played Samford prior to their meeting in the Southern Conference Tournament quarterfinals late Saturday night, the Paladins found a way to win despite making only seven field goals in the second half. On Saturday, they found a more glamorous road to victory by missing only seven field goals in the second half.

In one of the greatest halves in program history, Furman put up 57 points after halftime thanks to 70.8 percent shooting (17-of-24) to pull away for a 95-78 win at the Harrah's Cherokee Center. The fifth-seeded Paladins (24-8) advance to face the No. 1-seed Chattanooga in the semifinals Sunday on ESPNU at 4 p.m. Furman's win wrapped up a wild day of quarterfinal action as the Mocs (24-8) were the only higher seed to advance.

At Samford on Feb. 19, the Paladins pulled out an eight-point win thanks to making 19-of-20 free throws over the final 6:41. On Saturday, Furman shot three-pointers like they were free throws. The Paladins made 17-of-29 threes, including 10-of-15 in the second half. Nick Anderson, PJay Smith and Tom House accounted for 16 of those 17 threes and combined for 71 points.

"I'm really proud of our group tonight. To beat a team of that caliber three times in a season is really hard to do. They (Samford) were picked to win the league. I think ESPN analytics had them picked to win the tournament," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "We know how good of a coach Bucky (McMillan) is and how good their program is, but we've got a group that's playing with a lot of confidence. They've just taken the challenge on of nobody really thinking they've got a chance in this thing.

"Our group played with a lot of fight and a lot of will. We've been counted out for awhile, probably since mid-January, but we're one of four (teams) left. That doesn't guarantee anything, but man, these guys fought tonight. It wasn't that Samford played poorly. ... We had a lot of guys make some plays and our guys played with a lot of belief. We've got to get back and rested up. We know we have a big challenge with Chattanooga."

The Paladins got off to a quick start. After Smith had a layup off a nice feed from Garrett Hien to open the scoring 22 seconds in, Anderson hit a three and drew a foul 14 seconds later. The 89 percent foul shooter couldn't complete the four-point play, but he didn't miss much of anything else the rest of the half.

Anderson was 7-of-10 from the floor in the opening half, including 5-of-7 on threes. His layup with 6:14 left in the first half matched Furman's biggest lead of the half at 25-14. Samford fought back to cut the lead to two as the Paladins took a 38-36 lead into halftime. Anderson accounted for half of Furman's first half points with 19.

"I like it. It kind of reminded me of some Indiana gyms that I used to play in," Anderson said of his first SoCon Tournament game. "My teammates were able to find me tonight and thankfully, the shots went in. I came out in the first half just knowing this could be my last game, so leave no doubt. I just had to be aggressive."

The Paladins led the Bulldogs after every half this season, but Saturday was the smallest halftime lead of the three meetings. That was ironic considering Saturday's final margin was much bigger than Furman's two- and eight-point wins, respectively, in the regular season.

Samford (22-10) was able to get back in it thanks in part to taking advantage of the Paladins' 10 turnovers in the first half. The Bulldogs scored 13 points off those. So for Furman in the second half, ball security would be a key as would finding someone other than Anderson to provide some offense.

Enter first team All-SoCon performer Smith, along with the "third scorer" that emerged down the stretch for the Paladins in Tom House.

House's big day actually started in the first half as his first SoCon Tournament game began with a pair of threes. House drilled 4-of-5 in the second half to match his season high of six threes set in the blowout win over The Citadel on Feb. 26. Meanwhile, Smith scored 20 points in the second half and connected on four threes.

"They may have keyed on me a little more in the second half, but PJay is PJay. When he's out there, he's going to hit shots," Anderson said. "Same with Tom House. They're both killers and everybody's got the utmost confidence in them."

In the second half, Samford never went ahead but managed to pull even three times in the opening 3:04. The Paladins answered the last of those with a 7-0 run over a 54-second span. It began with a three by House, followed by a steal and two free throws for Smith, and was capped by a Cooper Bowser dunk off an assist from Smith to make it 52-45.

A big sequence of the game that could get overlooked in the offensive explosion came just 12 seconds later when Smith was called for his third foul on a reach in. With 15:38 remaining, Furman really couldn't leave its point guard out there with three fouls, so freshman Eddrin Bronson came on for Smith.

Bronson, who missed his only shot in five-and-a-half minutes off the bench in the first half, immediately got in the scoring column with a layup off a feed from Anderson on the Paladins' next possession. Furman's next trip on offense saw Ben VanderWal successfully dribble all the way up the court against Samford's press and that possession ended on a House three-pointer.

Furman led by seven when Smith left and still led by seven at 60-53 when Smith checked back in at the 12:59 mark. The Bulldogs cut the lead to three with 9:52 left before Anderson answered with his only made shot of the second half. His sixth three-pointer pushed the lead to 68-62 and the Paladins never led by fewer than six the rest of the way.

The Paladins were up 70-64 with less than seven minutes to go when Smith's three-pointer started an 18-5 run that was capped by a House three with 2:18 left. House's final bucket gave Furman its biggest lead at 19. After starting 2-of-6 from the foul line in the second half, Furman made 11 of its final 12 free throws.

After those 10 first half turnovers, Furman had six in the second half including just two over the final 7:42. Both of those were deadball shot clock violations that still allowed the Paladins to get set on defense.

Anderson finished with 26 points, while Smith scored 24 and House had 21. Smith, who went 8-for-8 from the foul line, also had nine assists and three steals. VanderWal had eight points, 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals and no turnovers, while Bronson finished with seven points and no turnovers. Bowser had six points and four blocked shots.

Furman's 17 three-pointers are a postseason high in school history and one shy of its season-high of 18 against Mercer. It's also one shy of the SoCon Tournament record of 18 set by VMI against Samford in 2020.

After beating Samford for the third time this season, Furman will try to avoid losing to Chattanooga for a third time on Sunday. The regular season losses to the Mocs came in pretty frustrating manner as the Paladins led each of those games at the half. In the first meeting in Greenville, Furman raced out to a 22-6 lead early, led 34-27 at the break, but went on to a 75-71 loss. The Paladins were just 17-of-28 from the foul line that day, while UTC made 25-of-28.

At Chattanooga on Feb. 8, Furman made 12-of-15 shots over the final 11 minutes of the first half to take a three-point lead into halftime. The Paladins made just 10-of-33 field goals in the second half to go on to an 85-72 loss.

In the SoCon's new scheduling format put in place last season, the No. 4 vs. No. 5 seed game was moved from approximately 2:30 p.m. on Saturdays following the 1/8 matchup to approximately 8:30 p.m. on Saturdays. So while the Mocs had to wait around for about nine hours to find out who they'd be playing, they also got much more rest.

Richey said none of those things will matter at 4 p.m. Sunday in what will be a battle of the two hottest teams in the league. Chattanooga has won 12 consecutive games, while Furman has won each of its last five.

"Both teams will be ready to play tomorrow. Dan's (Earl) a great coach and they have a great program. ... You know, these guys are young. We've got to go home, go to bed and rest up, but you get a chance to play to advance to the championship tomorrow," Richey said. "That (rest time) won't have an effect on the game. The game is going to come down to the same things most games come down to. It's going to be two really good teams playing for a chance to have a shot to go to March Madness.

"I thought our group did a great job this week of focusing in on just one game at a time. There's no championship tonight. There's no championship tomorrow. ... We'll need our full focus and full attention on a Chattanooga team that's very hot."

Hien, Furman set to begin quest for another ring

Left to right, Furman seniors Garrett Hien, PJay Smith and Nick Anderson celebrate
after Hien reached 1,000 points in his career. Photo courtesy of Furman

During the last basketball offseason, much was made about all the talent Furman lost to the transfer portal. A school losing four of its five leading scorers that accounted for 59.2 percent of the scoring certainly was noteworthy, especially for a program that had not really experienced that before.

But there was virtually no talk about what the Paladins had coming back. Nothing much about PJay Smith, who went on to earn Southern Conference Player of the Week honors four times this season on his way to first team All-SoCon honors. Nothing about the most experienced veteran Paladin returning and the team's heart and soul, Garrett Hien. Hien, who already etched his place in Furman history with perhaps the biggest steal and assist ever against Virginia in the NCAA Tournament in 2023, went on to make some clutch plays this season in helping the Paladins go 23-8.

That offseason talk put a little bit of a chip on the shoulders of veterans like Hien and Tyrese Hughey.

"The entire offseason our message was 'they're not going to recognize us.' I mean that was the first thing (Furman coach Bob) Richey said at our first meeting in June," Hien said. "We knew we had guys back that were forward pieces and we knew we were bringing really good pieces in. Our whole mentality in the summer was to build that camaraderie and connection.

"We knew people weren't going to believe in us, but all that matters is in our room. The 20 people in there who think we're going to win."

Folks certainly had to take notice in November and December as Furman built a 12-1 non-conference record with its only loss coming at then No. 1-ranked Kansas. That record was built in a true team fashion. By Dec. 4, 11 different Paladins had at least one double-figure scoring game.

After a blowout win at Western Carolina to open SoCon play on New Year's Day, the Paladins went on a small roller coaster of ups and downs during league play. Furman never won or lost more than two SoCon consecutive games before ending the regular season on a four-game winning streak.

If there ever was a time for Furman to be recognized like they want to be, it's this weekend as all eyes are on Asheville for the SoCon Tournament. The fifth-seeded Paladins open tourney play by facing No. 4-seed and reigning league champion Samford (22-9) Saturday at approximately 8:30 p.m. in the last of four quarterfinals at the Harrah's Cherokee Center.

The 45 combined wins for the Paladins and Bulldogs are the most for a quarterfinal matchup in the 104-year history of the SoCon Tournament. While Furman finished one game back of Samford and ETSU, which tied for third place, the Paladins swept the Bulldogs this season. While it certainly is hard to beat a team three times, it's also hard to be a good team once. To accomplish its goal this weekend, Furman will have to beat a trio of good teams once.

The Paladins enter coming off a pair of thrilling wins over in-state rivals for very different reasons. Last Saturday, Smith drilled the game-winning three with one second left in Furman's 78-75 win at Wofford. Smith's heroics were set up by a huge three from Hien when the Paladins were trailing by four late. Three days earlier, Furman closed out its home season at The Well in style. The Paladins raced out to a 44-11 halftime lead over The Citadel and went on to an 85-42 win, the most lopsided score in the SoCon this season.

"The non-conference is important and so is the conference season, but this is the championship phase and that's when you want to get hot," Hien said. "I think that's what we've kind of done. ... To go into Ashville with momentum and feel like we're one of the hottest teams in the league, I think will be good for us."

In college basketball in 2025, team chemistry often has to develop quickly with new players shuffling in and out of programs through the transfer portal. Furman has had success with that this season with newcomers like Nick Anderson and Tom House. Anderson is second on the team in scoring behind Smith and earned third team All-SoCon honors. Meanwhile, House has been a valuable "third scorer" down the stretch as he long range shooting ability has taken some pressure off Smith and Anderson.

However, team camaraderie can get perhaps its biggest boost from veterans who've played together multiple seasons like Hien and Hughey. That level of camaraderie was evident late in the blowout win over Citadel. After Hien hit a three-pointer to reach the 1,000-point mark in his career, the Furman bench celebrated wildly. Hien immediately checked out to a big hug from Richey and then the rest of his coaches and teammates.

"He's got 100 wins. He's scored 1,000 points. He's got a conference championship. He's got an NCAA Tournament win. I mean, he's got everything and more out of this experience that he wanted to get out of it," Richey said of Hien. "He was loyal and he stayed the course. Garrett's had different spouts of adversity of having to work through some things and figure some things out, but he always stayed committed and loyal. The reward you get out of that is that you see real growth.

"When you see guys stick to why they came here, for the reasons they came here and then you see the payoff for it. You could see the team's energy when he hit that three and just how much that meant to the whole team." 

Hien and Hughey were valuable parts of that 2022-23 SoCon championship team, as was junoir Ben VanderWal. Davis Molnar took a redshirt that season, but he was still part of that team. Hien said those four have tried to talk about what it takes to be a champion with others on the team since they've been there and done that.

 

"We understand the difference in if we have a good game versus having a great game," Hien said. "Every possession's got to be like it's the championship on Monday night. That's what it all comes down to in this league."

Furman women go cold, fall to Chattanooga

In her final college game, Tate Walters had 19 points in Furman's 63-55
loss to Chattanooga. Photo courtesy of the SoCon/Jeremy Fleming

During Furman's first round win over East Tennessee State Thursday at the Southern Conference Women's Basketball Tournament, the Paladins made 5-of-15 three-pointers. That may not sound like a lot in 2025, but it worked for Furman coach Pierre Curtis.

"If we hit 10 threes, great, but we just need five," Curtis said Thursday. "If we can make five threes, I feel great about our offense and then our defense can do the rest."

Unfortunately for the sixth-seeded Paladins, they proved just how right Curtis was in Friday's semifinals. Furman made just 2-of-19 threes and ended up losing by eight to second-seeded Chattanooga. The Mocs'  63-55 win at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville advances them to Sunday's championship against top-seeded UNC Greensboro.

For the game, the Paladins (16-16) shot just 37.7 percent from the floor. After improving to 10-1 in games in which it shot at least 45 percent this season on Thursday, they fell to 1-13 in games in which they shot less than 41 percent on Friday.

"Obviously, it's not the outcome we expected. It was just a play here or there where the game kind of got away from us. Then we fought back, and we got right back into it," Curtis said Friday. "But just for that one minute or two, we kind of as a group - the whole group, myself included - we lost composure for a little bit and they took advantage of it. ... Hats off to Chattanooga for toughing it out and winning a tough game."

Furman standout Tate Walters began her final game with a jumper on the opening possession. UTC standout Caia Elisaldez answered with a jumper 31 seconds later and the Paladins never led again.

Despite being ice cold from the perimeter, Furman was able to hang around thanks to its defense. The Paladins were never behind by more than seven over the first three quarters as they trailed 16-13 after one, 27-24 at the half and 39-33 going to the fourth.

Ironically, Furman made its first three-point attempt when Sydney Ryan tied the game 5-5 less than two minutes in. The Paladins didn't pull even again until the 6:18 mark of the third quarter when Walters hit a pair of free throws to knot the game at 29-29.

Furman had a chance to take the lead on its next possession, but turned it over. That turnover led to a three-pointer by the Mocs, which started a 7-0 run. Chattanooga used another 7-0 run in the fourth quarter to take its biggest lead at 12 and never led by fewer than six the rest of the way. After Ryan's three less than two minutes in, the Paladins other three didn't come until Walters made one with 1:20 remaining - snapping a team streak of 14 consecutive misses.

"It's been such an honor playing at Furman, and for the university, Coach (Jackie) Carson, Coach P and the entire staff during my five long years here," said Walters, who finished with a game-high 19 points and a team-high three assists. "The people here are why I decided to play here. I'll always consider them family."

Walters finishes her career with 1,268 points, which ranks 14th in school history. She's also second in program history with 453 assists. Freshman Raina McGowens had nine points and five rebounds off the bench for Furman Friday, while Jada Session, Kate Johnson and Sydney Ryan each scored seven for the Paladins. Session also pulled down 10 rebounds, giving her 677 in her career - the 10th most in school history.

"This year, I had a lot of nagging injuries that kind of took me out of games. I feel like it made me want to take advantage of the opportunity to play another game," Johnson said. "My mom played at Furman for four years. So it was always a dream of mine when I was little to do the same thing. I think it's amazing looking back on it and fulfilling that little girl's dream that wanted to follow her mom's footsteps."

Karsen Murphy lead Chattanooga (16-13) with 18 points, while Elisaldez had 16 points, five rebounds and five assists before fouling out with 3:10 remaining in the game.

In the final seconds, Curtis called for an intentional turnover to stop the clock. The stoppage allowed him to sub out his senior starters, so they could get one last ovation from fans and embraces from coaches and teammates. After the game, Curtis praised their work ethic.

"Our group as a whole, we fought. We showed who we are as Furman student-athletes. ... I got two kids up here right now (in the postgame conference) who've been with me for the longest. One of them (Walters) is coming off an (torn) Achilles. The other one (Johnson), I don't even know what part of her knee she has left that she hasn't given to Furman," Curtis said. "I've got another one in Jada, who's had two ACL (injuries).

"My kids are getting after it. They're giving everything that have to not only the basketball program at Furman, but the school as well. So I don't have any regrets for how the game went. We can leave here with our heads held high as Furman University women's basketball."

Defense powers Furman women past ETSU

Jada Session had 13 points and 11 rebounds in Furman's 64-58 win
over ETSU Thursday. Photo courtesy of SoCon/Jeremy Fleming

Sixth-seeded Furman used a tremendous defensive effort to knock off third-seeded East Tennessee State, 64-58, Thursday in the opening round of the Southern Conference Women's Basketball Tournament at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville. The Paladins limited the Bucs to 36.7 percent shooting to advance to Friday's second round. Furman (16-15) will take on No. 2-seed Chattanooga at approximately 1:15 p.m. with the trip to Sunday's championship on the line.

The Paladins' defensive effort was especially dominant in crunch time. ETSU made just 3-of-16 field goals (18.3 percent) in the fourth quarter. Furman, which avenged a sweep by the Bucs (17-13) in the regular season, was the lone lower seed to win in Thursday's opening round. The Paladins improved to 9-1 against ETSU in SoCon Tournament history.

"It was obviously a tough game, and we thought it would be. We just played them (last Saturday), and we thought for about 33 minutes of that game, we were right there," Furman coach Pierre Curtis said. "We were really confident coming into this game that if we made a couple of tweaks we could come out victorious. We had contributions from everybody on the team. We had 21 points from the bench in the first half, which was great.

"I have nothing but respect for (ETSU) Coach (Brenda) Mock (Brown) and her program, but I didn't think of us winning as an upset. We didn't come into this game like underdogs. We came in very confident. I have a bunch of seniors that don't want to stop playing basketball right now."

Two of those seniors that helped lead the way Thursday were Jada Session and Tate Walters. Session had 13 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks, while Walters navigated through foul trouble to finish with 10 points and four steals without fouling out.

It was the fifth double-double this season for Session, who was sidelined the first 10 games this season.

"It was upsetting at first, but I've just tried to make an impact since I've been back," Session said. "That was my goal for my senior year and it's been great."

Furman trailed 8-2 three-and-a-half minutes into Thursday's contest, but it held ETSU to just 1-for-8 shooting - sandwiched around four consecutive turnovers by the Bucs - the rest of the first quarter. That allowed the Paladins to take a 12-10 lead going into the second quarter.

Both teams' offenses got going in the second quarter as the game was tied 30-30 at halftime. Of those 21 points by Furman's bench in the first half, Jaelyn Acker accounted for nine of those all in the second. After making a total of three three-pointers over her previous eight games combined, Acker made 3-of-4 in the quarter.

The Paladins were able to take command of the game in a wild third quarter. ETSU had a stretch of seven consecutive missed shots before making six in a row. Meanwhile, Furman missed its first shot of the second half before making 11 of its next 13 to take a 55-48 lead to the final quarter.

Session and Walters helped seal the win as they combined for eight of the Paladins' nine points in the fourth quarter. Walters had a couple of huge defensive plays that helped secure the win. With 4:20 left, Walters made a steal and turned it into a fastbreak layup to give Furman its biggest lead at 61-52. ETSU didn't fold though. With less than a minute to play, the Bucs had the ball trailing 61-58 when Walters blocked a layup attempt by the Kendall Folley.

"It's been quite the journey, but I wouldn't have had it any other way," said Walters, who won her first SoCon Tournament game since leading the Paladins to the 2022 championship game. "I'm very proud of our team and the effort that we put forth today."

While ETSU made just 3-of-16 shots in the fourth, Furman was just 2-of-7 but it made 5-of-8 free throws. With 11 seconds left, freshman Raina McGowens hit 1-of-2 from the foul line to push the lead to four. Session made a pair of free throws with three seconds left to wrap up the victory.

In addition to Session's 13 points and Walters' 10, Acker finished with nine and Sydney Ryan scored eight. Chantelle Stuart also had seven points, a team-high four assists and two steals. The Paladins finished with a 27-9 advantage in bench points.

Meghan Downing led ETSU with 16 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots. Folley finished with 15 points, six rebounds and six assists.

Despite the relatively quiet fourth quarter, Furman shot 50 percent (24-of-48) for the game. The Paladins improved to 10-1 in games in which they've shot at least 45 percent from the floor. That includes a 74-70 overtime win at their next opponent, Chattanooga, last Thursday. Furman made 28-of-56 field goal that day.

"We have a motto right now: All we can ask for is an opportunity to have an opportunity to have another opportunity," Curtis said. "We had an opportunity to win today to get to another opportunity tomorrow."

Walters set for last shot at SoCon women's title

Furman senior Tate Walters earned second team All-Southern
Conference honors this season. Photo courtesy of Furman

Furman senior Tate Walters knows a thing or two about winning in March. Walters arrived in Greenville five years ago after helping Buford (Ga.) High earn Class 5A state championships in each of her four years there, going 118-8 along the way.

On Thursday, Walters begins her final chance at leading her college team to Southern Conference championship glory. The sixth-seeded Paladins will take on No. 3-seed East Tennessee State in the opening round of the SoCon Women's Tournament at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville. Tip-off is scheduled for approximately 3:30 p.m.

Furman (15-15, 5-9) will try to avenge a season sweep by the Bucs (17-12, 8-6), including a 62-50 road loss in last Saturday's regular season finale. It will be the first postseason meeting between the teams since 2016, but the Paladins have history on their side with an 8-1 record against ETSU at the SoCon Tournament. Furman is shooting for its first SoCon title and NCAA Tournament appearance since 2000.

Walters is one of four Paladins who average double-figure scoring with a team-high 12.3 points per game. Fellow seniors Jada Session and Kate Johnson average 10.5 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, respectively, while junior Sydney Ryan averages 10.8 points and 6.0 rebounds a game. Earlier this week, Walters earned second team All-SoCon honors after finishing sixth in the conference in scoring and third in assists with a team-high 114. Teammate Clare Coyle, who averages 6.2 points and a team-best 6.3 rebounds per game, made the SoCon's All-Freshman team.

Win or lose this week, it's sure to be emotional for Walters who's had a gamut of experiences in her college career. Plenty of the great moments in Walters' career have taken place on the Cherokee Center's court.

Just like this year, Furman was the sixth seed in Walters' freshman season in 2021. In her SoCon Tournament debut, Walters had 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists as the Paladins knocked off No. 3-seed Chattanooga, 58-40. She had 15 points the next day, but the Paladins fell to second-seeded Mercer by 10. 

As a sophomore, Walters helped third-seeded Furman reach the championship game. The Paladins would not have sniffed the final if Walters had not put on one of the greatest individual performances I've ever seen by a Furman athlete in the opening round. Furman trailed Chattanooga by four with just over a minute to play before Walters led a rally that resulted in an overtime win. You can read my recap of that game here: http://www.furmansportsreport.com/2022/03/furman-women-rally-survive-and-advance.html.

In the 2022 semifinals, Walters had 12 points, eight assists and six rebounds in the Paladins' 64-59 win over No. 2-seed Wofford. In the championship, Furman took a one-point lead into halftime over top-seeded Mercer before a big third quarter powered the Bears to the title. Walters had a team-high 20 points that day.

The following season, Walters was looking forward to trying to lead her team back to the SoCon championship in what turned out to be Jackie Carson's final year as head coach. That 2022-23 season ended for Walters before it even started though, after she tore an Achilles tendon in preseason practice. 

She returned to the court for new head coach Pierre Curtis last season. She averaged 10 points per game, had a team-best 107 assists and earned the SoCon's Ann Lashley Award, given to the player who overcomes injury or hardship. Furman had a quick exit at last season's SoCon Tournament as it fell to second-seeded UNC Greensboro in the opening round. Walters was the lone Paladin in double figures with 18 points in the 64-44 loss.

Walters enters this season's tournament ranked 16th on Furman's career scoring list with 1,239 points and is second in career assists with 448.

A two-time SoCon All-Tournament selection, four-time SoCon Academic Honor Roll pick, and CSC Academic All-District honoree a year ago, Walters collected her undergraduate degree in communications in 2023 and is on track to earn her master's degree in strategic design.

Thursday's Furman-ETSU winner will face either second-seeded Chattanooga or seventh-seeded Mercer in Friday's semifinal round at approximately 1:15 p.m.