Chattanooga flips Furman's script, rallies for win

Nick Anderson scored 15 points in Furman's 75-71 loss
to Chattanooga Saturday. Photo courtesy of Furman

Furman earned the moniker of "Find a Way Furman" this season by consistently finding some path to victory in close games. The Paladins were 8-0 in games decided by single digits going into its Saturday's home matchup against Chattanooga. The Mocs usurped that title from Furman at The Well though as they rallied from a 16-point deficit and held on for a 75-71 win.

The comeback win for Chattanooga (12-7, 4-2 Southern Conference) was not unlike the one it had three days earlier when the Mocs rallied from a 15-point deficit to defeat Wofford in overtime. While Furman's losses have been frustrating, they've all been lopsided prior to Saturday. The close loss brought a new level of frustration, primarily because of things the Paladins (15-4, 3-3) finally started doing better.

Furman hit 10-of-23 three-pointers, limited a very good shooting Chattanooga team to just 4-of-13 threes and played with a level of effort that was necessary to get the job done. The major reason the Paladins didn't get the job done came at the foul line, where they made just 17-of-28 (60.7 percent) while the Mocs hit 25-of-28 (89.3 percent). Once again, Furman was also dominanted in second-chance points. Chattanooga had 17 points off its 12 offensive rebounds, while the Paladins had just three points off their nine offensive boards.

"The game plan was to hold those guys at the three-point line. They came in making 13 threes a game at 47 percent. We hold them to 4-for-13 and probably couldn't have done a better job there, but our interior play was pathetic at best in the second half, specifically," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "We didn't play with the physicality down there to win and separate a game where we had a decent little marging for a lot of the second half.

"Give Chattanooga credit for throwing a punch there in the last quarter of the game. From missing 11 free throws to giving up that many second-chance points again, it's just not the mental toughness that you've got to have to win high-level basketball games."

The pain of Saturday's loss also stems from the fact that it might've been Furman's best start against Division I competition this season. The Paladins raced out to an 11-0 lead more than five minutes in before Chattanooga finally got on the board with two of those second-chance points at the 14:38 mark of the first half.

With 9:14 left in the first half, PJay Smith drew a foul on a three-point attempt and sank all three foul shots to give Furman its biggest lead at 22-6. Over the final 8:30 of the half, Chattanooga outscored the Paladins 21-12 to cut the lead to 34-27 at the break.

Furman started the second half much like it started the game. The second-half scoring began on an alleyoop from Smith to Cooper Bowser. Eddrin Bronson followed with a three-pointer and Nick Anderson's layup on the next trip down pushed the lead to 41-28. The Mocs responded with a 13-2 run over the next four minutes to cut the lead to 43-41.

The Paladins still maintained the lead until the 4:35 mark when Collin Mulholland's three-point play gave Chattanooga its first lead of the game at 60-58. Bronson's layup tied the game on Furman's ensuing possession, but the Paladins never regained the lead.

Smith's wild, off-balance three-pointer with 11.2 seconds left cut the Mocs lead to 71-70. After UTC's Honor Huff made both free throws with 8.6 seconds left, Smith was fouled with 4.2 seconds left as Chattanooga was looking to foul before a three-point shot was launched. Smith's hands went up like he was going for a shot, but the ball came free on the foul from Trey Bonham. Officials huddled for a couple of minutes before ruling it a foul on the floor. After Smith made the first, he intentionally missed the second.

On a frustrating day at the foul line for Furman, it couldn't even purposely miss right as Smith's shot caromed off the backboard without touching the rim. That automatically gave the ball back to Chattanooga. Bonham hit a pair of free throws with 3.9 seconds left to seal the win.

In addition to the decision on the Chattanooga foul, Richey also lost an argument at the 3:33 mark when Bonham's three-pointer pushed the Mocs lead to 65-60. It appeared that the back of possibly both of Bonham's shoes were out of bounds prior to the shot. With 7:59 left, Davis Molnar - who had been playing well off the bench - went to the sideline with his fourth foul on a play where it appeared any foul should've been Cooper Bowser's second.

"I can't wait to see the clip on PJay. It's a act of shooting when the whistle goes up, so I don't get that. But whatever, that stuffs out of my control," Richey said. "They (officials) didn't miss 11 free throws for us. They didn't give them 12 offensive rebounds that turned into 17 points. So I don't want to be the one sitting up here faulting them for (the loss). ... I am curious to see that call, because obviously the game is on the line. I think that's just an unfortunate situation."

Bonham and Huff scored 16 points apiece for Chattanooga. The real problem for Furman came from UTC's Frank Champion, who had 16 points (on 6-of-9 shooting), nine rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block.

Smith had a game-high 18 points and two blocks to lead Furman. Anderson was the lone other Paladin in double figures with 15 points, coming of 5-of-7 shooting as he still didn't reach the 10-shot minimum that Richey has said they need to get him to. Even Anderson wasn't immune from the charity strip woes. After making 39-of-41 free throws this season coming into Saturday, Anderson was 2-of-5 there for the game.

Furman will try to rebound Wednesday when it begins a stretch of three out of four games on the road with a visit to VMI. The Keydets (8-11, 2-4) are on a two-game winning streak thanks to a 66-50 win over Western Carolina last Wednesday and a 75-70 win at The Citadel on Saturday. Wednesday's tip is scheduled for 6 p.m.

"We're not where we want to be one-third of the way through league play. There's all kinds of ebbs and flows to the season, but we've just go to go do the things that we were doing successfully when we were winning at the level we were winning at," Richey said. "This was a 50/50 game with two great teams battling it out. We led for 35 minutes of the game. They led for 4:20. Those are the ones that hurt you.

"I'm disappointed. I'm mad. I'm furious to be perfectly honest, but that doesn't mean I'm discouraged. My frustration is that I know we're better than this. I know we can play physical. I've seen it. I've seen us lead well. I've seen us make free throws. At the end of the day, we've got to go do."

Paladins tweak lineup and effort to beat ETSU

PJay Smith had 21 points and six rebounds in Furman's 73-70
win over ETSU Wednesday. Photo courtesy of Furman

Furman didn't have a whole lot of time to figure out what exactly needed to be done between its loss to Wofford Monday and its next game against ETSU on Wednesday, but there was a sense that something had to change. While there was plenty that took place behind the scenes in those 48 hours between games, a transparent change came in the starting lineup. Freshman Eddrin Bronson made his first collegiate start on Wednesday, while Ben VanderWal came in off the bench.

A very transparent change came after tip-off as the Paladins clearly came out with more fire in their belly than they did to start the Wofford game. Neither one of those factors equated to a simple fix though. While neither team led by more than five points for the first 38-and-a-half minutes of the game, Furman trailed for more than 20 minutes. With the game on the line down the stretch though, the Paladins' defense stood tall and Furman held on for a 73-70 win.

"Tonight was a gut check for our group and I thought it was a heck of a response. We haven't been playing as well as we need to from an energy, emotion and effort standpoint. We've been playing tight. ... We lose one in Greensboro and since then, we almost look like we're in a pressure cooker," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "We showed clips this morning of some of our defense early in the year and mirrored it to clips from Monday night, just to show the difference. It wasn't by any means perfect tonight. There's still some possessions we'd like to have back, but it was better and it looked more like Furman basketball.

"It was a very good opponent. (ETSU coach) Brooks (Savage) does a great job. It was a war of a game, and I thought we had some gumption down the stretch to finish it out."

This marked the ninth time that Furman has come back from a second-half deficit to win. As has been the case in many of these games in which it "found a way", this was truly a team effort. The Paladins (15-3, 3-2 Southern Conference) trailed for most of the first half. They stayed within striking distance down the stretch of it thanks to Davis Molnar, who entered Wednesday averaging 3.3 points per game off the bench. From the 6:28 mark of the first half to the final second, Molnar accounted for all seven of Furman's points.

"Davis is one of those guys that just loves to compete. He's fearless. ... All summer and fall, he's worked on his shot and his shooting numbers are fantastic in practice. He's got to shoot with confidence," Richey said. "Davis is incredibly physical and he can play the three, the four or the five. He's a little bit like a Swiss Army knife. He can dribble it up, post it, drive guys and make shots from the hedges."

ETSU (10-8, 3-2) shot 53.8 percent in the first half but only led 36-35 at the break after Furman's Nick Anderson drilled a three-pointer at the final horn. The biggest problem for the Paladins in the opening half was the result of offensive rebounds. Furman had nine offensive boards, but only eight points off them. Meanwhile, the Buccaneers had six offensive boards and 12 points off those.

Furman made sure that didn't last in the second half. While ETSU did collect nine offensive rebounds in the second half, they scored 11 off those. A big reason the Bucs, who trail only Wofford in highest offensive rebound average in the SoCon, got so many in the second half is that they had so many more opportunities thanks to misses. The Paladins held ETSU to 31 percent (9-of-29) shooting in the second half.

After Jaden Seymour's putback cut Furman's lead to 59-58 with 6:07 remaining, ETSU didn't make another field goal until there was just 19 seconds left to play. With 3:31 left, the game was tied at 60 before Anderson's second three-point attempt of the game splashed through the net. With 2:08 left, VanderWal's putback pushed the lead to 65-60. Garrett Hien made a tremendous leaping steal along the sideline 16 seconds later. That led to a PJay Smith layup with 1:29 left as Furman took the biggest lead of the night for either team at 67-60.

Anderson's layup with 38 seconds left pushed Furman's lead to 70-62 and it looked like that might seal the win, but this game was far from over. After VanderWal missed a pair of free throws with 26 seconds left, ETSU's John Buggs drilled a three-pointer and drew a foul. Buggs completed the four-point play to cut the lead to 70-68 with 19 seconds remaining. After Smith made 1-of-2 free throws with 11 seconds left, the Bucs passed on trying for the tie. Instead, Quimari Peterson drove in for a layup with 4.9 seconds left to cut the lead to 71-70.

Smith ran back to Molnar to catch the inbounds pass, before spinning away from two defenders and racing down the sideline. Smith fired a pass to Bronson, but before he got it off a third ETSU defender had caught up and fouled him with 2.1 seconds left. Smith made both free throws this time. Everyone then held their breath as Peterson's heave from beyond half court hit the backboard and the inner front of the rim before falling away no good as time expired.

Peterson, the SoCon's leading scorer, finished with 21 points for ETSU. Seymour added 18 points and eight rebounds before fouling out. 

Smith had 21 points and six rebounds to lead Furman. Anderson finished with 14 points on just 4-of-5 shooting and had four assists. After not scoring over the previous three games, Bronson had 11 points while Molnar finished with nine. Hien was huge factor Wednesday as the Paladins outscored the Bucs by 15 points during his 22 minutes on the floor. Hien had five points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals. Two of his assists were beautiful passes from the top of the key to Bronson down low.

"Ben understood (the lineup change) and he's a great teammate. ... Ed's been a little timid lately, but he's coming along. We know what he can do, so it's just great to see him come out there and play the way he played," Smith said. "Then Ben came on and made big plays. That tip-in (to make it 65-60) was huge. They're just two great teammates."

Hien's impact on the victory started well before Wednesday.

"We're all leaving here two nights ago (after the Wofford loss) and we're miserable. I look down at my phone and it's Garrett. He said, 'I need to come talk to you. Can I come to your house?' So at 11 o'clock at night, Garrett Hien and PJay Smith walk into my house," Richey said. "They told me, 'We can't go to sleep tonight without discussing this. We've got to get this right.'

"That's the winning fabric that allows you - in a 48-hour window - to change your starting lineup, change a few different roles and do whatever we've got to do to get this thing right. That's what I'm most proud of tonight. ... I don't think people understand how hard it is to turn on a game that emotional in which you got beat that bad. Idealistically, you can think you're just supposed to wash that and flip the page. It's not that easy."

Richey met individually with a few players Tuesday evening, including VanderWal. Before Richey could begin to discuss what to do moving forward, VanderWal had an idea about the starting lineup.

"He said, 'Coach, take me out of the lineup. Don't do that to G (Hien). He's a fifth-year and I see that one of us has to come out. Let it be me.' You just don't see that. Nobody comes to you and is like, 'Coach, I get it.' " Richey said. "So then I meet with Garrett and tell him that we've got to get more spacing out there and he's got to play with more belief. ... I told him, 'I need your spirit and your leadership.'

"That's why this group has been special. We're not going to be defined by a loss or two here or there. We're going to be defined by how we finish."

How they finish is another reason for the starting lineup switch. Richey said he wanted to make it crystal clear that it was in no way a demotion for VanderWal. In the here and now, it was done to get a third shooter on the floor and space things out more. It also gives Furman the chance to bring a guy off the bench who always brings a ton of energy in VanderWal. In the long term, Richey believes Bronson's development is going to be a big part of Furman's fortunes in March.

"I don't think Ed's going to think he played perfect tonight, nor do I, but I do think he played with some swagger and aggression. This team needs a third guard that can take some stress off PJay and Nick," Richey said. "Ed's a three-level scorer who was playing unbelievable basketball this summer before his injury. ... It all comes down to what happens in March and I've got to get him these reps now to let him work through some things and build confidence.

"You're talking about an athlete, who can finish and can create. ... He's got the capability to make big plays and if we can put those on film, it changes how they're able to guard Nick and PJay."

Furman will wrap up the three-game homestand on Saturday when it hosts Chattanooga at 5 p.m. The Mocs (11-7, 3-2) enter the 100th meeting in this series coming off a thrilling 83-81 overtime win against Wofford on Wednesday. Saturday's game will be the second half of a doubleheader at The Well as the Furman women's team takes on UNC Greensboro at 2 p.m.

Wofford uses dominant effort to thump Paladins

Charles Johnston had 14 points and seven rebounds off the bench in
Furman's 81-62 loss to Wofford Monday. Photo courtesy of Furman

While Greenville got it worse than Spartanburg over the weekend, the winter storm didn't wreak nearly as much havoc as Wofford did to Furman Monday night at The Well. In a game that was postponed two days by the weather forecast, there was a thought that an exhausted Paladin squad could benefit following their long road trip. However, it appeared more like the Terriers spent the extra time sharpening their ankle-biting incisors as they gnawed Furman to a pulp in an 81-62 win.

It's the most lopsided Wofford win in the rivalry since a 74-49 decision in Spartanburg 10 years ago. That season, Furman finished in last place in the Southern Conference before making a run to the Tournament championship. From a student perspective, the thought could be that 'I waited two extra days to see my team get blown out and all I got was this lousy Who-fford t-shirt.' *

Rivalries tend to elicit more emotion from players, so who really knows how much fuel the classless shirt added to Monday's game. Wofford definitely came out with more fire than the Paladins did though. The Terriers (9-8, 3-1) led 8-0 just over two minutes in and 13-4 at the first media timeout. By the 11:41 mark, Wofford was up 20-9 and never led by fewer than 11 the rest of the way.

"Obviously, give Wofford a lot of credit. I thought they were the aggressor early and ... their energy was good off the bat. They saw the ball go in a lot early," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "Unfortunately, we came out on our heels. Typically in games like this, when you do that, it's hard to change that energy.

"I was proud of our effort in the second half. We scored more than twice the points we scored in the first half, but it was just too late. ... It was very similar to the game in Greensboro. They hit a ton of threes and we couldn't buy one. You're not beating people doing that."

Wofford's Justin Bailey, a USC Upstate transfer who led Blue Ridge High to the Class 3A state championship in 2022, celebrated his return to Greenville with a pair of threes to open the scoring. Reigning SoCon Player of the Week Kyler Filewich made a layup at the 17:56 mark to push the lead to 8-0.

After Garrett Hien's putback cut Wofford's lead to 13-9, the Terriers reeled off a 9-0 run over a less than three-minute span to take a commanding lead that was never challenged. From the 14:28 mark to the final seconds of the first half, Furman went 2-of-23 from the floor. As the final horn of the first half sounded, Charles Johnston's three-pointer bounced three times on the rim before falling through to end Furman's streak of 14 consecutive missed shots and cut the lead to 40-20 at the half.

"We didn't come into this game with the right mindset. We weren't ready to fight tonight and that can't happen. That's ultimately on us," Ben VanderWal said. "This is a tough league. If we come out and play the way we played tonight, it's going to be hard to win games.

"We've played with toughness at points this year. We didn't win the gams we've won playing soft. But in our last two losses, we've been out-toughed. ... We weren't able to punch back tonight and that can't happen." 

While Wofford cooled down to a 42.9 shooting percentage by halftime, the Terriers got 11 offensive rebounds off their 22 missed shots in the opening half. Meanwhile, Furman made 7-of-35 shots (20 percent) in the first half, including just 2-of-17 three-pointers (11.8). While the outside shooting was abysmal, the inside wasn't much better. The Paladins were 2-of-11 on layups and dunks in the first half.

Furman (14-3, 2-2) clearly played harder in the second half, but it was too little much too late. They still had a rough go of it defensively. Wofford shot 53.3 percent in the second half and hit 8-of-13 three-pointers. The Terriers missed 14 shots after halftime, but grabbed nine offensive rebounds. That math will never work for a team trying to rally from a 20-point halftime deficit.

"You can't make runs unless you can string stops together," Richey said. "Once that team (Wofford) gets to feeling good, they're really good and they felt great all night. We did nothing to change that.

"If teams can just go in and tell their guys to just push us around, put their hands on us and just start yelling and talking; if that stuff is going to rattle us, then you're going to get the outcome that you got tonight. You've just got to be able to go play your game."

For the game, Wofford scored 19 points off its 20 offensive rebounds, while Furman had just 12 points off its 18 offensive boards. Dillon Bailey finished with a game-high 19 points to lead the Terriers, while Corey Tripp had 16 points and six rebounds. Filewich added a stat line of nine points, 12 rebounds, six assists, one steal, no turnovers and no fouls.

Johnston finished with 14 points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes off the bench to lead Furman. The only other Paladin in double figures was Nick Anderson, who had 12 points and three steals. Anderson made 2-of-3 three-pointers, which is easily the fewest amount he's attempted since the Jacksonville game on Nov. 11.

Furman will have to get things turned around quickly as always physical East Tennessee State visits the Well on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. game. The Bucs (10-7, 3-1), who are coming off a 70-52 win over The Citadel on Saturday, are led by guard Quimari Peterson. Peterson leads the SoCon in scoring, averaging 18.2 points per game.

"We gave up 20 offensive rebounds, which is ridiculous, but we kept battling. These last few games, we've gotten a little adversity and clearly not playing as well," Richey said. "A lot of times, seasons come down to how you deal with adversity. This is something we've got to respond to and figure it out. ... Adversity can make you better if you let it.

"Our mentality has to change. ... We've got to come to the arena ready to fight on Wednesday. That's the reality of what this is. That's a decision. ... Who's going to be the more aggressive team? Who's going to come out and play hard? Who's going to exert more energy on defense? That's what wins games. We've got to understand that we can't compromise there." 

*Note: I understand marketing is not an easy task and I applaud Furman's efforts to create more buzz within any athletic program. Perhaps the next t-shirt giveaway could be something more Furman-like though, such as "Go Paladins" or "Beat Wofford." Or, if you want to have fun with a specific season like this one, something like "Find a Way Furman" with a graphic of a math riddle that Will Hunting would find challenging. Just a thought.

"Find a Way" Furman finally back on home court

Ben VanderWal had four points and four rebounds in overtime to
help Furman beat The Citadel, 67-63. Photo courtesy of Furman

Furman will return to the Bon Secours Wellness Arena court for the first time in nearly a month Monday night when it hosts rival Wofford at 7 p.m. The game was originally scheduled for Saturday afternoon, but was postponed due to the winter storm forecast.

It will be the Paladins' first game at their primary home away from home this season since a 68-64 win over S.C. State on Dec. 14. Furman's four-game road trip that began Dec. 21 with a 77-63 win at Harvard wrapped up last Wednesday with a 67-63 overtime victory at The Citadel. The Paladins (14-2, 2-1 Southern Conference) have earned the moniker of "Find a Way" Furman from Coach Bob Richey this season. Of all the ways found to a win this season, the one in Charleston may have taken the most unlikely path.

After seeing a 13-point lead early in the second half turn into an eight-point deficit with eight minutes left in regulation, the Paladins rallied to take the lead late before going to overtime. In the extra session, Furman made just 1-of-7 shots, but pulled out the win by making 6-of-6 free throws. Four of those six free throws were provided by Ben VanderWal, who was shooting 54.2 percent from the foul line entering the game. That lone field goal was a huge three-pointer by Garrett Hien, who had hit 25.6 percent of his threes this season prior to that one.

"What a win. We had a lot of things going against us. There were some interesting calls to say the least," Richey said on the Furman Radio Network's postgame show. "We just couldn't get some shots to go down for guys, who had been hitting shots. We're a little bit of a tired group. We've had eight of our last 11 games on the road all over the country. I knew this was going to be a hard one. This is Citadel. ... It's always hard to win here.

"The story is this team again is that they found a way to win the game. It doesn't matter what it is. Winners are winners. Ben knocks down those free throws. We needed every single one of them and he's been working on it so hard. Then Garrett man, just the confidence to bang that three to go up five was incredible."

While it was a close game, it's not one that should make a lot of highlight reels. It was a rough night for everyone on the floor - the Paladins, Bulldogs and officials. The teams combined for 36 fouls, 35 turnovers and 43 made field goals.

Just over eight minutes into the game, Furman led 15-13. For the remaining 11:43 of the first half, the Paladins outscored Citadel 15-6 to take a 30-19 lead into halftime. During that stretch, Furman held the Bulldogs to 2-of-9 shooting from the floor and forced seven turnovers.

That lead increased to 13 on VanderWal's putback one minute into the second half. Over the next 6:02, that Citadel team that had 19 points over the game's first 21 minutes went on a 23-2 run to take a 42-35 lead. Furman worked to cut the lead to one before the Bulldogs responded and took a 51-43 lead with 8:16 remaining.

"We played really good defense those last 10 minutes of the first half, but we just came out with no intensity (in the second half). They came out and hit us and before long, we were down," Richey said. "At the timeout, I was just like, 'look, we got to do something. We got to change something.' We went to the 1-3-1 zone. I really couldn't tell you the last time we played it. ... So I think it called them a little bit by surprise. We had some guys out there did a great job in it.

"I told them 'there's eight minutes to go and we can win this game, but if we we quit playing defense, we're done.' ... It just ended up taking 13 minutes."

From the 8:49 to 1:37 mark of the second half, Citadel went 0-for-8 from the floor with five turnovers. Furman went on a 13-2 run during that stretch to take a 56-53 lead. Bulldogs' big man Sola Adebisi took over the final 100 seconds of regulation. He hit three consecutive shots for Citadel including a putback, a game-tying three-pointer with 1:10 left and a game-tying layup with 43 seconds left. With 27 seconds remaining in regulation, Adebisi blocked Nick Anderson's three-point try.

After the Bulldogs missed two close shots in the final 10 seconds, Furman had one last chance in regulation but VanderWal's jumper at the buzzer rattled in and out no good.

"It felt good out of my hands, but we got out of here with a win so I don't care either way," VanderWal said on the Furman Radio Network's postgame show. "They made some big shots, but we just kept fighting."

For nearly the first three minutes of overtime, VanderWal's four free throws were the lone points. After Citadel's Brody Fox cut the lead to two with 2:04 left, Hien answered on a three-pointer with 1:10 left to make push the lead to 65-60. With Furman clinging to a two-point lead and 10 seconds remaining, PJay Smith knocked down a pair of free throws to seal the win.

While the Paladins did what they needed to do to pull out the win, they were greatly assisted by Citadel's continued struggles at the foul line. The Bulldogs made 1-of-9 free throws in overtime and were 15-of-32 from the line for the game. Out of 355 Division I programs, Citadel ranks 355th in free throw percentage as it's made 58.2 percent this season.

Anderson finished with a game-high 23 points to lead Furman. He also had three assists and three steals. Cooper Bowser had 13 points and 14 rebounds. while Smith had 13 points, four steals and three assists. Five of Bowser's rebounds came in overtime. VanderWal finished with eight points and nine rebounds, including four of each in overtime.

Cam Glover scored 20 points to lead Citadel (5-9, 0-3), while Adebisi had 15 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Fox finished with 14 points and seven rebounds. He also drew 10 fouls, but made just 4-of-12 free throws.

Wofford (8-8, 2-1) enters Monday's game coming off a 77-69 win over Western Carolina last Wednesday. Monday's game will begin a three-game homestand for Furman this week. The Paladins host ETSU Wednesday at 7 p.m. and Chattanooga Saturday at 5 p.m. Following this week's action, Furman will have a stretch of three out of four games on the road.

Hot-shooting UNCG rolls past Furman

Furman's PJay Smith (0) had 24 points in the Paladins' 84-67
loss at UNC Greensboro. Photo courtesy of Furman

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Furman got off to its best start in 93 years this season thanks primarily to a stingy defense, particularly along the perimeter. Going into Saturday's game at UNC Greensboro, the Paladins had allowed just 63.6 points per game and ranked second in the country in three-point defense. Their first 14 opponents made a combined total of 25.2 percent of three-pointers.

None of those numbers seemed to matter to the Spartans Saturday. UNCG shot 60 percent from the floor in the first half to take an 11-point lead into halftime. There had to be a thought that the Spartans couldn't possibly shoot that well again in the second half and they didn't ... technically. UNCG shot "only" 55.2 percent in the second half, but actually made one more field goal and two more threes to cruise to an 84-67 win.

The Spartans (9-6, 2-0 Southern Conference) made 31-of-54 (57.4 percent) field goals, including 12-of-23 (52.2 percent) three-pointers to snap Furman's six-game winning streak. It was a different story shooting-wise on the Paladins' end of the floor. Coming off a 90-point performance at Western Carolina three days earlier, Furman shot just 39.3 percent Saturday and made just 9-of-35 (25.7 percent) threes.

"Obviously, the difference was the three-point line. They shot 52 percent. We shot 25 percent. They got way more production on threes than we did and we shot 12 more than they did," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "When you lose the three-point line that badly in the way that we play, it's hard to win - especially on the road."

Everything seemed fine for the Paladins (13-2, 1-1) out of the gate. The only one who had a bit of a rough time shooting at Western was PJay Smith and he quickly put that performance in the rear view when he drained a pair of threes in the first 72 seconds Saturday. Smith's layup at the 18:03 mark gave Furman an early 8-4 lead. Little did anyone know then that those three field goals for Smith would be more than any other Paladin would make Saturday.

After leading 9-7 with 16:46 left, Furman was stuck on nine for the next four minutes while UNCG went on a 10-0 run that forced Richey to call a timeout. The only Paladin who remained in the game coming out of the timeout was Tom House and promptly hit a three to cut the lead to 17-12.

The offensive woes continued for Furman though. The Paladins only made three field goals over the next eight minutes as the Spartans took command with a 33-21 lead. All three of those made shots were layups or dunks and two of those came on putbacks. Davis Molnar's driving layup cut the lead to 38-31 with 1:55 left, but Furman got no closer the rest of the way.

"We hit those two (threes) to start the game and then we really went cold on a lot of wide open looks. Meanwhile, it felt like they didn't miss a shot all day," Richey said. "Give them credit. They played great. They were the aggressor on offense and on defense and, typically, that's who wins."

A three-point play by Smith sliced the lead to 52-42 with 14:43 left, but the Spartans responded with a 9-0 run over the next two minutes.

The biggest sign that it wasn't going to be one of those "find a way Furman" days came midway through the second half. After Cooper Bowser hit a pair of free throws to cap a 7-0 run that cut UNCG's lead to 63-51 with 9:29 left, the Spartans turned the ball over. Nick Anderson's three-pointer missed. Garrett Hien got the rebound, but his tip-in missed. Ben VanderWal got that rebound, but Anderson missed another three. Another offensive rebound gave Furman its fourth shot on the same possession, but Smith's three also missed.

"It just wasn't our day. We've got to look at it and see what we could've done better. I thought we had a good prep and good mindset, but unfortunately we weren't ready to play and that's on me," Richey said. "It just seemed like we were a half-step slow all day."

UNCG followed Furman's lengthy possession that with a 12-3 run to take its biggest lead of the game at 75-54 with five minutes remaining to essentially seal the win.

Smith was the lone Paladin in double figures with 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting. He had just one assist and three turnovers though as no other Furman player made more than two field goals. Coming off a 20-point effort at Western, Anderson struggled Saturday. The sharpshooter was 2-of-14 from the floor, including 1-of-12 on threes.

In addition to a bunch of missed shots, Furman's offense had too many mishandles. After a season-low four turnovers against the Catamounts, the Paladins had 13 on Saturday. It was an odd day for Furman big men. VanderWal grabbed nine rebounds, but was just 1-of-1 from the floor. Bowser drew five fouls and shot eight free throws, but was just 2-for-2 from the floor.

"I felt like we depended too much on the three-point line today. ... I didn't think we played inside-out enough and didn't get it in the paint," Richey said. "We like to use chase dribbles to get into the paint and get the next guy a three. We were coming off lot of those (chase dribbles) and shooting them. Those are tough shots, especially if you're not feeling good (shooting well)."

Kenyon Giles surpassed the 1,000-point mark in his career in style for the Spartans. He finished with a game-high 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-6 on threes. Giles also had five rebounds, four assists, one steal, one turnover and no fouls. Ronald Polite added 18 points off the bench for UNCG.

Furman will wrap up its second four-game road trip of the season Wednesday when it takes on rival The Citadel in Charleston at 7 p.m.

Paladins hammer Catamounts in SoCon opener

Nick Anderson scored 20 points in Furman's 90-61 win
at Western Carolina. Photo courtesy of Furman

CULLOWHEE, N.C. - An 11-day break over Christmas had no ill effects on the Furman basketball team when it returned to the court at Western Carolina on New Year's Day. Less than three-and-a-half minutes into the game, all five starters had scored to give the Paladins an 11-0 lead. The Catamounts never got closer than nine the rest of the way as Furman rolled to its sixth consecutive win, 90-61, in the Southern Conference opener.

Nick Anderson scored 20 points and Charles Johnston had 17 off the bench to lead six Paladins in double figures. The victory gives Furman (13-1, 1-0) its best start to a season since the 1931-32 team went 13-1 on its way to a 15-1 season record. It was the Paladins' 70th road win since the 2016-17 began. That's the third-highest total in the country over that span.

"We haven't been really pleased with our return from Christmas break in a couple of years, so we spent some time as a staff this offseason kind of visiting what we wanted those plans to be. I thought we executed really well," Richey said. "I thought the staff was good, the team took it well and man, we really worked. ... We came back on the 26th and I thought our group just had a really good week of preparing the right way to start league play.

"We had not won up here in three years, so we needed to make sure we came up with the right mindset. ... Six deflections by the first media (timeout) and an 11-0 lead is a pretty good recipe for making sure our mindset was correct."

Furman actually missed its first three shots before Anderson got a steal and found PJay Smith for a pretty, left-handed layup at the 18:44 mark. Then Garrett Hien made a layup. Then Cooper Bowser's block led to a pair of free throws for Bowser. Then Ben VanderWal had a putback. Then Smith found Anderson for a three and Western called timeout at the 16:31 mark.

Coming out of the timeout, a layup by Hien pushed the lead to 13 before the Catamounts (4-8, 0-1) got on the board with a pair of free throws at the 15:39 mark. One minute later, Western made its first field goal. The Catamounts second made field goal didn't come until the 10:31 mark. By that point, Furman led 20-4, had held Western to 1-for-11 shooting and had forced five turnovers.

Smith, who entered shooting 50.6 percent from three, made just 1-of-7 Wednesday. That one came on a running bank shot to beat the first-half buzzer, giving Furman its biggest lead to that point at 43-23. The Catamounts had cut the advantage to 25-15 with 7:30 left before the Paladins ended the half on an 18-8 run.

"We've had some weird little three-minute stretches (to close out the first half), like at Florida Gulf Coast and Harvard," Richey said. "We talked about that at the under-four media (timeout). We had to show some growth there and be really good. At one point we were up 11, 12 or 13 with about eight minutes to go and I thought if we could hold that margin and be up around 15, that would be a pretty good half. Then we ended up being up 20."

Western's Bernard Pelote opened the second-half scoring with a jumper, but Bowser answered 13 seconds later with a pair of free throws to push the lead back to 45-25. That 20-point lead never lessened. Furman took its biggest lead of the game when Johnston's layup made it 66-36 with 9:56 left.

Johnston's 17-point effort came in 16 minutes of action off the bench. It's the most Johnston has played since logging 17 minutes against Tulane on Nov. 15 as the Paladins have played it safe with his lingering knee injury. Johnston, who made 3-of-4 three-pointers, also grabbed a season-high seven rebounds.

"I think some of the things we've done to protect (Johnston) and get him ready for league play have worked. Our trainer, Justin Gaines, is elite. Our doctors, specifically Scott Watson in this situation, have done a great job," Richey said. "Chuck looks fresh out there and that boy can shoot 'em. ... A lot of shooters in this league are 4s, but he's a 5. So now those 5s have to guard our guards. ... Because our guards are playing so well, now he's open for pops. It makes it hard to guard."

When the Paladins returned home from Harvard, Johnston said he got a shot in his knee and then took a few days to rest it. He said Wednesday was the best he's felt since first suffering the injury.

"Being able to run around out there and not having something nagging me in the back of my mind, I just felt a lot more free," Johnston said. "I was able to move around a little bit better on defense, which I was happy about. Hopefully it can stay this way." 

After limiting Western to 30.4 percent (7-of-23) shooting in the first half, Furman held the Catamounts to 36.4 percent (12-of-33) in the second half for a full-game total of 33.9 percent. The Paladins enjoyed a 13-0 edge in points off turnovers as they forced 13 and had a season-low four, including just one in the second half. That one came when VanderWal fought for a rebound and had it knocked away after putting two hands on the ball for just a second.

Furman had 29 bench points, all from Johnston and Eddrin Bronson as Bronson finished with 12 points, four assists, three rebounds, two steals and no turnovers. Bowser and Hien also scored 12 points, while Smith had 10 points, three assists and no turnovers. The lone Paladin scorer to not reach double figures was VanderWal, who finished with seven points and six rebounds.

"PJay's feeling a little under the weather right now, but he still had 10 points and played a great game. But I think it (scoring 90) just shows the depth of our team," Anderson said. "We come out there as a very connected group. Nobody cares who's taking the shots. Whoever's hot gets the ball. ... When things are clicking, we're a pretty scary team to guard so we've just got to keep it going."

Pelote had 17 points (on 7-of-19 shooting) and 12 rebounds to lead the Catamounts, while Brandon Morgan added 14 points and four assists. Western leading scorer Cord Stansberry, who entered averaging 11.2 points per game, was held to nine points on 1-of-7 shooting.

Furman's second four-game road trip this season continues Saturday with the third game of it. The Paladins take on UNC Greensboro (8-6, 1-0) at 4 p.m. The Spartans opened SoCon play Wednesday with a thrilling 68-66 win at Wofford thanks to a game-winning three-pointer with nine seconds left.

After historic start, Paladins set for SoCon play

PJay Smith has led Furman to a 12-1 start
this season. Photo courtesy of Furman

Coming off its winningest non-conference portion of a schedule ever, the Furman men's basketball team is set to open 2025 and Southern Conference play Wednesday at Western Carolina at 1 p.m. The Paladins are taking a five-game winning streak, a No. 7 ranking in the Mid-Major poll and a 12-1 overall record into Cullowhee. That's the most wins Furman has posted in non-conference play since joining the SoCon 88 years ago.

It's the fifth time that the Paladins have had a 12-1 start to a season and the second since 1978-79. The 2018-19 team started 12-0 before suffering back-to-back losses to close out December that season. Furman has enjoyed success this season by playing as a team in all aspects of the game. Eleven different Paladins have scored in double figures in a game at least once this season.

"All I want them to continue to do is go out there and play with a chip on the shoulder that got us to where we are right now. ... Go out there and continue to be a connected team that cares about one another and doesn't care who gets the glory, but just goes out and finds a way to win games," Furman coach Bob Richey said on the Furman Radio Network's postgame show after the Paladins' 77-63 win at Harvard on Dec. 21.

"This team needs to be celebrated. We lost nearly one million in NIL money off last year's team and everybody counted us out. This group has abided in the values that we built all this on ... and it's just continued to be 'find a way' Furman."

While teamwork has been a huge key this season, it's helped that PJay Smith has been an absolute stud. Smith has persevered through a couple of different injuries to have a SoCon Player of the Year type of season thus far. In the SoCon, Smith ranks second in scoring (17.3 points per game), fifth in field goal percentage (51.6), fifth in assists (3.7 per game), sixth in steals (1.64 per game), first in three-point percentage (50.6) and first in three-pointers made (41-of-81) and sixth in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.95).

Smith's latest effort may have been his best of the season and led to his third SoCon Player of the Week honor. In the win at Harvard, Smith had 25 points (on 8-of-11 shooting), seven rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block. He also held Harvard leading scorer Robert Hinton to four points on 2-of-9 shooting. Smith did all that in his first game back after dislocating his shoulder in Furman's win over South Carolina State just one week earlier.

"I've coached some tough guys - Matt Rafferty, Alex Hunter, Andrew Brown. Guys that are just as tough as they get and (Smith) is right on that list," Richey said afterwards. "Early in the week, it didn't look like he was going to be able to play in this game ... but he made it known pretty quickly that he was going to play today. ... He wanted to be in the game and man, was he in it.

"There's going to be a lot of talk about PJay scoring 25 points, but the bigger story is that he held their best player - who's 6-foot-5, so he's giving up height - to four points."

On the other end of the floor from those offensive numbers, Smith would likely be considered the best defender on a team that's thrived on defense. Furman ranks second in the SoCon in scoring defense (63.8 points per game allowed) and field goal percentage defense (39.8), and second in the country in three-point percentage defense (25.3).

Furman has been particularly stingy defensively while closing out games. Here's a list of some opponents' field goal shooting numbers to end games:

• Nov. 20: Oglethorpe - 1-for-11 over the final 5:56
• Nov. 23: at Charleston Southern - 2-for-11 over the final 9:03
• Nov. 26: Seattle (in Las Vegas) - 0-for-7 over the final 4:29
• Dec. 4: at Florida Gulf Coast - 3-for-9 over the final 9:32
• Dec. 7: Princeton - 2-for-12 over the final 9:50
• Dec. 21: at Harvard - 2-for-12 over the final 7:07

Western Carolina enters Wednesday's game with a record of 4-7, but 4-1 at home, under new coach Tim Craft. This is Craft's first season at Western after serving as head coach at Gardner-Webb for the previous 11 years.