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| Furman freshman Alex Wilkins leads the team in scoring (16.2 points per game) and assists (4.8 per game) this season. |
After a rough start to non-conference play this season, the Furman men's basketball season will look to wrap up that portion of its schedule in style Sunday. The Paladins (8-4) will try to make it five consecutive wins when they host Charleston Southern at 2 p.m. at Timmons Arena. It will be the last tune up before Southern Conference play begins 10 days later when Furman hosts Mercer for a noon tip on New Year's Eve.
Following a loss to Illinois State at Disney World the day after Thanksgiving, the Paladins haven't lost in December. The tried and true method of putting the ball in the hoop more consistently has been a big key in this stretch as Furman has shot at least 50 percent from the floor in seven of its last eight games. The Paladins (8-4) are shooting 49 percent now after making 41.2 percent of their field goal attempts over the first four games this season.
Shooting has been particularly successful around the basket as Furman ranks third in the country in two-point field goal percentage (64.1 percent). Leading the way there is 6-foot-11 junior Cooper Bowser, who leads the country - by nearly six full percentage points - in shooting at 81.2 percent. Bowser is averaging 13.4 points and 6.3 rebounds per game this season and leads the Paladins in blocked shots. Freshman Alex Wilkins leads the team in scoring (16.2 ppg) and assists (4.8 per game).
Furman increased its lead in the series against Charleston Southern to 11-7 with a 67-46 win in North Charleston last season. The Buccaneers (8-5) are coming off a 113-90 win over North Florida Thursday, which was the sixth time this season it's scored at least 93 points in a game. Brycen Blaine leads the Bucs with an average 19.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game.
*Note: Apologies for the lack of coverage of late. Illnesses and working in retail in December have hampered my ability to keep the FSR as updated as I'd like. Below are reviews of the three games played since my last basketball story.
Furman 75, Manhattan 68
For much of Thursday night's trip to the Bronx in New York City, the Paladins looked like a team that had not played in nine days as they had an extended break around Furman's exam schedule. The Paladins committed 17 turnovers, made just 5-of-14 free throws and played the final 5:21 without Bowser, but found a way to the road victory.
Wilkins had 18 points and seven assists, while Bowser scored 16 points on 8-of-8 shooting to lead the way. Bowser also had seven rebounds, three blocked shots and a steal in his 27 minutes of action. With 5:21 left in the game, he gingerly walked to the end of the bench and did not return.
"All in all, it was a quality win for us. It wasn't the cleanest, but you've got to win ugly sometimes especially on the road." Bob Richey said on the Furman Radio Network's postgame show. "We only had five turnovers in the second half and we turned them over as well, so points off turnovers ended up being even at 14. We haven't created a lot of turnovers this year, but we got nine steals tonight and that's a step in the right direction for us."
Following an 8-0 run by Manhattan, Furman trailed 50-47 with under 12 minutes to go. Back-to-back baskets from Wilkins and a three-pointer from Tom House put the Paladins back on top, 54-50 with 7:47 left.
When Bowser checked out at the 5:21 mark, Charles Johnston came in and answered the bell to help the Paladins seal the win. Getting a rare chance to play in front of his mother and sister, who made the trip to New York from Australia, Johnston scored eight consecutive points in the final five minutes. His two three-pointers sandwiched around a massive breakaway dunk pushed Furman's lead to 69-62 with 2:24 let.
The Jaspers (4-8) cut the lead to 71-68 with 42 seconds left and decided to play defense rather than foul. After running down the shot clock, Wilkins missed a driving layup but Eddrin Bronson was there for a putback dagger with 13 seconds remaining.
Asa Thomas hit four three-pointers, including a pair of big ones in the final 1:24 of the first half to give the Paladins a 34-33 lead at the break, and finished with 12 points. Johnston recorded his seventh double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Ben Vander Wal overcame a rough 1-for-8 night at the foul line to finish with seven points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals.
"I really hate to see him go through that (free throw shooting struggles), but these guys are human and unfortunately it's kind of in his head a little bit," Richey said. "But I'm telling you this, we're not winning that game tonight without Ben Vander Wal."
Furman 105, Bob Jones 57
On a night in which Bowser suffered three of his 16 total missed shots this season, he also made 11 and finished with a career-high 24 points as the Paladins cruised to the win on Dec. 9. Furman outscored Bob Jones 60-12 in the paint highlighted by Bowser's dunkfest.
After making just five three-pointers all season going into the contest, House got a needed confidence boost as he made four consecutive threes sandwiched around a driving layup down the stretch. He finished with a season-high 16 points. Vander Wal made 6-of-7 field goals to score 15 points. Johnston had 12 points and eight rebounds, while Thomas also reached double figures with 10 points. Wilkins had a career-high nine assists, while fellow freshman Owen Ritger added career-highs with six points and seven rebounds off the bench.
"It was a good win. We got a lot of things accomplished that we were trying to get accomplished right here before exams begin," Richey said following the win. "House is a great shooter and a great player, who's hit some big shots in some big games for us. I told him with 13 minutes to go, 'you got 13 minutes to go shoot as many balls as you can.' The only way you get out of shooting slumps is to shoot your way out of them. He goes and hits four in a row and just looks like he was having fun again and shaking loose."
Furman 79, Harvard 69
While it wasn't quite the offensive explosion Furman displayed in a 97-88 win at Elon in its previous game on Dec. 3, the Paladins again shot the lights out and again four reached double figures at Timmons Arena on Dec. 6. Furman made 57.1 percent of its field goals, including 21-of-25 on attempts inside the arc. That two-point effort was spearheaded by another perfect shooting day from Bowser. He went 5-for-5 and finished with 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and a block.
Thomas accounted for five of Furman's seven three-pointers and scored a team-high 18 points. Wilkins overcame seven turnovers to finish with 16 points, a game-high five assists and two steals also for the Paladins (6-4), who have won five of their last six games.
"It's always fun on Saturdays in Timmons and that's our first one inside the new arena. ... It was a lot of fun. We felt the energy and I thought our guys played off of that," Richey said after the game. "We scored 79 and coughed it up 16 times. ... They turned over Alex seven times, but that's only going to make him better."
The Paladins had a 9-5 lead early on before a stretch of five consecutive possessions that resulted in three missed three-pointers and two turnovers. House put an end to that with a driving layup on Furman's next possession. After a steal by Wilkins and an offensive rebound by Vander Wal, freshman Collin O'Neal drove in for a layup, got fouled and completed the three-point play to give Furman a 14-10 lead with 12:24 remaining.
The Crimson (5-6) came back before Thomas drilled a three-pointer midway through the first half to give the Paladins the lead for good. Furman led by as many as 10 in the first half before taking a 37-30 advantage into halftime.
Over the first five minutes of the second half went on a 13-4 run started by a Bowser dunk and capped by a Bronson three. That stretched the lead to 16 and Harvard never got it below seven. A tough blow happened in that opening run when O'Neal drove for a layup and was fouled. He was down on the court for quite a few minutes before being helped off and putting no weight on his right leg.
You never want to see anyone injured, but it was especially tough given the impact that O'Neal made Saturday and in recent games. Saturday just felt every time he touched the ball something good happened for Furman.
"Collin's had an unbelievable two to three weeks. It's what you love to see. ... We built this whole thing on guys having a 'work while you wait' mindset. What you do in the dark is going to come out in the light," Richey said. "At some point the return is going to come and for him, it was the Illinois State game. He was ready to rock, but if y'all could've seen him the last seven practices before that game, you knew his opportunity was going to come. ... I thought he also had a huge impact in the Elon game as well."
Harvard got that lead down to seven just three minutes after Vander Wal left the game with his fourth foul with 11:48 remaining. With Vander Wal on the bench on O'Neal out, it was going to be interesting how Furman's eight-man rotation would work. After Harvard's Robert Hinton hit a jumper to cut the lead to 59-52 with 8:39 left, Richey called timeout and got Vander Wal back in there.
Vander Wal made an offensive rebound on Furman's next possession and a defensive rebound less than a minute later as the Paladins quickly regained command.
For the second consecutive game, the Paladins sealed the game at the foul line. Furman made 16-of-20 free throws for the game, including an 8-for-8 showing over the final three minutes.
Bronson was the fourth Paladin in double figures with 11 points in 17 minutes off the bench. Vander Wal had seven points and six rebounds and managed to play the rest of the game without fouling out. O'Neal had seven points and House scored six also for Furman. Wilkins also finished with three fouls, all of which he picked up in the first half.
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