 |
| Alex Wilkins had 20 points, seven assists and the game-winning shot in Furman's 74-72 victory over Mercer. Photo courtesy of Furman |
In a classic opener of the Southern Conference schedule between what appear to be two of the best teams in the league, it was only fitting that it came down to most definitely two of the league's best players on New Year's Eve at Timmons Arena.
In a tie game on Furman's final possession, Alex Wilkins got the ball near midcourt. All of his teammates cleared out and let the phenomenal freshman do his thing. Wilkins drove his man down to the right baseline, pulled up and got a tough floater to fall. Baraka Okojie, who had made four consecutive shots and a pair of free throws to help Mercer make up a seven-point deficit down the stretch, finally missed on the other end. Armani Mighty's putback tip as time expired bounced off no good and the Paladins celebrated a 74-72 win. Coach Bob Richey's 100th career SoCon victory completed a 6-0 December for Furman (10-4, 1-0).
"That was a fun one. The crowd got really loud late and the arena was phenomenal for a high level basketball game today. (Mercer coach) Ryan's (Ridder) done an incredible job with that team and they play with tremendous fight," Richey said. "They made some huge plays down the stretch, but our guys did too. Asa (Thomas) just continues to make big play after big play.
"We saved that (last shot) call for late. We walked it yesterday in practice, anticipating that this was going to be a war. If we needed a play late, we were going to go to that play for Lex (Wilkins) right down the lane line. ... It's incredible to be able to count on a freshman and put the ball in his hands late. He did a great job getting on two feet and shooting a good ball right there for us to take the lead."
While Okojie and Wilkins - the third- and fourth-leading scorers in the SoCon, respectively - each put on a show, it was also fitting that a missed shot by Mighty ended the game. The defensive job done by Furman's Charles Johnston on Mighty might have been the biggest key to the game.
Wednesday would've been a meeting of two of the three national leaders in field goal percentage, but the Paladins' Cooper Bowser remained sidelined with a walking boot on his injured foot. Entering the game, Bowser ranked No. 1 in the country in shooting at 81.2 percent while Mighty was third at 70.0 percent. That left Johnston to deal with the imposing, 6-foot-10, 240-pound Mighty, whose career began at Boston College. Mighty grabbed 13 rebounds, including five offensive boards, but finished with a season-low eight points on 4-of-11 shooting. It was far and away his most missed shots in a game this season.
"You could argue that Chuck was the player of the game in terms of just what he did from a toughness and physicality standpoint. We felt like we needed to keep him out of foul trouble, so that's why we doubled (Mighty) in the first half," Richey said. "After doing that in the first half and keeping him out of foul trouble, we decided to play it straight up because we were getting lost on the backside of the double a little bit. He did an unbelievable job playing one-on-one defense and did it without fouling.
"He had to guard a million ball screens on an elite point guard (Okojie), then he's got to roll down there and play post defense. Then they're going to shoot the ball at some point and he's got to go get most of the rebounds. The stress that we're putting on him to do that, but then you look at the boxscore and he's a plus-nine - the highest plus-minus on the day. ... In a two-point game, a guy at plus-nine is a pretty big outlier and it just shows you how critical he was."
Playing for the first time in 10 days with a noon start and students still out on winter break, this game had all the trappings for a lackluster start for the Paladins. However, Furman's entire starting five came roaring out of the gate. That included strong drives to the basket by Ben Vander Wal and Tom House early on and a Johnston dunk off an alleyoop from Thomas that electrified the crowd.
Back-to-back three-pointers by Wilkins midway through the first half gave the Paladins their biggest lead of the game at 23-14. A long pass from Wilkins to Vander Wal for a dunk, pushed Furman's lead to 27-21 with six minutes left in the first half. The Bears (8-6, 0-1) answered with an 8-0 run in a span of just 67 seconds to take the lead. House drew a foul on a three-point attempt with 40 seconds left in the half and made 2-of-3 free throws to give Furman a 36-35 lead at the break.
Thomas hit back-to-back threes to start the second half. Another alleyoop, this time from Wilkins to Vander Wal for a slam, was followed by a Wilkins' three-pointer as the Paladins matched their biggest lead at 47-38. Once again, Mercer kept doing just enough to keep the deficit within striking distance.
After drawing a big offensive foul by Mighty a couple of minutes earlier, Johnston made an outstanding, driving steal near midcourt when the Bears had a chance to tie or take the lead. Johnston's theft led to House getting fouled on a three. He made 2-of-3 free throws to push the lead to 61-57 with 4:38 left.
When Wilkins found Thomas for a three-pointer that extended the lead to 69-64 with two minutes left, it felt like that might do it for Furman. But Okojie just willed Mercer back. The Memphis transfer hit a tough fadeaway jumper from the free throw circle to cut the lead to three. After Thomas was fouled on a three, once again Furman could only come away with 2-of-3 from the foul line with 1:37 remaining. Eight seconds later, Okojie fired a three that took two full spins around the rim before falling in to cut the lead to 71-69.
After Wilkins had his layup blocked by Mighty, the Bears had another chance to tie or take the lead but Abijah Franklin deflected a pass to Mighty in the middle of the paint. Thomas came away with the steal and was fouled.
"Baba Franklin didn't play a whole lot, but man when he was out there he gave us tremendous value," Richey said. "That one play might be the play of the game."
Thomas made just 1-of-2 free throws to put the margin at three. Okojie fired a fantastic, one-handed, rocket pass across the court to Brady Shouders. Shoulders drilled the three and the game was tied 72-72 with 40 seconds left.
That set the stage for the game-winner by Wilkins, who finished with 20 points and seven assists.
"My teammates put a lot of trust in me and so does Coach Richey. I put a lot of work in on my craft, so it was just a great opportunity and to seize it was amazing," Wilkins said. "We were determined to not give up a bucket (on Mercer's last possession). ... It's exciting to go get a good conference win."
Thomas made 4-of-9 threes and had 19 points, five rebounds, two assists, one steal, one block, no fouls and no turnovers. House had 13 points, while Vander Wal had 11 points and seven rebounds. Johnston finished with nine points, 12 rebounds, two assist and two steals. He drew three fouls, committed just one and had just one turnover.
"I just tried to match his (Mighty) physicality as much as possible and get him to shoot from as far away from the rim as I could," Johnston said. "He still got a decent amount of rebounds, but we tried to neutralize him as much as possible. That was a big part of the game plan and I was happy with how we all did on that."
Okojie finished with a game-high 22 points for Mercer, but it came on 7-of-16 shooting. Shoulders had nine points, nine rebounds and five steals, while Mighty had five blocks and three assists to go with his eight points and 13 rebounds.
Furman returns to action Saturday when it hosts Western Carolina at 4 p.m.
