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| Furman takes on Alabama in an exhibition game Sunday, the first game at the refurbished Timmons Arena. |
It might have been listed as an exhibition Sunday at Furman, but it sure didn't feel like it. A sellout crowd of 2,750 packed into the incredibly renovated Timmons Arena for the building's first basketball game in 604 days. That's how long it had been since the Paladins' 2023-24 regular season finale on March 2, 2024.
Sunday felt a lot more like another March game than one in October. Facing an SEC power that's ranked 15th in the country in Alabama in essentially a new arena neither team had played in before, it was like Furman was back in another 4/13 March Madness matchup. The atmosphere was electric. Coaches' arguments with officials were in midseason form. Both teams fought hard and got banged up hitting the floor for loose balls.
There was no miraculous buzzer-beater this time around for the Paladins though. Alabama rallied from an nine-point deficit to take a 12-point lead into halftime and the Crimson Tide rolled on to a 96-71 victory.
"What an unbelievable arena atmosphere. It's something you really couldn't have imagined a decade ago. ... It felt like a big-time environment and that's that vision for what we want in this program," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "I was proud of our guys' effort. I thought we competed and stayed in the fight.
"It's pretty tough to have your point guard foul out in 14 minutes. It's hard to think you're going to play a guy for 30 minutes and have your backup point guards out there for 10, but then it flips."
A loud crowd - that included a raucous student section - at tip-off got even louder when the Paladins came roaring out the gate. The first 10 minutes of the game was essentially Furman Offense 101. After Cooper Bowser won the opening tip, true freshman point guard Alex Wilkins got the ball down low to Ben Vander Wal. Vander Wal kicked it back out to Wilkins for a three from the right wing and the Paladins led 3-0 less than 10 seconds in.
On the next trip down, the same action happened on the other side. Bowser kicked it out to Clemson transfer Asa Thomas for a three from the left wing. Furman made it 9-0 just 71 seconds in when Charles Johnston drilled a three off an assist from Thomas.
"They (Furman) came out of the gate obviously, ready to go and we weren't as ready to go as we needed to be. After they got up nine-zip, we answered the bell pretty well," Alabama coach Nate Oats said. "Give these guys at Furman a lot of credit. They've got a really good roster. I thought they played really hard and forced us into 15 turnovers. They're going to be a good team this year."
After Alabama got on the board, Furman answered when Bowser dunked an alleyoop pass from Wilkins to make it 11-2 three minutes in. The Paladins' next bucket came when Bowser made a beautiful bounce pass in the paint to Johnston for a dunk. That pushed Furman's lead to 13-7 at the 15:47 point of the first half.
The Tide rallied over the next five minutes as the lead changed a couple of times. After each of Furman's first six field goals were assisted, the first that wasn't was totally worth it to see a glimpse of Wilkins' talent. Being closely guarded by Aden Holloway, one of three McDonald's High School All-Americans on Alabama's roster, Wilkins dribbled from one end of the court to about six feet from the Furman basket. As Wilkins stopped, Holloway fell backwards. While Oats argued for a push-off, Wilkins sank the suddenly open short jumper to give Furman a 17-16 lead.
With 11:27 left in the first half, Bowser laid it in off a lob pass from Thomas to give the Paladins a 20-19 lead. Unfortunately for Furman, that was its last lead of the day. A little over a minute later, Holloway made a layup and that started a 14-2 run for Alabama over the next four minutes. A key play in that run was Wilkins picking up his third foul, which sidelined him for the final 9:31 of the first half.
A Thomas three-pointer cut Alabama's lead to 44-36 with 1:49 but the Crimson Tide took a 48-36 lead into halftime. The Paladins could never get the lead under 12 the rest of the way and didn't do themselves any favors at the foul line as they made just 10-of-25 (40 percent) free throws. After returning to the court to start the second half, Wilkins picked up his fourth foul with 13:15 left and then fouled out 52 seconds later.
Wilkins finished with 10 points and was one of two Paladins to finish in the positive in plus-minus as Furman outscored Alabama by five when he was on the court. The Paladins outscored the Tide by two during fellow freshman Collin O'Neal's 12:29 of playing time.
"(Wilkins) earned the starting job. We didn't go into the summer and fall anticipating starting a freshman point (guard), but it became pretty clear about a month ago that he earned the job," Richey said. "He's got a real presence about him. He's got a unique confidence to him and when you combine it with his ability to play with really good pace and to have really good vision, ... he's been a treat.
"Collin O'Neal played his absolute guts out today. ... One of the big observations today is that we had some young guys play harder than some old guys. As proud as I am of our collective effort ... we can't have freshmen playing harder than old guys. We've got to all go out there with the same approach and play to the standard."
After getting outrebound 29-15 in the first half, Furman closed the gap to 50-38 for the game. Half of the Paladins' rebounds came on the offensive end. The effort on the boards in the second half was led by Johnston, while finished with 14 points and a game-high 12 boards. Bowser had the most complete line of the night as he finished with 14 points (on 6-of-7 shooting), seven rebounds, a game-high six assists, two blocks, two steals, just one turnover and just one foul.
"I think that's the hardest Charles Johnston's ever played in a Furman uniform. For him to get 14 and 12 and be at minus-5 in 30 minutes of action, he really competed. Coop did an unbelievable job playing physical," Richey said. "We were down 25-10 on the glass at one point in the first half and we end up with 19 offensive rebounds. That goes to our effort and shows how hard our guys played. ... Now, we only got 10 points off of those (offensive rebounds), so we've got a lot to clean up.
"We had 21 assists and nine turnovers against a very aggressive defense that pressed. They were really physical with us and they're going to have a really good season in the SEC, so our ball security was great. ... Clearly we had a horrendous free throw shooting night. When you miss that many, it puts you in a tough spot."
Tom House gave Furman four scorers in double figures with 11 off the bench, while Thomas scored nine. Vander Wal had his typical solid outing with seven points, six rebounds, five steals and two assists. While Abijah Franklin went 0-for-6 from the floor, the freshman from Wren High had four assists in just 10:26 off the bench.
Furman suffered a tough blow when Davis Molnar went down midway through the first half and grabbed his knee in pain after he fell.
"Davis has had an unbelievable preseason. He's really tried to compete, fight and go out there and be a great teammate. I've been so proud of his joy and how he's led," Richey said. "I hurt for him if it's something that will hold him out because I thought he'd play you know, 17 or 18 minutes today. He's a huge piece of the game plan in terms of his toughness off the bench."
Holloway scored a game-high 18 points for Alabama, while Labaron Philon added 16 points and five assists.
Furman opens the regular season Monday against High Point at 6:30 p.m. The game will be played at the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center as part of The Field of 68 Tip-Off Marathon and will be streamed live on YouTube.
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