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.

Smith hits game-winner, Furman earns five seed

PJay Smith (0) and Davis Molnar celebrate after Smith's game-winning three
 in Furman's 78-75 win at Wofford Saturday. Photo courtesy of Furman

SPARTANBURG - Furman's regular season finale Saturday was a pretty good summary of much of the season. Once again, the Paladins built a big early lead. Once again, they saw that lead evaporate. Once again, Furman found a way to come out on top. PJay Smith's three-pointer with 1.1 seconds left lifted the Paladins to a 78-75 win at Wofford.

The victory clinched a fifth-place finish in the Southern Conference for Furman (23-8, 11-7). The Paladins will take on fourth-seeded Samford in the SoCon Tournament quarterfinals in Asheville. Tip-off for the final game of Saturday's quadruple header at the Harrah's Cherokee Center is scheduled for approximately 8:30 p.m.

Furman improved to 15-4 in games decided by single digits this season and enters the postseason as one of the hottest teams in the league. Only three SoCon teams head to Asheville on a winning streak: Regular season champion Chattanooga has won 11 consecutive games, while third-seeded ETSU and the Paladins have won four straight. It's the longest streak for Furman since winning six in a row from Dec. 4 to Jan. 1.

"We got off to a good start, which in this series has often been a big storyteller. ... In our game in Greenville (an 81-62 loss), we got off to a horrible start so we wanted to get a better one today," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "We knew they wouldn't go away. They did a good job and man, they got this place rocking. It got crazy and we had to survive the momentum of it. They hit the three (to go up 74-70) and we could've folded, but we didn't. We ran action that we literally drew up on the board. We haven't got to practice it at all and Garrett Hien hits the big three.

"And then PJay (hits the winner). I told him in the locker room that he earned that in April, May and June. He worked his tail off and chose to lead this team with the way he worked, the way he modeled our program values and wanting to be here. ... It's 23 wins and counting for him and his team. Not a lot of players can say that. For him to finish the regular season with that shot and that momentum, that was earned a long time ago and I couldn't be more proud of him."

The 1-3-1 zone with a big out front has been a difference maker for Furman's defense down the stretch and that continued on Saturday. After it took The Citadel 10 attempts to make its first field goal in the Paladins' previous game, it took Wofford eight tries to make it's first shot on Saturday. By the time the Terriers got on the scoreboard on Jackson Sivills' three-pointer at the 15:48 mark, Furman had already built a 12-0 lead with all of its scoring coming from Smith and Nick Anderson. During that opening four-minute stretch of seven missed shots, Wofford also had three turnovers.

Having big men like Garrett Hien and Cooper Bowser at the top of that zone has caused havoc for perimeter passing by Furman's opponents of late. Even when balls aren't deflected, the threat has still been affective. Wofford had a couple of passes that were thrown so high over defenders they ended up as out of bounds turnovers.

"I really feel like it's just given Garrett some purpose up there. It's been a nice little change up for us. It's not a zone built to just sit in for long stretches because people can get in on it, just like they did in the second half," Richey said. "It's allows us to use our length, which we have. We don't have speed. So it allows us to cover some space with that length. It helped us get a big margin. Looking back, that was a key to winning the game."

Bowser's jumper gave Furman its biggest lead at 28-9 with 8:21 remaining in the first half. The Terriers refused to just roll over and play dead though. Over a stretch of just 74 seconds, Wofford went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 31-22 with 5:34 left. The Paladins were able to stem that tide and took a 40-29 lead into halftime.

Wofford shot just 32.4 percent in the opening half, but that trend did not continue. Furman led 49-36 on Davis Molnar's fast break layup off a Smith steal and assist at the 15:44 mark. The Terriers answered with a 14-4 run over the next four minutes capped by Corey Tripp's step back jumper to cut the lead to 53-50.

Wofford kept things tight as Furman couldn't buy a bucket. From Anderson's layup at the 14:15 mark to his layup at the 7:57 mark, the Paladins went 0-for-7 from the field. However, they didn't lose the lead during that stretch thanks to going 7-for-9 from the foul line.

It appeared that Furman had fully regained command when Hien drilled a three-pointer to push the lead to 68-60 with 4:53 remaining. The basketball gods frowned on Hien's post-shot celebration to the other end of the floor near the Wofford student section though, as the Terriers answered with a 14-2 run to take the lead for the first time. They grabbed the lead on a three-point play by Tripp, which began with a phenomenal dunk on Hien that had the home crowd going wild. Sivills' three-pointer with 1:13 left capped the flurry and gave Wofford a 74-70 lead.

Hien, who had not scored prior to his three that preceded Wofford's run, had Furman's lone two during that run. He then answered with a huge three with 53 seconds left. After his eighth consecutive point for Furman cut the lead to one, there was no celebration this time. Instead, the Paladins locked down defensively.

Despite the Terriers keeping big man Kyler Filewich - a 33 percent foul shooter - on the floor, Furman chose not to foul him. They played straight up and with the shot clock winding down, Bowser made a great play to severely impact Dillon Bailey's driving layup attempt without fouling. On a day in which the Paladins were owned on the glass, including 17 offensive boards for Wofford, they managed to get this huge loose ball rebound when Anderson saved the ball off of Filewich's head out of bounds with 23.5 seconds left.

The teams traded pretty cheap fouls, especially given the game-on-the-line situation. After Smith made both of his free throws with 15.1 seconds left put Furman ahead 75-74, Tripp only made 1-of-2 at the other end to leave the game tied at 75-75 with eight seconds left. With Furman out of timeouts, Smith took the inbounds pass all the way to the top of the key, took a step back and drilled a long three with 1.1 seconds left.

The Paladins held on as Jeremy Lorenz's contested three-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the rim no good. Given the fact that it wasn't listed in the official play-by-play, it appears the shot would not have counted anyway.

"I feel like my teammates and coaches trust me enough to take the last shot. I just knew there was eight seconds left and we didn't have any timeouts, so I was just thinking to go out there and win for my team and I did that," Smith said. "It really wasn't a lot of pressure since we were tied. I just went out there free of mind. I go out there and practice shots like that every day, and I just ended up making that one."

Smith padded his All-SoCon resume with a game-high 26 points, four steals, three assists and one turnover. He was just 5-of-15 from the floor, but all five were three-pointers and he made all 11 of his free throws. As a team, Furman went 22-of-28 from the foul line while Wofford was 15-of-21. Anderson was the lone other Paladin in double figures with 21 points and just one turnover. Hien finished with those eight vitally important points, five rebounds, three assists and no turnovers.

The output by Smith and Anderson was even more significant given the fighting they had to do to get open enough to score. There were active hands by Wofford defenders on both of them away from the ball all night.

"Teams are going to be physical and try to knock us out of what we do, but I give credit to my coaches and teammates," Smith said. "My teammates set good screens to get us open and we end up getting good looks."

Wofford shot 60 percent from the floor in its 46-point second half. The Terriers outrebounded Furman, 39-24, for the game. They outscored the Paladins 36-18 in the paint and 18-5 in second chance points, but Furman once again found a way to victory.

With an unpredictable SoCon Tournament on deck, finding different ways to win like the Paladins have this season could prove to be quite valuable.

"Every game plan, it's 'what can you give up?' and 'what are they going to get because that's just what they do?' We can't inject Bowser with all this weight before he has to go mash up with Filewich," Richey said. "So he's (Filewich) is going to get some and they're going to make some threes, but we had to win certain aspects of it. We won the free throw line tonight, which was a huge deal to us going into the game. We won the three-point line, which is a big deal. We built a margin that allowed us to sustain some of that stuff.

"I just can't say enough about our guys' responses when adversity set in. You need that in March. ... We're headed to Asheville to take them one at a time, but this group is excited to see what they can do in this tournament."

Filewich went 8-for-10 from the floor (and 0-for-3 at the foul line) to finish with 16 points and 11 rebounds for Wofford. While he was solid on Saturday as he's been all season, his plus-minus was minus-19 during his 28 minutes on the floor. Tripp also scored 16 points, but he finished with six of the Terriers' 13 turnovers.

Smith earns Player of the Week honors

Smith's heroics Saturday helped him claim SoCon Player of the Week honors announced Tuesday. Smith's numbers in Spartanburg followed a 19-point showing in Furman's 43-point win over The Citadel last Wednesday. Smith also had four assists against the Bulldogs.

It's the fourth Player of the Week award claimed by Smith this season and first for any Paladin since conference play began.

Paladins close out their Well season very well

PJay Smith (0) and Tom House scored 19 points apiece in Furman's
85-42 win over The Citadel Wednesday. Photo courtesy of Furman

"Find a way Furman" is a moniker the Paladins earned this season thanks to quite a few rallies for close wins, such as their overtime victory at The Citadel earlier this season. In Wednesday's rematch, it was more like "get out of Furman's way." The Paladins dominated from start to finish as they rolled to an 85-42 win in the home finale at The Well. It was the most lopsided score among all Southern Conference games this season, topping Wofford's 82-43 win at VMI a week earlier.

The victory guaranteed the Paladins (22-8, 10-7) at least the No. 6 seed at the SoCon Tournament, avoiding the two Friday "play-in" games. It also gave Furman three consecutive wins in SoCon play for the first time this season, which isn't a bad idea to prove to yourself before heading to Asheville next weekend. It's the Paladins' longest winning streak since six straight from Dec. 4 to Jan. 1. Furman went 11-1 on Wednesdays this season, including 8-1 in SoCon play.

While Citadel (5-23, 0-17) saw its losing streak reach 20 consecutive games, it had not been manhandled like this. The first meeting was one of three SoCon games the Bulldogs lost in overtime. They were coming off a one-point loss at SoCon regular season champion Chattanooga after a video review correctly overturned what was initially ruled a game-winning shot at the final horn.

"Down in Charleston, they outplayed us in a lot of ways and we were fortunate to win the game in overtime. I thought our guys really approached tonight's game with the right mentality," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "That team was a tenth of a second away from winning at Chattanooga. You can say 'well, they haven't won a (SoCon) game,' but people don't understand how hard this stuff is. ... They've had some heartbreakers and to keep fighting the way they have is a credit to a great culture and a great coach in Ed (Conroy)."

Citadel's 42 points were the lowest allowed by Furman during Richey's eight years as head coach. It was the lowest output allowed by the Paladins in a SoCon game since an 85-37 win over Western Carolina in the 2016-17 season. The 1-3-1 zone that Furman switched to late at Samford, which helped secure that big victory a week earlier, appeared from the start Wednesday. The Paladins played zone the rest of the night. After shooting just 15.4 percent in the first half, the Bulldogs shot 34.6 percent in the second half to finish as 25 percent (13-of-52) for the game.

"In that first game (at Citadel) we fell behind by eight and had some success when we went to the zone there, so we wanted to mix it in tonight," Richey said. "We didn't intend to play it as much as we did. It's not something we go to all the time ... but I thought it just gave us good energy all night. Our guys were flying around and had 47 deflections. I don't ever remember a total that high since we started tracking deflections as an assistant or head coach."

While Furman shot 52.5 percent from the floor, including 45.5 percent (15-of-33) on three-pointers, defense set the tone for everything Wednesday. The Paladins led 13-0 nearly eight minutes into the game before the Bulldogs got on the board with a pair of free throws. Citadel missed its first nine shots before converting a layup at the 11:38 mark, then missed it's next seven shots before a three-pointer at the 7:02 mark. By that point, Furman led 26-4. That second defensive stretch was highlighted by an incredible blocked layup by PJay Smith. Nick Anderson grabbed the rebound then fired to Smith, who nailed a three on the other end.

After those first two made baskets for Citadel 13 minutes into the game, it made only two more shots the rest of the half as Furman took a 44-11 lead at the break. It was the lowest output by a Furman opponent in the opening half since the Paladins led Virginia Intermont 69-8 at the half on Dec. 29, 2004.

Getting a lead like Furman got helped the offense play more freely with little worry about missing a shot. The Paladins looked plenty confident from the 7:32 mark of the first half to the 15:56 mark of the second when they made 13-of-17 field goals, never missing back-to-back shots. Four of those made shots belonged to Tom House, who personally outscored Citadel in the first half with 15 points on 5-of-5 three-point shooting in 12 minutes off the bench.

"When you keep focusing on defense, it takes all the pressure off offense. When you get a margin like that, everybody's shot is feeling more loose," House said. "When you get stops and get in transition, people can't key in on our shooters. You've seen when we've had bad offensive games, they've been able to key in on PJay, Nick and me and it's hard to get open. But if you're in transition in a broken floor where you keep getting stops, that's where most of my shots came from tonight."

Often this season, Furman has seen an early double-digit lead evaporate. That includes the first meeting in Charleston when the Paladins saw a 13-point lead early in the second half turn into a seven-point deficit six minutes later thanks to a 23-3 run by the Bulldogs. Because of that defense though, Wednesday's big advantage was never threatened.

In the second half, Furman's lead never got lower than 31. The only drama after halftime came with wondering if Garrett Hien would reach the 1,000-point plateau for his career in his final home game. He needed 14 points in the game and scored four in the first half. Hien was at 997 points with 4:43 left when he knocked down a three and everybody seemed to know what that meant. Sixteen seconds later, a foul stopped play allowing Hien to check out to a standing ovation from the crowd and hugs from his coaches and teammates.

"I think everybody knew because they flashed up (on the scoreboard) that I had 1,000 when I needed about eight more. I was on the bench and saw that and thought, 'unless I miscounted, I don't think I have it yet,' " Hien said with a smile. "It was awesome, especially to do it with this group of guys. We support each other so much. To do it in the last home game in front of the fans was special too.

"Before every game, me, House, Rese (Tyrese Hughey) and Chuck (Charles Johnston) go to a coffee house and chop it up. I was telling Rese today that I had two games to get it and he told me I was going to get it tonight."

A few minutes later, the second biggest roar of the night came when the Furman walk-ons checked in to close out the game. All 15 Paladins on the roster logged at least two minutes. Smith and House had a game-high 19 points apiece as House made 6-of-7 shots and Smith was 7-for-10. House was 6-for-6 on threes, becoming just the third player in school history to have a perfect night from beyond the arc with at least five attempts. Anderson finished with seven points, three steals and six assists for Furman, which had 23 assists as a team.

In addition to his 14 points, Hien had seven rebounds and four assists. 

"It's always neat to see guys get rewarded for their effort and really their loyalty," Richey said. "Garrett's been in a lot of big games and had a lot of good moments here. You cut him open and he's going to bleed purple. You could see the team's energy when he hit that three and just how much that meant to the whole team.

"I couldn't be more proud of him. I told him it was pretty ironic he did it on a three-ball, but you know what? He's been working on his three a lot here lately and listen, Garrett can shoot. That's why we signed him. If he's shooting with that confidence, it gives us another element."

Brody Fox led Citadel with 14 points and six rebounds.

Furman wraps up the regular season at its other in-state rival, Wofford (16-14, 10-7), Saturday at 2 p.m. The winner will be the fifth seed at the SoCon Tournament, while the loser gets the sixth seed. The Paladins will try to avenge an 81-62 home loss to Wofford in the first meeting this season. The Terriers are coming off a 90-67 win at Western Carolina Wednesday for their fourth victory in the past six games.

Anderson leads Furman past VMI on Senior Day

Nick Anderson had 22 points and four assists in Furman's
75-71 win over VMI Saturday. Photo courtesy of Furman

On a day when four Furman seniors were honored in a pregame ceremony Saturday at The Well, the one with the most experience with Senior Days led the Paladins to victory. Nick Anderson scored 19 of his game-high 22 points in the second half as Furman held on for a 75-71 victory over VMI. In avenging a 91-82 loss in Lexington, Va. earlier this season, the Paladins won back-to-back games for the first time since Jan. 29 and just the second time in the calendar year of 2025.

Prior to the game, Anderson was cited along with fellow seniors Garrett Hien, Tyrese Hughey and PJay Smith. Last season, Anderson - who has the unique distinction of being the only Paladin in the past 27 years to never set foot on the Timmons Arena court - was honored in Senior Day festivities prior to scoring 17 points in Barry University's win over Tampa.

Saturday marked an impressive turnaround by Furman's defense in comparison to the first meeting this season. At VMI, the Keydets shot 51.8 percent from the floor, including 40.9 percent from three. On Saturday, they shot 41.8 percent, including 28.6 percent. Both of those percentages were boosted by VMI making 5-of-6 field goals - including 3-of-4 threes -  over the final 45 seconds of the game. Prior to that flurry, the Keydets were 5-of-24 from three. The biggest difference actually came at the foul line as VMI made 7-of-10 Saturday after hitting 24-of-27 in the first meeting.

"They (VMI) just didn't go away. ... I do think we guarded them better this game than we did there. They put 91 on us up there and we just did a horrible job guarding them that night," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "It's a unique situation because they basically have five guards out there. They really only have one true post player in (Kaden) Stuckey and he comes off the bench. ... It puts pressure on your defense to guard the bounce.

"The key for us is that we didn't foul them. In most of their conference wins, they're shooting more than 20 free throws, so we had to guard without fouling. That's the reason we won the game."

The Paladins (21-8, 9-7 Southern Conference) also got off to a much better start offensively than they did at VMI. Hien's three-pointer gave Furman a 20-8 lead less than seven minutes into the game. But after going 8-for-10 to start the game, the Paladins made just 4-of-17 shots and had six turnovers over the final 13 minutes of the first half to a take a 30-27 lead into halftime.

"They intensified their defense and started getting underneath us and we did a horrible job handling their pressure. A couple of times, we literally threw the ball right to them. They were able to change the game with some of their ball pressure," Richey said. "In addition to our nine turnovers (in the first half), they'd also gotten seven or eight offensive rebounds. So we basically increased their possession count by 16. Cutting down the turnovers was a big message at halftime."

While Furman never relinquished the lead, it remained no more than a four-point advantage for the first seven minutes of the second half. The Paladins really needed some kind of big momentum play to help begin creating a little more separation. Ben VanderWal provided that spark and Anderson added fuel to the flame. With Furman leading 41-37, Anderson hit a pair of free throws and a jumper to push the lead to eight. Cooper Bowser grabbed a rebound and made a terrific baseball pass to VanderWal, who soared to the basket for a dunk. That forced a VMI timeout with Furman lead 47-37 and 11:01 remaining.

"We didn't play the last 10 minutes of the first half how we wanted to. We weren't the aggressor," VanderWal said. "Everybody was still kind of throwing light punches (to start the second half), so it was good that got a big punch to give us a 10-point lead in the middle of the second half. It was the ball movement. We were driving the pressure and not stagnating out.

"I was the beneficiary of a couple of back cuts with good passes from Nick and PJay that helped get us out of that little lull. Then obviously, Nick took over to help us stretch that lead."

VanderWal had a layup on Furman's next trip, then drove to the paint again on the next. This time though, VanderWal drew a double team so he kicked out to Anderson, who buried a three. From the 17:52 mark to the 7:30 mark, Anderson and VanderWal accounted for all 21 of Furman's points. That's just before Smith knocked down a three-pointer to give Furman it's biggest lead of the game at 57-44.

Furman still maintained a 10-point lead with less than four minutes to play, but VMI never quit. Anderson's layup with 1:29 left pushed the Paladins lead to eight and Bowser's dunk to beat the press made it a 68-61 lead with 39 seconds left. That only miss by the Keydets in their final six shots resulted in an offensive rebound and a three by Tan Yildizoglu. The next trip down, Yildizoglu hit a tough reverse layup to cut the lead to 71-68 with 10.8 seconds left. After Anderson sank a pair of free throws, VMI's T.J. Johnson hit a rainbow three with 3.3 seconds left to make it 73-71. Smith hit a pair of free throws with 2.7 seconds left to seal the win.

"Man, you thought the game was about to close out and they just wouldn't go away. That's the sign of a well-coached team," Richey said. "Cutting down the turnovers in the second half was the difference.

"Ben made some huge plays and then Nick really got it going. They were pressuring so heavy on the perimeter, the middle was open and we ended up getting him in the middle a decent amount."

After hitting 19 of its last 20 free throws in the win at Samford last Wednesday, Furman made 9-of-10 over the final 1:45 Saturday. In the second half, Furman committed just three turnovers and allowed just three offensive rebounds.

In addition to his 22-point showing, Anderson also had four assists, four rebounds, no turnovers and no fouls. Smith was the lone other Paladin in double figures with 17 points, eight rebounds, three steals and no fouls.

"It was a second Senior Night for me. I'm officially an old man," Anderson said with a smile. "The fans mean everything to us. They really showed up and showed out for us today. ... Everybody just feeds off that energy."

VanderWal finished with nine points, six rebounds, four assists and no turnovers. Hien had eight points, two steals and two assists in only 14 minutes before questionably fouling out with more than seven minutes left to play. As a team, Furman had assists on 21 of its 25 made field goals.

Johnson had 21 points and four steals for VMI (13-16, 7-9), while Yildizoglu finished with 20 points.

Furman will next host rival The Citadel on Wednesday at the The Well at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs (5-22, 0-16) have lost 19 consecutive games, but are coming off a wild 76-75 loss at first-place Chattanooga. For the second time this season, Citadel had what would've been a game-winning basket overturned after video replay confirmed the ball didn't leave the shooter's hands before the final horn sounded.

In a game so ugly only a mother could love in Charleston earlier this season, Furman rallied for a 67-63 overtime victory over the Bulldogs. A win Wednesday would guarantee at least a top six finish in the league standings for the Paladins, thus avoiding the two Friday "play-in" games at the SoCon Tournament next week in Asheville, N.C.

Free throws help Paladins sweep Samford

PJay Smith had 32 points, four assists and four steals in Furman's
80-72 win at Samford Wednesday. Photo courtesy of Furman

For the second consecutive game, Furman made only seven field goals in the second half Wednesday night at Samford but the final result could not have been more different. In the latest wild chapter of this thrilling series, the Paladins overcame blowing a 21-point second half lead and making just 7-of-21 field goals after halftime to find a way to an 80-72 victory.

The difference between Wednesday's result and last Saturday's 58-50 loss to UNC Greensboro, in which the Paladins made 7-of-28 field goals in the second half, came at the foul line. A Furman team that entered Wednesday ranked in the 300s nationally in free throw percentage at 67.4 percent, made 19-of-20 free throws over the final 6:41 to secure the win.

Oh by the way, a 30-5 first-half run by the Paladins was also a factor.

The win completed a season series sweep of Samford and marked the seventh time in the past nine seasons that Furman (20-8, 8-7 Southern Conference) has won 20 games. While the Paladins have hovered around the .500 mark in league play all year, they improved to 7-1 on Wednesdays in the SoCon.

"I couldn't be more proud of the way our team responded. ... We got off to a great defensive start, which kind of propelled our offense. In the second half, I thought we came out with a good spirit and pushed it up to 21," Furman coach Bob Richey said on the Furman Radio Network's postgame show. "Then they made their run. They made a huge run and this place got rocking and loud. They picked up their pressure and we got a little sped up, clearly, but we didn't fold.

"The game honors toughness. That's what we've built this on. We have to make a decision every single day that we're going to play with the toughness necessary, the passion, perseverance and grit that it takes to win games. That's been the whole message for the last 48 hours and I thought every single person in our program did that tonight."

The game was tied 13-13 at the 13:43 mark before a flurry by the Bulldogs staked them to a 20-13 lead less than one minute later. That's when the entire Furman team suddenly channeled their inner Mike Bothwell from the matchup in Birmingham two years ago. Bothwell accounted for all of the Paladins' points over the first eight-plus minutes in 2023 as he outscored Samford 18-7 on his way to a 35-point night in a SoCon regular season title clinching win.

On Wednesday, a Garrett Hien alley-oop to Cooper Bowser started a 9-0 Furman run that was capped by another Hien alley-oop to Bowser. The Paladins led 27-25 at the 7:52 mark when Nick Anderson's jumper began a 16-0 run. All told from the 12:39 mark to the 1:11 mark of the first half, Furman outscored Samford 30-5 to take a 43-25 lead.

The Bulldogs (20-8, 10-5) scored the last five points of the half to cut the lead to 43-30 at the break. Much like in the first meeting this season in Greenville, Samford had to feel fortunate to not be down by more as Furman had only one score over the final 4:39 of the half - a PJay Smith three-pointer.

The Paladins quickly regained command in the second half as their 8-0 run over the first two-and-a-half minutes gave them their biggest lead at 51-30 and forced a Samford timeout. Then it suddenly became Samford's turn for a rather insane run, although anyone who's watched either of these teams this season or any games in this series should not have been too stunned. The Bulldogs were coming off an eight-point win at Wofford in which they trailed by 16 points with 14 minutes to play.

Over the next 7:43, Furman's only points came on a Bowser tip-in as the Bulldogs went on a 16-2 run to cut the lead to 53-46. After pushing the lead back to 59-49 at the 9:16 mark, the Paladins made just 1-of-6 field goals the rest of the way. 

Furman's lead was down to 64-62 when officials inexplicably halted a Paladins' possession in which a Samford player was shaken up behind the ball for the second time in the second half. Typically, play continues until the team with the injured player regains possession. Foolishly stopping play otherwise can only encourage fake injuries and we have enough of those already in football.

Where the stoppage occurred also forced Furman to have to inbound the ball against Samford's press from the sideline. With the Bulldogs' bench to his left, Nick Anderson also had to inbound the ball with Samford coach Bucky McMillan inexplicably being allowed to coach about a foot away to Anderson's right. Anderson's inbounds pass was stolen and that 21-point deficit was completely erased when Rylan Jones' layup at the 3:44 mark tied the game at 64-64.

Furman may have given up the lead, but a defensive switch helped it never fall behind. Bowser made two free throws on the Paladins' ensuing possession as they regained the lead. Furman then went to a 1-3-1 defense with Hien applying pressure at the top of it. The Bulldogs' next three possessions ended with two turnovers and a missed three.

Meanwhile, Furman's one made field goal over the final 9:15 was a biggie. As the shot clock expired, Smith's jumper with his toes on the three-point line extended Furman's lead to 70-64 with 1:40 left.

"It just got to a point where we just had to change the rhythm a little bit. They were getting to the basket too easy. The space that (Jaden) Brownell was getting on threes was too easy," Richey said. "And man did that 1-3-1 change the rhythm. ... It really saved us tonight."

Samford cut the lead to two with 29 seconds left before Eddrin Bronson hit a pair of free throws four seconds later to make it a two-score game again. Smith closed out the scoring on a pair of free throws with four seconds left to cap off his 32-point night.

After going 0-for-7 from three in the first meeting against Samford this season, Smith drilled 6-of-9 threes on Wednesday. On his career-high scoring night, Smith also made 12-of-13 free throws as he drew eight fouls. He also had four assists, four steals and only two turnovers.

Bowser, a 65.5 percent shooter who didn't attempt a shot against UNCG, picked up where he left off against Samford the first time around as he had 16 points and six rebounds. Bowser hit 6-of-8 field goals Wednesday to make him 14-of-16 shooting against the Bulldogs this season. Anderson finished with 13 points and six rebounds, while Tom House added seven points, four assists and four rebounds. Davis Molnar had seven rebounds and two assists in 10 minutes off the bench also for Furman.

Furman won despite allowing a ridiculous 26 second-chance points off 14 offensive rebounds by Samford. A few of those belonged to Brownell, who had 25 points, five rebounds, two blocks and two steals to lead the Bulldogs. Trey Fort, who was coming off a 36-point game at Wofford, had 14 points on 5-of-14 shooting Wednesday. Josh Holloway had 14 points, five rebounds and four assists also for Samford.

The Paladins will try to win back-to-back games for just the second time since the calendar flipped to 2025 when they host VMI on Senior Day at The Well Saturday at noon. Anderson, Hien, Smith and Tyrese Hughey will be honored prior to the game. The Keydets (13-15, 7-8) are coming off an 82-43 home loss to Wofford on Wednesday.

"They (VMI) pounded us in Lexington (Virginia). We had a great crowd last Saturday (against UNCG). I know we didn't get the result that we wanted, but we need another great crowd this Saturday," Richey said. "We've got a chance to really build some momentum, one at a time, as we head into Asheville. All of our goals are on the table and we've got to keep pushing forward."

Furman's solid defense not enough to top UNCG

Tyrese Hughey, left, goes up for a shot during Furman's 58-50
loss to UNC Greensboro Saturday. Photo courtesy of Furman

Following an 85-72 loss at Chattanooga on Feb. 8, the message to the Furman basketball team from Coach Bob Richey and his staff was clear: For the Paladins to succeed, defense must be priority No. 1. Furman responded with a solid defensive effort in a 96-72 win over Mercer last Wednesday, and then had an even better defensive showing Saturday against UNC Greensboro.

Unfortunately for the Paladins, the Spartans' defense was even better. UNCG held Furman to a season-low 26.8 shooting percentage to record a 58-50 win at The Well. It's the lowest scoring output by the Paladins since a 70-50 loss at Dayton on Dec. 19, 2015. It's the fewest points allowed by Furman in a loss since it fell to the Spartans, 58-56, in a game also played at The Well, on Feb. 5, 2022.

In sweeping the season series against the Paladins for the second consecutive season, the Spartans (18-9, 11-3 Southern Conference) remain tied with Chattanooga for first place in the SoCon.

"I thought both teams fought extremely hard. ... We got down, tied it; got down, tied it; got down, tied it. We were never able to put ourselves in a position where we could get any type of margin," Richey said. "They obviously answered those runs that we had made to catch back up and then made some critical plays down the stretch.

"We missed our first seven threes. I thought most of them were pretty good looks and sometimes that can affect your effort. I was proud of our guys though because I thought they continued to compete at a high level. But it's hard to win games when you shoot 27 percent from from the floor and get one bucket from all of your interior players."

It was an odd game in many ways, including some of the final totals. Both teams tried exactly 28 field goals each half. While UNCG only made 11 each half (39.3 percent), Furman (l9-8, 7-7) followed up eight made shots in the first half by only making seven after halftime. Coming off their 96-point performance where they drilled 18 three-pointers against Mercer, the Paladins were 8-of-30 from three (26.7 percent) on Saturday.

Of the 15 made field goals, guards PJay Smith, Nick Anderson and Tom House accounted for 14 of those. Furman's starting frontcourt of Ben VanderWal, Garrett Hien and Cooper Bowser combined for one point on 0-of-5 shooting. VanderWal, who's shooting 53.7 percent this season, went 0-for-1 from the floor, while Bowser - who's shooting 65.0 percent - did not attempt a shot.

On a night where there were plenty of rebounds to be had, the trio combined for 13 including just two offensive. As a team, Furman outrebounded UNCG 40-39, but the Paladins scored only five second-chance points off 13 offensive boards. Meanwhile, the Spartans had nine points off their eight offensive rebounds. UNCG had a 26-10 advantage in the paint.

"We've got to get more production down low. That was the difference today," Richey said. "You're talking about a game in the 50s with two teams competing and playing a high level of defense. Buckets are going to be hard to come by and you've got to scrap and claw for them. I didn't feel like we were really aggressive. We get 13 offensive rebounds, but we're only able to turn them into five points. Again, that points to physicality."

The tone for the game was set in the opening five minutes of each half. Furman missed its first six shots of the game - all threes - and had two turnovers as UNCG took a 9-0 lead before Smith's jumper in the paint at the 15:00 mark of the first half.

An 8-0 run by Furman tied the game at 15-15 before the Paladins took their lone lead at 18-17 on a Nick Anderson three with 6:47 left in the first half. UNCG's Kenyon Giles answered with a jumper 25 seconds later and the Spartans never trailed again.

After getting outscored 9-0 over the first five minutes of the first half, Furman was outscored 9-3 over the first five minutes of the second half to face its largest deficit at 37-27. The Paladins answered with a 10-0 run that was led by one of the unlikeliest of Furman heroes Saturday.

Tyrese Hughey, who had appeared in only two SoCon games this season and none since Jan. 13, became Furman's fifth different scorer Saturday when he hit a pair of free throws with 12:27 left. Hughey capped the run with a three-point play that tied the game 37-37 with 10:57 remaining. That was the only field goal made by a Paladin besides Smith, Anderson and House.

"Tyrese Hughey gave us a spark. He's been practicing with a lot of energy and we just felt like we needed somebody to come in and give us some physicality and ruggedness," Richey said. "I thought he did a good job of that."

Following his three-point play, Hughey grabbed a rebound on the other end. Furman's ensuing possession ended on a shot-clock violation and that seemed to dissolve all that momentum. The next time down, Charles Johnston - who hasn't made a three-pointer at home since making 4-of-8 against Wofford on Jan. 13 - missed an open three. The next Furman possession ended when Hughey tried to feed the post, but his pass sailed over Bowser's head out of bounds. That all helped start a 9-0 by UNCG as it regained command. Ronald Polite had seven of those nine points for the Spartans.

Smith hit a three and a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 46-42 with 4:40 left. Fourteen seconds later, Anderson made a steal and the Paladins had a chance to slice the lead to two or one. Bowser had the ball near the top of the key with the shot clock running down and couldn't find anyone to come get the ball. His rushed pass was picked off by Polite, who drove in for a layup.

In a game that felt like the first team to 50 would win, Giles drained a three-pointer with 2:59 left to push UNCG's lead to 51-42. Smith's three cut the lead to 51-48 with 2:05 left, but Furman could never get closer as Giles answered with a jumper. The Spartans' Donovan Atwell, who entered Saturday ranked fifth in the country in made three-pointers, was only 2-of-7 from three. That second one was a backbreaker though as it pushed the lead to 56-48 with 1:10 remaining.

"They're (UNCG) real physical. They try to impose their will and they're really good at ball screen coverage. ... There's other ways out of that, but obviously we didn't do that today," Smith said. "The offense could've been much better and although we lost, I feel like we're taking a step forward in the defensive area. ... Ultimately, when it comes down to it in the tournament, defense is going to be the biggest separator between teams."

Smith had 17 points, while Anderson scored 16, to lead Furman. House finished with 10 points and six rebounds off the bench. Hughey had five points, while Hien and Johnston each scored one to complete Furman's scoring.

"At the end of the day, you've got to put the ball in the hole," Hughey said. "It's frustrating. We did as much as we could on the defensive end, but you've got to play with more confidence on the offensive end."

Giles scored a game-high 19 points and had four assists for UNCG. Polite added 15 points, five rebounds, five assists and drew seven fouls. While Atwell had just eight points, he also had seven rebounds, three blocks and two steals. He finished with a plus-minus of plus-19 for the Spartans.

Furman will try to run its Wednesday winning streak to four when it plays at Samford Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The Bulldogs (20-7, 10-4) are coming off a 76-68 win at Wofford Saturday. Trey Fort scored a career-high 36 points as Samford rallied from a 16-point second half deficit for just its second win ever at Wofford, and first since 2012.

House party: Third shooter leads Furman to rout

Tom House had 26 points and seven rebounds in Furman's
96-72 win over Mercer. Photo courtesy of Furman

For the third time in the past four games, Furman's basketball team put on a 10-minute clinic in the opening half Wednesday night against Mercer. Unlike the previous two times, this scintillating effort wasn't wasted.

A big reason it wasn't wasted was Florida State transfer Tom House. House came off the bench to score a career-high 26 points and help the Paladins make a season-high 18 three-pointers as they rolled over the Bears, 96-72, at The Well.

House and Nick Anderson each made 6-of-9 three-pointers as Furman connected on 18-of-36 as a team. It's the most threes in a game for the Paladins (19-7, 7-6 Southern Conference) since hitting 21 against Western Carolina on Jan. 19, 2022. Furman also made 18 threes in games against VMI and Tulane, respectively, last season.

"It was nice to see guys stepping to the ball with confidence. We always talk about 20 and 10. We got 23 assists and 10 turnovers, so check that box there and we got 30 deflections," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "All we've really talked about for the past 48 hours is our defense. It's funny that you then come out and have the best offensive game you've had all year.

"It's been a challenging couple of days just making sure that guys understand that in six conference wins going into tonight, we're holding teams to 68 points a game. In six conference losses, they've scored 82 (a game). That's a 14-point gap that at the end of the day, we have to own. ... We've had some really good defensive performances, regardless of the opponent, and we've had some really poor defensive performances, regardless of the opponent. That's a choice that we have to make. ... This team has to be a defensive team. Now if we want to keep scoring 96, I'm not going to have a problem with that, but for the most part we've got to hold people to 70 or below."

Furman was coming off an 85-72 loss at Chattanooga. The Paladins ended the first half of that game by making 12 of their final 15 shots as part of a 29-16 run to take a three-point lead into halftime. That lead was quickly buried thanks to the Mocs' 52-point second half. At ETSU on Feb. 2, the Paladins raced out to a 27-13 less than 10 minutes into the game only to trail by five at the half and went on to a 72-69 loss.

So while the good times were rolling Wednesday when Anderson's three-pointer pushed the Furman lead to 33-12 at the 10:08 mark, there had to some nerves about what the rest of the half might bring. Sure enough, Mercer (11-15, 4-9) went on an 8-0 run over the next two minutes to cut the lead to 13.

House made sure that double-digit lead wasn't going anywhere though. After he drilled a three-pointer at the 7:59 mark, he grabbed a rebound on the other end. House took a couple of dribbles before firing a long pass to a cutting Ben VanderWal for a dunk. After the Bears answered with a jumper, House answered back with a transition three from the wing. The 8-2 run over a stretch of 35 seconds pushed the lead back to 41-22 and the Paladins went on to take a 52-35 lead into halftime.

"Our coaches harped on (communication on defense) all week in practice. During these runs, if you start talking to other people it kind of gets you out of your own head. You're not thinking about making a shot or making a mistake," House said. "For me personally, that communication helps impact the game."

In the second half, Mercer managed to whittle the lead down to seven four different times but never got any closer. All four times it got to seven, Furman scored on its ensuing possession beginning with a big three-pointer by Eddrin Bronson at the 12:47 mark. Furman led 77-66 with 7:23 left before VanderWal's fourth three-pointer this season kicked off a 19-6 run to close out the game.

"The luxury of tonight was that we had a third guy step up. So when teams go on these runs, you don't have the pressure of Nick and PJay (Smith) having to get something done," Richey said. "Tonight, we didn't have just Tom step up. We had multiple guys step up."

In addition to his 26-point night, House also grabbed a season-high seven rebounds in his 26 minutes off the bench. He was one of five Paladins in double figures and seven with at least nine points.

"I was really happy for Tom tonight. He's been really playing well for three weeks, so this night was coming and he can do this more. I'm not trying to put pressure on him for 26 a night. I'm not saying that," Richey said. "You don't get offers from Florida State and Georgia and not really be a player. ... Tonight you could see the look of confidence in him early. We've been seeing that in practice. He was incredible there on Monday. I'm not sure he missed a shot. I was hoping that'd continue tonight and sure enough, it did.

"When we have a third shooter out there, it just changes stuff. It was fun to see. He needed to have a game like that. He's worked really, really hard and worked as hard as anyone in our program this summer. You never know when hard work is going to pay off, but at some point it's going to give you dividends."

Both teams leading scorers this season doggedly pursued each other all night. While Mercer's Ahmad Robinson had a team-high 17 points, six rebounds and four assists, he also was guilty of seven of the Bears' 13 turnovers. Smith was just 5-of-15 from the floor, but it did not affect any other bit of his game. Smith finished with 12 points, a game-high eight assists, four rebounds, three steals and two turnovers.

Anderson finished with 18 points, while VanderWal had 12, Garrett Hien 10 and Bronson nine. VanderWal added seven rebounds and four assists, while Hien had two steals and a block. The most complete line of the night belonged to Cooper Bowser, who had nine points, six rebounds, five assists, five blocked shots and four steals. The Paladins finished with 23 assists, their most against a Division I opponent since producing 28 against The Citadel last season, and made 16-of-20 free throws - their best percentage in league play.

"Cooper was really making plays defensively. We decided to push him back tonight because Chattanooga got behind us and got a bunch of layups. So we decided to use him as a true rim protector and he gets a career-high in blocks tonight," Richey said. "He's a unique shot blocker who's long and athletic. He's somebody who can really affect the rim and we need rim protection."

Furman will try to keep the momentum going Saturday when it hosts UNC Greensboro at noon at The Well. The Paladins will try to avenge an 84-67 loss when the teams met in Greensboro on Jan. 4. The Spartans (17-9, 10-3) are tied with Chattanooga for first place in the SoCon and are coming off a rout of their own Wednesday as they beat VMI 80-54.