Shorthanded Paladins answer the bell at UNCG

Tom House made 7-of-10 three-pointers in Furman's 89-66
win at UNC Greensboro. Photo courtesy of Furman

After a roller coaster of a road trip in which the Furman men's basketball team played twice in a 48-hour span, the Paladins have had nearly a full week to recuperate and prepare for Thursday's home game against Samford. The game is set for a 5 p.m. tip-off at Timmons Arena and will be televised by CBS Sports Network.

Furman will try to pick up where it left off in what Bob Richey described as one of the most memorable victories during his tenure last Friday afternoon at UNC Greensboro. The Paladins were coming off a second consecutive gut-punch of a loss in which they once again blew a large second half lead in an overtime loss at The Citadel last Wednesday. They were again down to seven healthy scholarship players available and also traveled straight from Charleston to Greensboro after what was originally scheduled to be a 5 p.m. Saturday tip was moved to 3 p.m. Friday to get ahead of last weekend's winter storm.

The Paladins (14-7, 5-3 Southern Conference) overcame all of that by shooting the lights out in the second half to cruise to a 23-point win. Here's a look back at both games from last week.

Furman 89, UNC Greensboro 66

Seeing a 19-point lead midway through the second half disappear in an overtime loss at its oldest rival was a sickening experience for the Paladins, figuratively and literally, last Wednesday. Somewhere along the trek from Citadel to UNCG, Furman's team caught a bug that affected staff and players.

Abijah Franklin's fever was so high that he stayed back at the team hotel. Eddrin Bronson woke up with the same illness and tried to give it a go in pregame warmups, but was too sick to play. That once again left the battered Paladins with just seven scholarship players available to try to bounce back from an awful loss less than two days earlier.

While it wasn't nearly as bad as the whistles in Charleston, there was also foul trouble for the Paladins. But by the time leading rebounder and second-leading scorer Charles Johnston fouled out with two minutes remaining, this game had long been decided. Alex Wilkins had 27 points, six assists, two steals and no turnovers, while Tom House poured in a season-high 25 points to lead Furman to its first ever win at UNCG's on-campus arena. The Paladins, who had not played there since 2007, were 0-7 in Bodford Arena entering Friday.

"We've had some great wins, but it's been a crazy 48 hours. Really, it's been a wild month since leaving Manhattan with the constant trickle of injuries and then having to deal with some heartbreak of not being able to finish the last two games," Richey said on the Furman Radio Network's postgame show. "Our team handled that heartbreak from the other night as well as they possibly could. You can't doubt this group's care, connection and how hard they play together. ... Our staff did a great job in terms of quickly getting to the next game.

"They'll remember this game for the rest of their lives. On the road, quick turnaround, five-hour bus trip, no practice, two walk-throughs, two guys sick. The hotel this morning was the wildest thing you've ever seen. I don't know if my my strength coach or trainer have slept. This is a culture win."

After blowing a 15-point lead with 10 minutes to play against Wofford on Jan. 17 and a 19-point lead with 10:34 remaining at Citadel, Furman had just a 50-49 lead with 10:03 left Friday. From that point on, the Paladins made 12 of its last 14 field goal attempts, including 6-of-7 three-pointers.

Over the previous three games, Furman was 6-of-40 from three after halftime, but it made 7-of-12 in the second half Wednesday. That helped the Paladins shoot 66.7 percent in the second half and 55.2 percent for the game. Furman connected on 14-of-27 (51.9 percent) three-pointers for the game, primarily thanks to House. After going 0-for-6 from beyond the arc at Citadel in his first game back from a concussion, House drained 7-of-10 treys on Friday.

Cole Bowser was a huge factor in helping Furman win the rebounding battle. He finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds for his first collegiate double-double. Ben Vander Wal had 10 points, eight assists and no turnovers, while Johnston had nine points, six rebounds, a block and a steal. As a team, Furman had 23 assists and only five turnovers.

"I couldn't be more proud of our leadership. When you look at the seven that played, everybody did something tonight," Richey said. "Tom House put on a show and Ben Vander Wal to be at plus-25 was huge. Alex really got cooking in the second half. He gets six assists and no turnovers. ... It goes back to the values of the program - when the ball moves, everything's better."

Justin Neely had 20 points and nine rebounds to lead the Spartans (8-13, 4-4).

The Citadel 77, Furman 75, OT

After playing with fire on its previous two trips to Charleston, Furman finally got burned Wednesday. This marked the third consecutive season in which the meeting at McAlister Field House went to overtime, but this was the first time that the Paladins lost.

Nobody was probably thinking about overtime at the half. Furman took a 40-28 lead into the locker room after shooting 59.3 percent from the floor while holding the Bulldogs to 37.9 percent. Overtime was still not a thought when the Paladins extended their lead to 19 on a dunk by Vander Wal with 12:36 left and to 19 again on a pair of free throws by Collin O'Neal with 10:50 left.

Then lunacy ran amok.

The 13-win team with the 19-point lead shot just four free throws (making three) the rest of regulation. Meanwhile, the five-win team deep in the hole on the scoreboard made 9-of-10 free throws the rest of the regulation. After both teams had six free throws in the first half, Furman attempted six in the second half while Citadel shot 18. The last of those came with 10 seconds left when the Bulldogs' Sola Adebisi converted a three-point play to tie the game at 67-67, forcing overtime.

In overtime, a pair of free throws by Wilkins gave Furman a 75-74 lead with 1:21 remaining. It appeared that the Paladins were going to get the ball back with 58 seconds left when Vander Wal appeared to draw a textbook charge. Instead it was a foul on Vander Wal and Adebisi made 1-of-2 free throws to tie the game.

It was still tied with what looked to be around six seconds left on the TV broadcast clock when Bowser was whistled for his fourth foul. However, the game clock kept going down to 3.3 seconds left. Adebisi made both free throws and Wilkins' heave from beyond midcourt was off the mark as time expired.

Some may question why Furman didn't ask for a clock review. Perhaps the TV broadcast clock was not accurate. The bigger question should be, why should Furman have to ask for a clock review? How many games have you seen where it takes 10 minutes to play the final 10 seconds because officials adjust the clock after everything?

Nevertheless, things beyond a team's control shouldn't matter in a 19-point game midway through the second half. Furman led 60-46 with 7:13 left, but over the next five minutes it went 1-for-6 from the floor (including three missed layups) with three turnovers to help the Bulldogs cut the lead to 62-61 with less than three minutes left in regulation.

"We watched the last 12 minutes of the game to see what all changed. It's easy to talk about certain plays, but they could see it quickly on film that what really changed was our spirit," Richey said Friday. "It was a lack of connection in those hard moments with so much youth and some many players not being out there (due to foul trouble) in those critical moments. There was a little bit of panic that set in. All of sudden the crowd gets into it and before long, it just feels like everything is going against you."

Johnston had 15 points and 12 rebounds, while Wilkins had 15 points and nine assists to lead Furman, despite both finishing with four fouls apiece. Vander Wal had 12 points and six rebounds, Franklin scored 11 and Bowser had nine rebounds also for the Paladins.

Adebisi made 9-of-10 field goals and 4-of-5 free throws to finish with a game-high 22 points and nine rebounds in 42 minutes for Citadel.

Wofford's stunning rally sinks Paladins

Abijah Franklin had 14 points, six rebounds and two steals off the bench
in Furman's 74-70 loss to Wofford. Photo courtesy of Furman

The four Furman freshmen who faced Wofford for the first time Saturday learned a quick lesson about this wild rivalry: No lead is ever safe.

The Terriers trailed by 13 points with less than 10 minutes remaining before rallying for a 74-70 win in front of another sellout crowd at Timmons Arena. Wofford pulled off the comeback thanks to a 17-0 run over a seven-minute stretch.

"Give Wofford credit. That was a tremendous run late in the game. ... They hit a huge three after we were able to come back and tie it and then finished it off at the free throw line," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "I thought there was a lot of good that we did over the first 30 minutes of the game. Then we started struggling to guard, especially on the perimeter. On a lot of their drives, they got to the rim way too easily.

"We got way too stagnant offensively. We just didn't get enough movement. Eleven assists for us are way too low. ... I thought our shot selection was probably one of the worst it's been all year. We somehow still scratched 70, but we're leaving a lot on the table. We've got a ton of guys out and had more tonight. My heart breaks for those guys, but when you're on your own court, I think our whole program feels like we should have been able to gut that out."

That 17-0 run was all the more shocking given what immediately preceded it. With 10:52 left, Cole Bowser looked like his big brother, Cooper, when he slammed home an alleyoop pass from Alex Wilkins. That got Timmons as loud as it's ever been this season, pushed Furman's lead to 57-46 and forced a Wofford timeout.

Coming out of the timeout, the Paladins' defense forced a shot clock violation. On the next trip down offensively, Wilkins threw another lob. This one went to Charles Johnston, but it was very high and appeared to be headed out of bounds. However, Johnston made a fantastic play to leap up and volleyball tap it back to Ben Vander Wal for a layup. That got the home crowd rocking again as Furman took its biggest lead of the game at 13.

Then everything changed. The Terriers' Cayden Vasko drove down just to the right of the paint and banked in a tough, running jumper. On the other end, Furman's Eddrin Bronson missed a three-pointer and the tone for the next seven minutes was set.

After Vander Wal's layup made it 59-46 with 9:55 remaining, the Paladins' next made field goal came on Wilkins' fadeaway jumper with 2:08 left that tied the game at 63-63. In between those two makes, Furman went 0-for-7 from the floor - all of which were three-pointers - and had three turnovers.

"I think a couple of them were good looks that rimmed out and a couple were probably forced. Credit to Wofford for making a big punch when they needed to and we couldn't respond in the way that we needed to," Vander Wal said. "Missing shots can kind of be contagious and then we probably tightened up a little bit as things got hairy."

Meanwhile, the Terriers went 8-for-12 from the floor during that same stretch to take a 63-59 lead. They grabbed offensive rebounds after three of those four misses and had a steal after the other. Seven of those eight made shots came in the paint as Wofford dominated down low.

Following all those missed threes, Furman finally snapped a seven-minute scoreless streak when Wilkins drove to the basket and was fouled with 2:59 left. He made both free throws before his tough, game-tying jumper the next time down. The Terriers answered when Nils Machowski rattled home a three-pointer.

On Wofford's next trip, Abijah Franklin tapped a steal to Vander Wal near the Terriers' basket. Vander Wal fired a quick pass to Wilkins, but Kahmare Holmes intercepted it and laid it in. That was a backbreaker for Furman as it pushed the lead to five with 1:07 left. Franklin drilled a long three with 11 seconds left to cut the lead to 72-70, but Machowski hit a pair of free throws to seal the win.

It didn't seem like Furman necessarily got comfortable with the lead, but they certainly were fatigued. While Tom House and Collin O'Neal participated in pregame shoot-around, they still weren't cleared for action leaving the Paladins with just eight scholarship players available for the second game in a row.

That number dwindled to seven on Saturday when Mason Smith left with what appeared to be a significant knee injury midway through the first half. Much like Cooper Bowser, House and O'Neal, Smith was playing his best ball of the season at the time of his injury. He had five points and three rebounds in 4:30 off the bench Saturday. Furman outscored Wofford by 10 during that time frame.

"I've never quite seen anything like this in my career, but it's just what we have right now. ... It's hard to lose when you feel like you had the opportunity to win. At the same time, your heart breaks for our team because they keep battling," Richey said. "It's not just numbers. It's real guys over there. ... I'm hoping there will be purpose inside this pain as we get guys back. It's a hope that this depth we're creating and and the experience these young player have gotten will help us down the stretch. At this level, all that really matters is what happens down the stretch."

In addition to the physical toll another injury puts a team through, there's also the mental anguish of seeing a teammate go down that Richey was alluding to.

"I really hurt for Mason. What he's done and how hard he's competed to stay engaged when he wasn't playing at all and then to see how well he was playing. He came in tonight and changed the game. ... To see him go down the way he did is just a crusher," Richey said. "I've got a lot of respect for that guy. He's going to go do big things in his life because of his resolve and resiliency. To see that injury just puts a knot in your stomach."

Without being asked about it during the players' postgame press conference, Vander Wal requested a moment to speak about Smith as well.

"We really don't know what's up with his knee yet, but the way he's handled himself the last couple of months has been admirable. I'm proud to be his teammate. The way he's stepped up for us these last couple of games and the way he carried himself when he hasn't played as much as he wants to, I just wanted to give him a shout-out," Vander Wal said. "Sometimes you don't understand why things happen to great people and he's one of the best people in this program."

In addition to outscoring Furman 44-26 in the paint, Wofford (12-7, 4-2 Southern Conference) also enjoyed an 18-11 edge in points off turnovers. The Terriers forced 12 turnovers while making only eight. Holmes and Machowski had 20 points apiece to lead Wofford. Chace Watley scored 15 also for the Terriers, while Brian Sumpter had 10 points, 14 rebounds, three assists, two steals and a blocked shot.

Against one of the worst teams in the country at defending the three, Furman shot just 27.6 percent from there Saturday including 3-for-15 in the second half. While Franklin hit 3-of-4 threes and Vander Wal and Smith each made their only tries, the rest of the Paladins combined to go 3-for-23 from beyond the arc. While they improved Saturday, the Terriers still rank 340th nationally in three-point defense, allowing 37 percent.

Wilkins led Furman (13-6, 4-2) with 19 points and four assists. Franklin had 14 points, six rebounds and two steals off the bench. Vander Wal was the lone other Paladin in double figures with 10 points. Johnston, Furman's second leading scorer and leading rebounder, was held to five points on 1-of-5 shooting - all threes - and five rebounds.

Not to turn this into an editorial, but Saturday left me with two big takeaways. With a player like Wilkins, who can create his own shot, make difficult shots and drive to the basket, Furman should never have a stretch of being outscored 17-0. Secondly, I'm not sure how successful the Paladins can be if Johnston goes an entire game with no shot attempts inside the arc.

Furman returns to action Wednesday in Charleston when it faces rival The Citadel at 7 p.m.

Short-handed Paladins earn gritty win at Samford

Alex Wilkins had a career-high 28 points and five assists as Furman
won at Samford, 77-73, Wednesday. Photo courtesy of Furman

The Furman men's basketball team went deep into its bench to help earn wins at Chattanooga and over VMI last week, but it couldn't do the same at Samford Wednesday night. Injuries to starters Tom House and Asa Thomas suffered in the VMI game left the Paladins with only eight scholarship players available Wednesday.

Three of those eight got in serious foul trouble, but "find a way" Furman somehow found another way. Freshman sensation Alex Wilkins scored a career-high 28 points as the Paladins knocked off the Bulldogs, 77-73. Wilkins also had five assists and maybe most importantly, managed to stay on the court for the final 6:28 while playing with four fouls. Despite the foul situation, Wilkins defended well enough to help Furman hold Samford to no field goals over the final 4:32.

"You can call it adversity or whatever. Injuries are part of the game. For guys to be hungry for their opportunities and to compete the way they're competing, they're not perfect, but they're playing their guts out," Furman coach Bob Richey said on the Furman Radio Network's postgame show. "Life rewards that and sports rewards that. It's incredible what we're doing with what we have out.

"When we played the Alabama exhibition game, only four of these guys (who played Wednesday) played. It's tremendous to see how quickly guys are growing up. ... Lex had a special performance, but the entire group just stepped up. You look at the box and it's eight (points), nine, eight, eight, etc."

While the numbers may have called for the Paladins (13-5, 4-1 Southern Conference) to try to slow things down, just the opposite happened from the start. While Samford (9-9, 2-3) was more deliberate and pounded the ball inside, Furman was jacking three-pointers and throwing the ball all over the place early on. The Paladins offset turnovers by making five of their first eight threes - two by Wilkins, the second make of the season for Mason Smith and the first two attempts of Cole Bowser's career.

After assisting on Bowser's second three, Wilkins hit a jumper the next time down as Furman took a 21-19 lead with 11:45 left. Then a swoon hit the Paladins. Over the next three minutes, Furman went 0-for-5 from the floor - all threes - and had two turnovers. That helped the Bulldogs take a 28-21 lead before Smith hit his second three with 8:06 left in the half.

Then swooning resumed. The Paladins made two of their next 12 shots, including 0-for-4 from three, over the next five minutes. Fortunately for Furman, it had no turnovers during that cold stretch and it also turned the defense up. As such, Samford was only ahead by four points when Abijah Franklin made a steal and got the ball to Wilkins. Wilkins found Charles Johnston who soared in for a dunk to cut the lead to two with 3:03 left.

With 1:19 left, Franklin hit a three to put the Paladins back in front, 38-37. As the first half clock expired, Wilkins made a jumper to make it 40-40 at the break. The game was tied at the half despite Samford shooting 53.6 percent compared to Furman's 40 percent. The Bulldogs dominated points in the paint, 24-10, and points off turnovers, 14-7. The Paladins had just seven second-chance points despite nine offensive rebounds. Getting tied at the half required cleaning things up for Furman, which had seven turnovers in the first half but none over the final 8:34.

For the third consecutive game, the Paladins followed a great end to the first half with a great start to the second half. After Ben Vander Wal missed Furman's 14th three-pointer of the game as the shot clock expired on Furman's opening possession of the second half, the Paladins started attacking the basket.

Johnston hit Vander Wal on a backdoor cut for a layup the next offensive trip before Wilkins had layups on back-to-back possessions. After Eddrin Brown hit a pair of free throws, Owen Ritger hit a pretty turnaround jumper down low as the shot clock expired to push Furman's lead to 50-42 with 15:35 left. The only hiccup of the fast start came when Bowser picked up his fourth foul just over two minutes in.

"We were down 36-30 and the crowd was into it, but we finish the first half on a 10-4 run to knot it up at 40," Richey said. "This team has been pretty good coming out of the locker room after halftime and we go on another run to get a little bit of a margin. We've got to keep that up."

After trailing for much of the first half, Furman never trailed after halftime. The lead grew to as much as nine three different times on layups by Bronson, Johnston and Wilkins midway through the second half.

Vander Wal's layup with 8:37 left gave the Paladins a 65-57 lead, but Wilkins was whistled for his fourth foul just 12 seconds later and he headed to the bench. Less than four minutes later, Samford had the lead down to one at 67-66 on Keaton Norris' jumper with 4:33 left.

Furman made only one three-pointer in the second half, but it sure was huge. Johnston, who was also playing with four fouls, answered the Bulldogs' score with a three. Wilkins hit a jumper on the next possession and just like that, the Paladins were back up by six with 3:36 remaining.

After the jumper by Norris, Samford went 0-for-6 from the floor the rest of the way. Bowser hit a pair of free throws with 18 seconds left to push the lead to five and seal the win.

"Cole Bowser bangs two threes in the first half then has to step up to the line as a guy in his third college game," Richey said. "It's a one-and-one with a three-point lead and he hits both of them."

Wilkins' 28-point effort was the most by a Furman freshman since Devin Sibley scored 29 against East Tennessee State on Feb. 14, 2015. No other Paladin reached double figures, but Johnston scored nine, while Vander Wal, Bronson, Bowser and Frankin each had eight points. Johnston also had 14 rebounds, two steals and just one turnover before fouling out with 32 seconds left. Smith added six points and a career-high 11 rebounds in 25 minutes off the bench.

Despite going 1-for-11 from three in the second half, Furman made 14-of-21 two-pointers and had just three turnovers. After shooting 53.6 percent in the first half, the Bulldogs were held to 34.5 percent (10-of-29) in the second half. Samford leading scorer Jadin Booth, who was averaging 20.4 points per game entering Wednesday, had 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting. Dylan Faulkner led the Bulldogs with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

"It's a true, glued together, connected team right now," Richey said. "Out of the eight we played tonight, six are freshmen or sophomores and they just continue to battle."

Furman improved to 4-1 on the road this season. Over the past decade, the Paladins have collected 78 true road victories. Nationally, only Belmont (92), Vermont (90) and UC Irvine (82) have more during that same time frame.

It will be the third consecutive sellout at Timmons Arena when Furman returns to action Saturday against Wofford at 5 p.m. Unlike the last two games, this one has been sold out since last Sunday. Prior to the men's game, the Furman women will host Western Carolina at 2 p.m.

Bronson helps banged up Paladins crush VMI

Eddrin Bronson matched a career-high with 16 points off the bench
in Furman's 69-48 win over VMI. Photo courtesy of Furman

Timing is everything.

When Furman suffered its only Southern Conference loss this season to Western Carolina on Jan. 3, Coach Bob Richey came to the realization that he needed to trust his bench more. It's precisely what the Paladins did the next time out as 10 players, including the debuting freshman Cole Bowser, contributed to a big win at Chattanooga last Wednesday.

That was going to remain part of the plan moving forward. When Furman took the court against Saturday against VMI, that change in philosophy from the previous game seemed prescient. The Paladins overcame the loss of two more key players to injury thanks to an incredible defensive effort as they rolled to a 69-48 win before another sell out crowd at Timmons Arena.

Eddrin Bronson led the effort off the bench as he matched his career with 16 points. His role expanded Saturday after Tom House and Asa Thomas left the game in the first half with injuries and didn't return.

"Their zone is unique. With us playing four freshmen in our top eight today, I knew we were going to have to win in some other grittier areas of the game rather than expecting crisp, clean zone execution. I thought our team did that," Richey said. "We were really good on the backboards, which they thrive in. They chase down their misses and get a lot of offensive rebounds.

"I couldn't be more proud of our defensive effort. I think that's our biggest defensive effort that we've put in a game collectively all season. ... We had some guys really, really step up today. Ed Bronson did a phenomenal job on both ends of the floor. Alex (Wilkins) played his best defense of the year today by far."

It was a rough and tumble start Saturday. VMI 6-foot-8 freshman Alexander Daushvili hit the floor two minutes in and spent the rest of the day on crutches. At the 10:14 mark, House took an inadvertent elbow to the face on a loose ball and the back of his head touched the floor after he fell. After a couple of minutes down, House wobbled off to the bench and didn't return. Three minutes later, Thomas was fouled on a rebound and he slightly limped off and didn't return.

It was 22-22 at that point thanks to a game-tying three-pointer by Bronson just before Thomas' defensive rebound. With two starters sidelined and fellow starter Cooper Bowser still out with a foot injury, that's when this formerly not very deep Furman team somehow really started to shine. The Paladins outscored the Keydets 15-5 over the final 8:02 of the first half to take a 34-27 lead into the break. The first eight of those came on a personal 8-0 run by Bronson.

"Coach Richey told me earlier this week that he's sticking with me. That trust helps me to go out there and play with confidence and just do what I'm capable of doing," said Bronson, who had a big blocked shot before entering the scoring column Saturday. "That's (block) definitely an energy play that gets you into the game and gets your blood going. Aggressiveness has been a big thing for me, so things like that definitely help."

VMI went 2-for-13 from the floor over those final eight minutes of the half and was 9-for-30 (30 percent) for the half.

Cole Bowser went from having his redshirt removed last Wednesday to starting the second half three days later. There was no let up by Bryson or the rest of Furman's lineup defensively after halftime. After Wilkins opened the half with a three-pointer, the Keydets' first possession ended on a shot clock violation. A Wilkins' turnover led to a VMI three-pointer, but the freshman atoned with another three.

That three started a 13-0 run over the next four minutes as Furman led by double digits the rest of the way. Bronson hit two more threes during that run, which Charles Johnston capped by making 2-of-3 free throws after getting fouled on a three.

Following its three-pointer at the 18:45 mark of the second half, VMI's next made field goal came 12 shots later at the 12:05 mark. After shooting just 30 percent in the first half, the Keydets shot just 23.1 percent (6-of-26) in the second half and made 26.8 percent for the game.

Furman (12-5, 3-1) got the 21-point win despite suffering 20 turnovers and making just 10-of-18 free throws. The Paladins dominated the glass, 48-32, including 18 offensive rebounds. They outscored VMI (6-11, 1-3) in the paint, 22-10.

Wilkins had a game-high 17 points, four assists and three steals for Furman. In addition to his 16-point effort in 24:15 off the bench, Bronson had a pair of blocked shots. Ben Vander Wal had 11 points and six rebounds, while Johnston finished with six points, 15 rebounds, five assists, two steals, two blocks and just one turnover.

"Ben Vander Wal is consistent and plays like a warrior every day. Chuck Johnston gets 15 rebounds today and was so aware in all of his coverages. Then we had freshmen chasing around these elite shooters. Their two best average 19.5 three-point attempts per game," Richey said. "There were 10 times in the game where we got three consecutive stops on defense. I'm not sure that we've had a D1 game where we've gotten 10 of those during our time here."

TJ Johnson, VMI's leading scorer averaging 19.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game entering Saturday, had a team-high 15 points on 4-of-12 shooting Saturday. He also had four rebounds and six steals.

Furman returns to action Wednesday night at Samford at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs, who are 5-1 at home this season, are coming off an 88-79 loss at Chattanooga Saturday. Senior Jadin Booth leads Samford (9-8, 2-2) averaging 20.4 points per game and is shooting 41.2 percent on three-pointers.

Deeper Paladins bounce back at Chattanooga

Charles Johnston had 21 points and eight rebounds in Furman's 78-67
win at Chattanooga Wednesday. Photo courtesy of Furman

When Furman followed up an impressive win over Mercer in its Southern Conference opener with a disappointing 80-77 home loss to Western Carolina last Saturday, there were plenty of obvious reasons why. The Paladins had another abysmal day at the free throw line and were dominated on the boards, but what really stood out was a rough day for the bench.

Injuries to key players whittled Furman's rotation down to eight and that meant asking a lot of the starters, especially in an overtime game. While Alex Wilkins was at plus-nine during his 39:06 on the floor and Charles Johnston was at plus-five in his 37:42, the Catamounts' biggest spurts came during those very few minutes they each were getting a breather. The Paladins' three players off the bench finished the game at minus-seven, minus-eight and minus-eight, respectively.

"At the end of the day, our bench has to play better," Furman coach Bob Richey implored after the game. "Alex has to get a blow and all of a sudden, they go on a 7-0 run. That was a huge chunk of the game."

When the Paladins traveled to Chattanooga Wednesday, Richey and his staff decided the best way to spark the bench was to actually go deeper into it. No one could've guessed who among the reserves would lead that charge.

While Cooper Bowser missed his fourth consecutive game with his injured foot still in a walking boot, another Bowser had a wardrobe change. Richey decided to take the redshirt off Bowser's brother, Cole, and the freshman responded with 10 rebounds off the bench in his collegiate debut. That helped take some pressure off Johnston, who had 21 points and eight rebounds, to lead Furman to a 78-67 win at The Roundhouse in a nationally televised game by CBS Sports Network.

The younger Bowser wasn't the only new face off the bench for Furman (11-5, 2-1) as sophomore Mason Smith saw his first action against Division I competition this season. A total of 10 Paladins played Wednesday, marking the first time more than eight played against a DI opponent since Nov. 14.

"Part of the formula that we've always had is to have nine or 10 (play) and to engage them, to not be tired, to be able to play 40 minutes and depend on one another," Richey said on the Furman Radio Network's postgame show. "So the plan was to insert more and it was to trust more. ... A lot of it was like, 'the bench is not giving us anything,' but that wasn't totally true. We were putting some of the bench out there with starters that were gassed and that's a bad combination.

"The answer is not to play the bench less. The answer is to stand on the values of the program and trust each other. ... Early in the season, we couldn't play 10, but tonight we were able to play 10. We had our leading scorer in foul trouble and we still came in here and found a way to win. I couldn't be more proud."

Bowser made his collegiate debut at the 16:35 mark of the first half. Twenty seconds later, he got his first mark in the boxscore with a blocked shot. Even though Bowser was making an immediate impact, Furman trailed by as many as seven points early on.

An offensive rebound by Ben Vander Wal led to a Johnston jumper that tied the game midway through the first half. It was still 19-19 at the 9:04 mark when Wilkins departed the game after getting whistled for his third foul. It appeared that it could be a critical moment as Furman's leading scorer was likely going to be sidelined the rest of the half.

The Mocs took advantage as they took a 30-24 lead on a four-point play by Jakari Johnson with 5:36 left. Then Vander Wal's dirty work helped the game completely flip. After an offensive board by Vander Wal, he assisted on a three by Tom House. Following a rebound by Bowser on the other end, Vander Wal found Eddrin Bronson for three and the game was tied 30-30.

Unbeknownst to anyone at the time, the Paladins took the lead for good on their next possession when Bronson found House for another three with 3:40 left. While Furman's scoring flurry slowed a bit, its defensive pressure never did. Asa Thomas hit a three to push the lead to 36-30 with 2:17 remaining.

After watching his big brother dunk his way to leading the country in field goal percentage this season, it was only fitting what Cole Bowser's first collegiate shot was. After Bowser made a steal at midcourt, his breakaway dunk capped the Paladins' 15-0 run as they took a 39-30 lead into halftime.

"The defense really made a push right there," Richey said. "It felt like they were at 30 for a while and that was a huge key for us to be able to get out in transition and play in space." 

Johnston and Wilkins came roaring into the second half as Furman kept up the momentum. Johnston opened the second half with a jumper before Wilkins had a layup the next time down. Then Wilkins lobbed to Johnston for a dunk before finding him again for a three-pointer as the Paladins took their biggest lead at 48-33 with 16:48 left.

Furman led by 12 when Wilkins left after being called for his fourth foul with 15:22 left. Unlike last Saturday, the Paladins still led by eight when Wilkins returned nearly six minutes later. Despite being a foul away from being done for the day, Wilkins drove to the bucket, drew a foul and hit both free throws to make it a double-digit lead again.

Like you'd expect from a Dan Earl-coached team, the Mocs didn't roll over but they could never get closer than seven the rest of the way. Each time Chattanooga got that close, Furman had an answer.

UTC's Jordan Frison cut the lead to 56-49 on a three-pointer with 9:12 left. Seven seconds later, Thomas hit a three after Wilkins drove to the paint and dished out to him. Another Frison three sliced the lead to 63-56 with 6:30 left, but his next one was partially blocked by Thomas and House grabbed the rebound. That led to Bowser getting a tough shot to fall off an assist from Johnston.

The last time the Mocs got the lead down to seven was once again on a Frison three with 51 seconds left. Thomas answered with a pair of free throws with 36 seconds remaining and Wilkins closed out the scoring with two more free throws with 21 seconds left.

Johnston's 21-point night came on 10-of-14 shooting from the floor and he had no turnovers. House, who made each of his first four three-pointers, finished with 17 points, while Thomas scored 16. Thomas also had eight rebounds, three assists, one block, no turnovers and no fouls. Wilkins logged just 22 minutes and was just 1-of-10 from the floor, but still had eight points and seven assists. Bowser made all three of his field goal attempts to finish with six points along with the 10 rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench.

"Playing Cole wasn't some desperation move. Cole has come back from Christmas with a totally different focus," Richey said. "We had a practice a couple of days after Christmas where it was the ones versus the twos. The twos were destroying the ones and I switched Cole and Baba (Abijah Franklin) to the ones and it changed the whole practice. It was the energy of Baba and Cole defensively, getting hands on balls, getting rebounds and making tough, gritty plays.

"Then Monday in practice, Cole just made a big impact. I met with him Tuesday morning and talked about it (no longer redshirting) for a little while and then I talked to his parents. I talked to him last night (Tuesday) in the hotel and he said, 'if I can help this team win, let's do it.' ... I told him there's going to be a game - or two or three - that he helps us win. I didn't know it was going to be his first one, but he helped us win that game today." 

Frison had a game-high 25 points to lead UTC (6-10, 0-3).

Furman returns to action Saturday when it hosts VMI at 2 p.m.

Western Carolina 80, Furman 77, OT

Furman had 10 days off around Christmas to prepare for what turned out to be a thrilling two-point win over a Mercer team that's considered by many to be the best team in the SoCon. When the Paladins hosted Western Carolina in game two of the SoCon schedule in a sold out Timmons Arena three days later, they didn't look anything like the same team.

Furman trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half, got outrebounded 48-35 and made just 8-of-17 free throws for the game and somehow still had a chance before falling in overtime. Western avenged an overtime loss in Greenville last year in improving to 2-21 on the road the last two seasons. It was just the fourth win for the Catamounts in the last 25 games in the series.

"Without students here, the student section was still full and the place was rocking. Unfortunately, I didn't have our team ready to play the first half at the necessary intensity and effort required to win league games," Richey said afterwards. "We got beat up on the backboard and did a poor job defending the three-point line. ... They had an eight-point lead at the half and once we finally woke up, we played pretty good basketball. But we didn't play good enough to win it.

"It's really hard to lose a game in overtime and have to look at the fact that you missed nine free throws. To think that if just one of those goes in, you win by one in regulation. ... We've got better shooters than that. We've got to go up there with a level of confidence and just go knock them down. Ultimately, it's gotten in our heads a little bit."

Western's eighth made three of the first half pushed its lead to 38-27. As the final seconds of the half ticked off, Wilkins' heave from beyond midcourt swished through to cut the lead to 38-30 at the break.

The momentum from the home run three seemed to carry over in the second half as Wilkins drained a much closer three to shave the lead to five. Four minutes later, Wilkins turned a steal into a layup and the game was tied 42-42 with 14:50 remaining. The next time down, Wilkins hit a jumper as the Paladins took their first lead since early in the game.

There were four ties and neither team led by more than two points over the final 5:30 of regulation. Wilkins' layup with 2:15 remaining pushed Furman in front 65-63. Thomas then blocked a layup attempt by Western's Cord Stansberry and Johnston grabbed the rebound. The crowd was ready to try to blow the roof off Timmons when Johnston got a good look for three, but he couldn't get it to fall.

After the Catamounts tied the game with 1:30 left, Thomas and House also got open threes on the same trip, but both missed. Stansberry missed a three with 27 seconds left, leaving Furman with the final possession of regulation. It appeared that the Paladins were going to leave it up to Wilkins to win it like he did against Mercer. After starting his drive from well beyond the three-point line with six seconds left, Wilkins was dribbled along the right sideline before firing a pass to Thomas. Thomas' heavily guarded three as time expired didn't have a prayer and the game went to overtime.

"There's a lot of plays you want back. Could we have taken a timeout there? Sure. Should we have? Probably, but then you've got to inbound the ball again versus their pressure," Richey said. "I thought they did a really good job of pressuring Lex (Wilkins) and making it hard for us to get in our offense. ... We've got to get a better look there, but that's on me."

On Furman's first possession in overtime, Vander Wal grabbed an offensive rebound and found House for a three to give the Paladins a 68-67 lead. After that made shot though, Furman missed a three, missed a putback tip-in, missed another three, missed another three then threw the ball away. Following the turnover, the Cats hit a pair of free throws to take an eight-point lead with 1:15 remaining.

After Thomas hit three free throws with 1:09 left, Western's Julian Soumaoro hit a layup with 40 seconds left. That was seemingly the dagger as the Catamounts led 78-71. After House made a layup with 31 seconds left, Vander Wal had a steal and found Johnston for a layup to cut the lead to 78-75 with 27 seconds left.

A Franklin deflection of Western's inbounds pass led to another steal by Vander Wal. This time he found Wilkins on a layup to slice the lead to 78-77 with 23 seconds left. Western finally successfully inbounded the ball and Stansberry hit a pair of free throws with 15 seconds left.

After Wilkins picked up his dribble near midcourt with 7.2 seconds left, Furman called timeout. It was another poor final possession for the Paladins as Wilkins fired up a long, off-balance three with two seconds left. With Western up three, it appeared that Wilkins may have anticipated the Catamounts fouling and was hoping to get fouled on a shot. Whatever the case was, his shot was well short and ended up being an airball out of bounds.

Wilkins finished with a game-high 24 points and six assists to lead the Paladins. Johnston had 14 points, six rebounds and no turnovers, while Vander Wal had 11 points, eight rebounds, six assists, three steals and no turnovers.

Wilkins lifts Furman to thrilling win over Mercer

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.