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.

After loss at UTC, Furman set for home stretch

PJay Smith had 22 points, nine assists and seven rebounds in
Furman's 85-72 loss at Chattanooga. Photo courtesy of Furman

With just three weeks left in the Southern Conference men's basketball regular season, there's going to be some key dates that help unsort a packed race. Entering Feb. 12, there are seven teams within three games of each other atop the conference standings. The first of those key dates comes Wednesday as two of the three teams tied for first place square off when Samford hosts Chattanooga.

The only guarantee right now among those seven teams is that at least one will have the unenviable task of trying to capture the SoCon championship by winning four games in four days at the SoCon Tournament in Asheville. While Furman came awfully close to doing that as the No. 10 seed a decade ago, no SoCon team has ever managed to do it.

If the season ended Saturday, the Paladins (18-7) would be the No. 7 seed as a result of their head-to-head loss at VMI. Currently, Furman and the Keydets are tied for sixth place at 6-6. Every game the rest of the way is key and fortunately for the Paladins, four of their next five are set for The Well in downtown Greenville. That stretch begins Wednesday when Furman hosts eighth-place Mercer (11-14, 4-8) at 7 p.m. After the Paladins saw their 19-game winning streak in the series snapped last season when the Bears swept the season series, the Paladins will try to return the favor.

When the teams met in Macon, Ga. Jan. 25, Nick Anderson had 18 points to lead Furman to a 79-74 win. Freshman Eddrin Bronson added 16 points, while PJay Smith scored 15. After torching The Citadel 80-46 to close out January, Mercer has yet to win in February. It's coming off a 77-66 home loss to Wofford.

Furman enters the Mercer game coming off a frustrating 85-72 loss at Chattanooga Saturday as the Mocs completed the season sweep. While Waylon and Willie told us many years ago that "one night of love can't make up for six nights alone," Furman told us last week that one quarter of exquisite basketball can't make up for three quarters of inconsistency that ranked anywhere from lousy to good.

In two trips to the eastern portion of Tennessee last week, the Paladins had 10-minute stretches of basketball in the opening half that could not be topped - by themselves or any other team in the SoCon. At ETSU last Sunday, eight different Paladins had scored as they held a 27-13 lead just under 10 minutes in. But over the rest of the half, Furman was outscored 24-5. The Paladins fought hard to take a six-point lead late in the second half before another cold spell sent them to a three-point loss.

Saturday at Chattanooga was eerily similar to the ETSU game only in reverse. Furman trailed 19-9 just over nine minutes into the game before outscoring the Mocs 29-16 the rest of the half to take a three-point lead into halftime. The Paladins made 12-of-15 field goals and had two turnovers over the final 10:21 of the first half.

That run was highlighted by an unexpected contribution from freshman Tommy Humphries, who had not played since Dec. 28 and had not taken any kind of shot in three minutes of action against Division I opponents. Humphries steal led to a Cooper Bowser game-tying dunk with 3:34 left in the first half. Less than a minute later, Humphries' spinning drive to the basket resulted in a layup that pushed Furman's lead to 35-31.

It was a completely different story in the second half. After making 12 shots in 10 minutes to finish at 53.6 percent shooting in the first half, the Paladins made just 10-of-33 field goals (30.3 percent) in the second half. That included a 4-of-23 showing (17.2 percent) from three. Meanwhile, Chattanooga was 18-of-31 (58.1 percent) in the second half including 5-of-10 on threes. The Mocs used a 10-1 run to take a 64-54 lead with 10:29 remaining and Furman could never get the lead under eight as Chattanooga pushed its winning streak to five.

Smith had a terrific all-around performance in the loss as he finished with a game-high 22 points, nine assists, seven rebounds and one steal to lead Furman. Bowser had 14 points, seven rebounds and four blocks, while Nick Anderson and Garrett Hien scored 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Seven different Mocs scored at least eight points, including five in double figures. They were led by Garrison Keeslar's 15-point effort, while Frank Champion and Trey Bonham each scored 14. Champion, who was a big thorn in Furman's side in Greenville earlier this season, also had seven rebounds, six assists and a blocked shot.

Note: Apologies for the lack of quotes from Furman coach Bob Richey. I'd planned on traveling to Chattanooga to cover the game, but was sick last week which resulted in me missing the Western Carolina and Chattanooga games. In case you missed the Western game story, it can be found here: http://www.furmansportsreport.com/2025/02/anderson-rallies-paladins-past-western.html

Anderson rallies Paladins past Western Carolina

Nick Anderson scored 30 points to help Furman rally to an 84-75
overtime win over Western Carolina. Photo courtesy of Furman

With one month left in the regular season, teams in the middle of the pack in the Southern Conference really can't afford a home loss to a team near the bottom if they hope to avoid the Friday "play-in" games at the SoCon Tournament. Furman was staring down the barrel of that possibility with less than three minutes to play Wednesday night on the campus of Bob Jones University. Then "find a way Furman" found a way.

Wednesday's "way" turned out to be Nick Anderson. Over the final 2:17 of regulation, Anderson accounted for one-third of Furman's made three-pointers before making the game-tying layup to force overtime. He added another three in overtime and helped the Paladins finally make clutch free throws. Anderson personally outscored Western Carolina 19-12 over the final 7:17 as Furman rallied for an 84-75 win.

"I thought Western Carolina played with a tremendous amount of confidence tonight. They had a great plan, but give our guys credit. ... We ended up putting Nick at point and let him start playing off those middle ball screens and it saved the day for us," Coach Bob Richey said on the Furman Radio Network's postgame show. "We were just kind of puttering along, but put him in that middle screen action and rode it through overtime. Then we got some stops with that small lineup and got the victory. ... Now we've been in 12 one-possession games (at the end of regulation) and we're 10-2 in those.

"It was a weird game analytically. We hit almost every metric that we try to go into a game with. We got over 30 deflections, had seven kills (three defensive possessions in a row without allowing points) and made more free throws than they attempted. ... It just felt like a tractor pull all night."

With 2:27 left in regulation, Western's Marcus Kell hit a pair of free throws to push the Catamounts lead to 63-57. It also gave Kell a career-high 29 points - 18 more than anyone else at that point. Little did anyone know then that Kell wouldn't be the game's leading scorer.

Anderson drained a three-pointer with 2:17 left and 44 seconds later, he hit another to tie the game at 63-63. With seven seconds left, Anderson drove in for a layup to tie the game 66-66 and that led to overtime after Western's Brandon Morgan missed a three at the buzzer.

After missing his first free throw in overtime, Anderson made each of his next six including the first four points of the extra session. He later added a layup to push the lead to seven with 2:23 left, then sealed the win on a three-pointer with 32 seconds left to cap his Furman career-high 30-point night.

"Props to my teammates and coach for just believing in me, giving me the confidence in myself to go out there and make those (late) plays," said Anderson. "Luckily, I was able to hit them and we were able to grind out a much-needed W."

It was an odd game of runs, completely different from the first meeting in Cullowhee on New Year's Day when Furman (18-6, 6-5 Southern Conference) dominated from start to finish in a 90-61 win. On Wednesday, the Paladins raced out to a 15-8 lead before the Catamounts (6-16, 2-9) responded with a 14-0 run. Western took a 33-31 lead into halftime and led by as many as eight in the second half before the Paladins rallied.

Tom House delivered a big three off the bench in overtime just ahead of Anderson's layup. and PJay Smith connected on all four of his free throws over the final 1:12 of the game. As a team, the Paladins connected on 10-of-13 foul shots in overtime after making just 8-of-15 in the second half. Furman finished with a season-high 24 made free throws out of 35 attempts. The 68.6 percent average isn't quite where Richey would like to see Furman routinely shoot, but it was a huge improvement over the previous three games in which it made a combined 27-of-51.

Furman overcame a night in which it shot only 41.3 percent (26-of-63), including 8-of-29 (27.6 percent) from three, with defense and ball protection. Western was held to 33.3 percent shooting (24-of-72) and the Paladins had just seven turnovers. Even though the Catamounts had a 19-14 advantage in offensive rebounds, Furman had a 13-8 edge in second-chance points.

The starting lineup changed when Charles Johnston made his first Furman start and Garrett Hien came off the bench. Hien responded in a big way with 13 points, 15 rebounds, two assists, one steal and no turnovers.

"I knew he would respond. It wasn't anything punitive. It was just to be able to sub him in at the 5 and get in the flow of the game," Richey said. "I thought you could see when we were playing him out at the high post, it looked like the good old days of our offense. We hit a couple of back cuts early and I thought we got a little bit more movement with him up there at the 5."

In addition to his 30-point night, Anderson also had three steals and three assists. Smith finished with 15 points, five rebounds, four assists, one block and one steal also for the Paladins.

In addition to his 29-point night, Kell had eight rebounds, two blocks, one steal and no turnovers. Western leading scorer Bernard Pelote was 4-of-17 from the floor, but finished with 13 points, 13 rebounds and two steals.

Poor foul shooting costs Furman in loss at ETSU

PJay Smith had 17 points and six rebounds in Furman's
72-69 loss at ETSU Sunday. Photo courtesy of Furman

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - It was deja vu all over again when Furman took on East Tennessee State Sunday afternoon at Freedom Hall. The first meeting this season in Greenville saw the Paladins hang on for a 73-70 win as Quimari Peterson's potential game-tying heave from beyond midcourt at the buzzer hit off the backboard and the inner part of the front rim before bouncing away no good. On Sunday, ETSU held on for a 72-69 victory as Eddrin Bronson's potential game-tying three from beyond midcourt at the buzzer bounced high off the top of front rim before falling away no good.

The biggest factor in Sunday's game was another repeat performance. Unfortunately for Furman, this one came at the foul line. The Paladins made just 7-of-13 free throws, while the Buccaneers made 18-of-22. Over the past three games combined, Furman is 27-of-51 (52.9 percent) at the charity stripe. While it didn't cost the Paladins in wins over Mercer and Samford, you can't expect to keep winning when shooting free throws that poorly. Sunday was reminiscent of the Chattanooga game this season when the Paladins made 17-of-28 free throws in a four-point loss to the Mocs, who made 25-of-28.

"I haven't said a ton about the free throws because we haven't necessarily needed to, but it cost us today. That's the reality of it," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "They made their free throws late. We didn't and we lose a three-point game. We're better than that. I'm not saying we should be a 90 percent shooting team, but we should be 70. If you made 70 (percent) tonight, you're tied going to overtime or potentially winning the game because you're not missing the front end of 1-and-1s.

"Free throw shooting is reps. If we have to use our practice time to shoot free throws, then we're not committed enough. That's just getting in the gym, making sure you're getting your reps and making sure you're confident. We shoot some free throws in practice, but you only have so much time."

Sunday's loss was especially frustrating for Furman (17-6, 5-5 Southern Conference) considering how the game started, as it played arguably its best 10-minute stretch all season. Eight different Paladins had scored when Nick Anderson's layup gave Furman a 27-13 lead with 10:03. At that point, Furman was 12-of-16 from the floor - including a stretch of eight consecutive made shots - with just one turnover.

Then all of that just stopped. Over the next seven minutes, ETSU (13-10, 6-4) put together a 19-0 run as the Paladins went 0-7 from the floor with six turnovers. For the final 10 minutes of the half, the Bucs outscored Furman 24-5 to take a 37-32 lead into the break.

"We played really well to start the game, but they got 5,000 in here and it's rocking. They hit back-to-back threes to kind of get the energy back in the building. Then we had a spurt of some ridiculous turnovers for a while," Richey said. "The best thing they do is play in transition, so when you have those turnovers you're just igniting their whole deal. That kind of played out."

That momentum carried over into the second half as ETSU pushed the lead to 44-32 two minutes in. Off all things, Ben VanderWal's first made three-pointer since Dec. 28 against Montreat got Furman on the board in the second half.

The Paladins began clawing their way back later in the half. Consecutive three-pointers by Bronson and two by PJay Smith cut the lead down to three. With 8:34 left Furman tied the game 56-56 when Tom House faked a three, took one dribble toward the bucket and fed Cooper Boswer for a dunk. The next time down, House didn't fake a three. Instead, he drained it as the Paladins finally regained the lead.

"I was really proud of our effort and fight. I thought we showed some resiliency to be down 12 in this environment and come back," Richey said. "We just couldn't close it."

With just under three minutes to go, Furman had the ball and seemingly a solid cushion of a 67-60 lead. Just like in the first half, things suddenly went south for the Paladins. Charles Johnston meekly fouled ETSU big man Jaden Seymour, allowing him to easily make a layup before completing the three-point play. VanderWal, who was 3-of-19 from three this season after that make early in the second half, came on to replace Johnston. On Furman's ensuing possession, VanderWal tried an open three from the corner but it became at least the fifth airball of the game for the Paladins.

Peterson hit a pair of free throws the next time down for ETSU before Seymour added two more to tie the game at 67-67 with 1:40 left. That 7-0 run for the Bucs took all of 61 seconds and it resulted in the toughest place to play in the SoCon becoming as loud as it was all day.

It was still tied with 47 seconds left when Bowser missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Smith had a chance to tie the game when he was fouled with 14.9 seconds left, but he made just 1-of-2 free throws. On the ensuing inbounds play, the baseline official nearly raised his arm for a five-second call but an official closer to the ETSU bench signaled a timeout for the Bucs. After getting the ball inbounded, ETSU managed to play keep away for the next eight seconds before Furman finally fouled John Buggs with 6.8 seconds left.

Buggs made both free throws to make it 72-69. ETSU fouled Smith before he could release a three-pointer with 3.9 seconds left. After making the first free throw, Smith intentionally missed the next but Johnston was whistled for a foul on the rebound with three seconds left. ETSU's Karon Boyd made the first free throw and missed the second. The rebound went to Bronson, who spun forward and took one dribble before his running prayer just missed.

It was Furman's sixth consecutive missed shot to end the game, which followed a stretch in which the Paladins made five shots in a row.

"We've been pretty good in time and scoring in situations, but we weren't tonight. Ben can't shoot that three in the corner there. We've got to know that," Richey said. "We've got to be able to get great shots late. That's part of being able to close games out."

Smith had team-highs in points (17), rebounds (6), assists (4) and steals (2) to lead Furman. Smith, the lone Paladin in double figures, also had one turnover and no fouls. Coming off a 24-point showing against Samford, second-leading scorer Nick Anderson had eight points on 3-of-8 shooting, including 0-of-3 from three. It's just the second time this season - and first time since game three - that Anderson didn't make a three. Bowser had nine points, while Garrett Hien and Bronson each scored eight.

Furman will next play its last home game away from Bon Secours Wellness Arena. The Paladins host Western Carolina Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Bob Jones University.

Defense powers Furman past SoCon's top dog

Cooper Bowser had 21 points - on 8-of-8 shooting - and three blocks in
Furman's 72-70 win over Samford. Photo courtesy of Furman

To have a chance to knock off the reigning Southern Conference champions and current first-place team, Samford, one might have thought a typical offensive game from Furman's leading scorer would be required. On Wednesday night at The Well, it was not. For the first time this season, PJay Smith didn't hit a three, but for the second time this season a Samford opponent never trailed the Bulldogs.

Nick Anderson and Cooper Bowser combined for 45 points - and four missed field goals - as the Paladins edged Samford, 72-70. While "Bucky Ball" has been very successful during Bucky McMillan's five years as head coach of the Bulldogs, it still hasn't left Greenville with a victory. Samford's lone win at Furman since 2014 came in 2019.

Just as vitally important as the offensive nights for Anderson and Bowser, was the team defensive effort by Furman (17-5, 5-4) from the start. A Samford (17-5, 7-2) team that's ranked in the top 15 nationally in scoring much of the season averaging 84 points a game was limited to 25 in the first half Wednesday. The Bulldogs had more turnovers (10) in the first half than made field goals (9-of-28).

"It seems like all these game with us and them have turned into instant classics. Two teams that play extremely hard and have clear systems and identities of how they want to play. You get in the game and its just ends up being a chess match," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "I thought our defense in the first half set the tone. I think we had 18 deflections and seven steals (in the first half). That's what this team is learning.

"We held people to 64 points a game in the non-league. I think out of our nine (out of conference) Division I wins, only two of them are currently not in the top three in their league. So it's not like we didn't play good teams. We just defended and that was our primary focus. This team has gotten back to that. Sometimes you've got to go through hard lessons to figure that out, but our defense led the way tonight."

Furman took its biggest lead of the night at 33-21 thanks to a four-point play by Anderson with 3:19 left in the first half. The Paladins didn't score the rest of the half though and given how things went for Samford's offense that half, the Bulldogs were likely relieved to only be down 33-25 at the break.

As folks had to kind of sense the way the first half ended, Samford came out with a stronger sense of urgency in the second half. Turning up the full-court press defense more as the Bulldogs' offense got on track.

Samford cut the lead to three less than three minutes into the second half, but Furman kept answering. Midway through the second half, a key sequence from some Paladins off the bench provided what turned out to be needed cushion later on. After seeing his three-pointer from the corner miss off the side of the backboard, Tom House had the moxie to fire up another three the next time down and drilled it. Davis Molnar, who assisted on House's three, then had a steal at midcourt and drove down for a layup to force a Samford timeout as Furman led 56-44.

"That's what great teams have to have. You can't rely on one or two people. You've got to have a team," Richey said. "The good thing I've seen in House the last couple of games is he's playing with so much more positive emotion. I love the fact that he missed that first one bad and came around and shot the next one. Great shooters have to have an 0-for-0 mentality on every shot."

Molnar's layup with 10:57 left turned out be the last field goal for any Paladin besides Anderson or Bowser. The Bulldogs' press seemingly resulted in all or nothing for Furman much of the rest of the way as it seemed to result in a turnover or an easy bucket for Bowser down low.

On a night in which Bowser went 8-for-8 from the floor, seven of those came in the second half. Quite a few of those came on layups and dunks off lobs as he patiently stayed low while teammates tried to conquer the press.

"It's definitely kind of nerve-racking watching your four teammates trying to get the ball up the court, but as soon as it crosses midcourt I try to find an advantage. I try to find an angle, find a seal and try to get behind the defense," Bowser said. "So when we're attacking, they can just throw it up there or maybe throw a bounce pass and I can just finish at the rim. My teammates did a good job of finding me when they broke the press and throwing lobs."

Samford came all the way back to tie it at 63-63 on Trey Fort's three-pointer with 5:53 left. With 3:38 left, the Bulldogs' Lukas Walls hit a game-tying layup and was fouled. He missed the free throw though as Samford never could claim the lead. Arizona is the only other team who never trailed the Bulldogs in a game this season.

In a 34-second span, Furman pushed the lead to five on back-to-back buckets by Anderson. His jumper with 1:49 left, gave the Paladins a 70-65 lead. That remained the score until 29 seconds were left when Walls did convert a three-point play to slice the lead to two.

Furman took its last timeout with 14 seconds left because Molnar was having trouble inbounding against the press from the sideline. Coming out of the timeout, Molnar was still unable to find an open Paladin before he fired a high lob to Bowser who went up and caught it and was fouled on his way to the basket. Bowser made both free throws to make it 72-68.

"Good gracious it felt like we couldn't get it in off the side. The hard part is that you want to get it to a specific guy and for us, that's Nick or PJay. We told Davis in the timeout, if we're going to turn it over just turn it over in the backcourt and let's just go Hail Mary," Richey said. "If we get to 1004 (counting to five), let's throw a jump ball and let our seven-five wing span (Bowser) go get it. We had confidence because he had just made two critical free throws earlier. It was a huge play in that moment."

After Samford got a layup to cut it to 72-70 with five seconds left, it immediately fouled Smith. Smith missed both free throws, leaving the door open for the Bulldogs. Fort's three-point try at the buzzer bounced off the rim no good and Furman could breath again.

Anderson finished with 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-8 on three-pointers. Bowser had 18 of his career-high 21 points in the second half. Ben VanderWal had five points, nine rebounds, six assists and no turnovers. He finished with a team-best plus-nine. In his 14 minutes off the bench, Molnar had four assists as Furman finished with 19 as a team.

On a night when Smith had six points on 3-of-14 shooting, including 0-for-7 on three, Furman still shot 49.1 percent from the floor (27-of-55), including 53.6 percent in the second half.

"What's made this team so fun to coach is that they have a unique care for one another. We're in there celebrating and everybody's going crazy dancing and having a good time. Then Ed (Eddrin) Bronson looks up and says, 'Hey coach, isn't that Garrett's (Hien) 100th win?' " Richey said. "That's the type of character we have in that locker room. The players knew that going into that game."

Samford's leading scorer, Jaden Brownell, had a similar fate as Smith. Brownell is a post player who can also shoot from the perimeter and was coming off games of 20 and 18 points scored, respectively. He finished with seven points Wednesday on 3-of-13 shooting, including 0-of-4 from three.

Furman will try to keep the momentum going Sunday when it plays at East Tennessee State at 2 p.m. The matchup of the only two SoCon teams to defeat Samford this season will be televised by CBS Sports Network. The Buccaneers (12-10, 5-4) are coming off a 70-65 loss at UNC Greensboro on Wednesday.