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| Alex Wilkins had 20 points in just under 21 minutes of action in Furman's 78-73 win over Samford. Photo courtesy of Furman |
For the third time in the past four games, Furman held a seemingly comfortable double-digit lead with about 10 minutes to play Thursday. After nearly completely blowing said big lead for the third time, the Paladins found a way to not. Tom House scored 21 points and Alex Wilkins had 20 - averaging a point per minute - as Furman held on for a 78-73 win to complete a season sweep of Samford.
A Furman program built on deflections and scoring transition points off those had zero points off turnovers Thursday as it forced only four and had no steals. Those turnovers were two shot clock violations - one on the Bulldogs' opening possession of the game and another on their second possession of the second half, a traveling violation and an offensive foul. Meanwhile, the Paladins committed 14 turnovers, had two starters foul out, allowed 16 offensive rebounds and attempted 18 fewer field goals than Samford.
The winning factors for Furman were offensive efficiency and defensive effort. The Paladins (15-7, 6-3 Southern Conference) shot 64 percent in the second half and 58.3 percent (28-of-48) for the game, while holding the Bulldogs to 40.9 percent (27-of-66). Furman also finally had a game in which foul shooting was in its favor as the Paladins made 15-of-20 free throws (75 percent) and Samford made 12-of-22 (54.5 percent).
"It was a heck of a win tonight for our group as we just continue to learn. Learning is a lot more fun when you're winning. ... It was a classic 'find a way Furman' group win tonight. It wasn't pretty and we didn't do a great job on the defensive backboard at all," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "But our group did an unbelievable job managing foul trouble with our leading scorer being out of the game for the last four minutes.
"For it to be a nationally televised game, you hate to see that kid (Wilkins) have to go sit out those last four minutes, but it was another huge opportunity for our team to have to go out there and finish the game in those circumstances. That's what I'm most proud of."
The game was tied with five minutes left in the first half when Wilkins headed to the bench with his third foul. Three-pointers by Eddrin Bronson and House, and a three-point play by Ben Vander Wal with 15 seconds left helped the Paladins take a 35-33 lead into halftime.
Nowhere were Furman's winning factors more evident than over the first 10 minutes of the second half. Wilkins let everybody know that was back on the floor to start the half as he scored seven points in a 63-second span. A minute-and-a-half later, Wilkins' three-point play pushed Furman's lead to 49-39.
At the 14:33 mark, Wilkins was driving for more but was whistled for an offensive foul. His fourth sent him to the bench, but the Paladins didn't miss a beat. Owen Ritger's layup capped what was a 22-8 run as Furman took a 57-43 lead with just over 10 minutes remaining.
In other words, the Bulldogs had the Paladins right where they wanted them. At a similar juncture of the game, Furman led rivals Wofford by 15 points and The Citadel by 19 points only to lose both games. So when Samford went on a quick 6-0 spurt, Richey called timeout to try to nip that in the bud and put House and Charles Johnston back on the floor. On the possession coming out of the timeout, Johnston found House for what was originally ruled a three-pointer but was video reviewed to a long two.
The Bulldogs didn't go away though as SoCon leading scorer Jadin Booth heated up. Booth, who had six points on 1-of-10 shooting over the first 30 minutes of Thursday's game, answered House's long shot with a three on the other end. It was still 59-52 Paladins when Wilkins checked back in at the 7:57 mark and seven seconds were on Furman's shot clock. Wilkins was dribbling at the top of the key when he suddenly realized there was one on the shot clock, but his long three splashed through like he had fully squared up to shoot it anyway.
Samford (10-12, 3-6) responded with a 12-4 run. Booth scored the final six points of that flurry to cut the lead to 66-64 with 2:58 left to play. During that run, Wilkins was called for a controversial foul on a drive to the basket. That third offensive foul on Wilkins gave him five, fouling him out of the game with 3:59 remaining. With its leading scorer on the bench, Furman answered the Bulldogs' run with three consecutive buckets. After Johnston's layup off an assist from Bronson, Bronson hit a jumper and then found House for a three-pointer.
"Booth's a tremendous player. He's as good a shooter as this league's seen in a long time. It felt like the momentum was slipping at that juncture (when Wilkins fouled out), but Ed Bronson did an unbelievable job late in the game," Richey said. "He had an unbelievable pivot to find House for the three that put us up nine. He had multiple defensive plays there where I thought he did an incredible job making them take tough twos."
House's three appeared to be a final nail in Samford's coffin as the Paladins led 73-64 with 50 seconds to play, but once again the Bulldogs didn't go away. Booth hit back-to-back threes sandwiched around a pair of free throws by Furman's Cole Bowser to slice the lead to 75-70. With 35 seconds left, Furman was called for a five-second violation as Bronson didn't call timeout in time. Vander Wal was then whistled for his fifth foul on a three-point attempt by Samford's Kam Martin two seconds later.
Fortunately for the Paladins, Martin - an 84 percent foul shooter - made just one of his three attempts to cut the lead to four. A foul fest ensued. After Collin O'Neal missed the front end of a 1-and-1, he was watching the ball on defense when he collided with Samford big man Dylan Faulkner and was called for a foul with 24 seconds left. Faulkner missed the front end of the 1-and-1, but Martin grabbed the offensive rebound and was fouled by Johnston. Martin hit both free throws this time, cutting the lead to 75-73 with 22 seconds left.
Bronson made it a two-score game again when he hit a pair of free throws with 18 seconds left. The Paladins managed to make it through a defensive set without fouling as Samford's Keaton Norris missed a jumper. O'Neal made 1-of-2 free throw with eight seconds left to close out the scoring.
"Bronson's play on two feet on the left side clear out was incredible. Then he made two huge free throws to put us up four," Richey said. "I'm just proud of him. In totality, I think Ed's expectation was this season would be a little bit more fruitful that it's been to this point but he's had a great attitude through it. He's continued to battle through it. He was ready tonight to got out there in a critical moment, in winning time, and make some tremendous plays for us."
Wilkins got his 20 points in just under 21 minutes of playing time. He made 7-of-9 field goals, including 3-4 three-pointers, had three assists and a block. The freshman had five turnovers, but three of those came on offensive fouls. While Samford forced 14 turnovers and made six steals, Furman allowed just two fast break points.
After making 7-of-10 three-pointers in the Paladins' previous game at UNC Greensboro, House was hounded by Samford on the perimeter. For House to go 2-for-7 from three and still net 21 points is a sign of just how far his game has evolved. He also had four rebounds, two blocks, no fouls, no turnovers and a game-high plus-minus of plus-14.
"Obviously when you start hitting threes, everybody plays you a little big differently. You get a little bit more freedom to attack and take what the defense gives you," House said. "I think really we're just getting into a better offensive rhythm as a team."
Vander Wal was the lone other Paladin in double figures as he had 11 points - on 4-of-4 shooting, six rebounds, three assists and no turnovers. Johnston finished with eight points, 16 rebounds, three assists and a block, while Bronson had seven points and three assists off the bench.
Booth had a game-high 23 points and no turnovers, while Faulkner had 19 points, 12 rebounds - including eight offensive, four assists and no turnovers to lead Samford.
Despite Furman University and Timmons Arena currently being closed to the public due to Saturday's winter storm, the Paladins will still host Chattanooga at 1 p.m. Sunday on ESPN2. Driving on campus is not permissible due to the snow and ice, so game access will be limited to students and employees who are able to safely attend the game. Ticket holders will be issued a refund or credit that will be communicated by the ticket office.
Pleasing the national television overlords is my only guess as to how the game was not postponed.
