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| Eddrin Bronson scored 14 points off the bench in Furman's 64-61 loss to Troy Friday. Photo courtesy of Furman |
When the Furman basketball team has only one missed shot over the first five minutes of a game over about the last decade, that's probably cause for celebration for the Paladins. On Friday night against Troy? Not so much.
In the first regular season men's game of the refurbished Timmons Arena, Furman spent the first five minutes treating it more like a new dodgeball court as basketballs flew and bounced everywhere. By the time the first media timeout came at the 15:47 mark, the Paladins were 0-for-1 from the floor, 0-for-2 from the line, had five turnovers and trailed 8-0. Also by that point, Charles Johnston - Furman's best player over the one exhibition and one regular season game thus far - was on the bench with two fouls and three turnovers.
In the second half, the Paladins cleaned up their play immensely and came all the way back from what was a 15-point deficit to tie the game with three-and-a-half minutes left. Furman could never take the lead though and went on to a 64-61 loss.
"Well, that was a tale of two halves. Give Troy credit. That's two really, really good road wins for them to start the year. They went up to Kent State and won an overtime game on Monday," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "We basically just threw the ball all over the place and spotted them 13 turnovers (in the first half). ... Troy was playing hard, but it was more of us just being a little frantic. We didn't look like a confident group to start the game."
The Paladins (0-2) finally got on the board when Eddrin Bronson came off the bench to hit a three at the 14:58 mark. More turnovers and missed shots followed for the next three minutes though. Furman trailed 15-3 before freshman Abijah Franklin's three-point play at the 11:48 point. A Paladin starter finally scored 34 seconds later when freshman Alex Wilkins drove for a layup off a steal by Johnston.
With 7:26 left in the half, Wilkins converted a three-point play that cut Troy's lead to 23-20. It remained that same score for the next minute, but Furman had back-to-back layups blocked and then missed a three.
Over the final 6:12 of the half, the Trojans (2-0) went on a 13-3 run to take a 36-23 lead into halftime. The Paladins only score over the final seven-plus minutes with a Wilkins' three-pointer with 1:57 remaining.
"Obviously Monday (a blowout loss to High Point) was not what we wanted from an offensive or defensive standpoint. We knew it was a big deal for us to take care of the ball and we didn't start this game (Friday) like we needed to. All those turnovers gave them easy buckets and let them get in a flow," Ben Vander Wal said. "Once we settled in (in the second half) and started really playing defense and taking care of the ball, we gave ourselves an opportunity to win the game. The biggest learning point we can take from this is that we can't just do that for a half."
Richey sarcastically said that he had a really profound message for his team at halftime.
"It was, 'don't give the ball to the other team,' " Richey said. "But they listened in the second half. ... We won the second half by 10, but unfortunately had dug too big of a hole."
Troy, the reigning Sun Belt Conference champions, took a 42-27 lead on a three-pointer by Cooper Campbell just over three minutes into the second half. Furman emphatically answered on the other end when Cooper Bowser slammed home an alleyoop from Wilkins.
That dunk got the crowd stirring again and started a 13-2 run by the Paladins over the next 7:45. Bronson keyed the run with back-to-back threes, while fellow reserve Asa Thomas hit another. Wilkins' jumper with 8:50 left cut the lead to 44-42.
"We played better defense. I got some open shots and my teammates trusted me to knock them down," Bronson said. "I shot with confidence and I just want to keep playing like that. On any given night, I think any one of us can step into that role."
The Trojans maintained a two- to five-point lead over the next five minutes before Furman finally tied it up at 55-55 when Bowser scored off another lob from Wilkins with 3:32 left.
After 13 turnovers in the first half, the Paladins only had four in the second half. Unfortunately for Furman, three of those came the rest of the way. Furman had three possessions with the game still tied over the next 2:10. The first ended on a bad pass turnover. The second had two offensive rebounds, but the Paladins missed two layups and then a three-pointer. The third ended on another bad pass turnover.
That pass was intercepted by Campbell, who raced to the other end for a layup to give Troy a 57-55 lead. After Bronson missed a three, the Trojans' Victor Valdes hit a dagger of a three with 31 seconds left to push the lead to 60-55. Another bad pass turnover led to a pair of free throws by Troy to extend the lead to 62-55.
Thomas and Johnston hit three-pointers in the final 12 seconds. Johnston's three with three seconds left was the final score of the game as Furman couldn't get a foul or the ball back.
"That second half looked like us and the team that we've got to grow into. This is a marathon and a journey," Richey said. "Nobody hates losing more than me, but this is a team that's going to continue to get better. We need games, experience and game film. ... I challenged them on Tuesday because clearly we played no defense Monday night. Tonight, we looked like a team that could guard a little bit."
Campbell led Troy (2-0) with 21 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Wilkins finished with 16 points, eight assists and four turnovers - none in the second half. Bronson had 14 points and two steals, Bowser had 10 points and eight rebounds, and Thomas scored nine points also for the Paladins. Wilkins had a plus-minus of plus-four, while Bronson and Thomas were each at plus-five.
Wilkins seemed to be maturing before our very eyes in the second half. At one point, Vander Wal got frustrated by a no-call by officials, and it was the true freshman who went up and put his arm around the senior to remind him of Richey's longtime mantra about mistakes or things beyond your control - "next play."
"Alex wants to be so good so bad. He's a very talented player and he's got some major gifts out there," Richey said. "He's not afraid of the lights or the moment, but just like all young players ... it's a lot harder than they think.
"He doesn't even know the playbook right now, so just wait. ... It's hard for me (to wait), hard for him and hard for his teammates, but that's just what it is. He's got some things that you can't coach and he's just going to keep getting better and better."
Furman returns to action Monday when they host NAIA member Columbia International at 6:30 p.m.
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