Paladins cut down the nets again

Alex Wilkins cuts down the net after Furman's 76-61 win over ETSU in the Southern
Conference Tournament championship. Photo courtesy of Jeremy Fleming/SoCon

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - The 106th edition of the Southern Conference Tournament will go down as one of the most exciting ever. Of the nine games held this past weekend at the Harrah's Cherokee Center, seven were decided by seven points or less.

In tournaments filled with close, thrilling contests throughout, the championship game isn't always as nail-biting as the games that set it up. That especially seems true when the No. 1 seed takes on an upstart, lower seed, which was the case Monday when East Tennessee State faced Furman. The game may be close for a half or so before the cream rises to the top and gradually pulls further away to championship glory.

That was also the case Monday at the SoCon, but not in the typical way. The cream of the crop in the league this year proved to be the sixth-seeded Paladins, who knocked off the top-seeded Buccaneers, 76-61 - the most lopsided score of the entire tournament. After a 43-year absence from the NCAA Tournament ended in 2023, it only took three years for Furman (22-12) to return to the Big Dance again.

Monday's victory made the team's 1-3 start, the injuries, the blown leads, the overtime losses, the early season free throw woes, the inconsistent three-point shooting, and the one missing conference win that left Furman a No. 6 seed instead of a No. 2 seed all worth it.

"It's just an unbelievable night and I couldn't be more proud of this group. The amount of things that this group's been through and what they've grown through," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "I told them last week, as we were prepping for this, every bit of the adversity they faced this year is going to propel them forward to have a chance to win this tournament. And man, if that didn't play out.

"I told the team today that I wanted them to go out there and I wanted this to be the most fun 40 minutes of the year. I wanted them to take every lesson they've learned through the season and to put it on the big stage. Go out there and just play with joy. We said all week, Furman is impossible to beat if we're out there having fun. And I thought you saw that this weekend."

While every Paladin that stepped on the floor contributed to all three tournament wins, Furman had a different leading scorer every night. In the championship game, it was Cooper Bowser's turn to lead the way and he turned in the most impressive game of his career. Bowser had game-highs in points (21), rebounds (11) and assists (3). It was the first double-digit rebounding performance this season for Bowser, who missed 10 games with a foot injury midway through the season, and the third double-double of his career.

It has to be the most points Bowser has ever scored without a dunk. ETSU (23-11) seemed lasered in on not allowing any of Furman's prolific offense of throwing alley-oop passes to Bowser for jams. Instead, Bowser drove for layups and got plenty of soft touch baby hooks and short jumpers to fall. In addition to being an excellent coach, ETSU's Brooks Savage knows his basketball history when it comes to hook shots.

"He (Bowser) looked like Lew Alcindor out there. All the shot making put pressure on what we wanted to do in the post," Savage said. "We wanted to try to make him score over top of us, and he did.

"A lot of credit to Bob, who had a lot of injuries throughout the year to deal with and they found a way to stay together and keep getting better. They got healthy. I think everybody knew when they did, they would have a chance to win it, regardless of what the record or the seed looked like."

Furman's Cooper Bowser had 21 points and 11 rebounds
Monday. Photo courtesy of Jeremy Fleming/SoCon

While Bowser led Furman Monday, it was another team effort from the start. Charles Johnston opened the scoring with a three off an assist from Alex Wilkins. The Bucs came back to lead for all of 75 seconds before Asa Thomas buried a three to tie the game 6-6. Eddrin Bronson followed with a steal that led to Bowser's putback layup giving Furman a lead it never relinquished.

As soon as their numbers were called, every Paladin was ready to contribute. After checking in at the 16:27 mark, Tom House pushed the lead to 10-6 on a backdoor cut layup 20 seconds later off a beautiful bounce pass from Bowser near the top of the key. A minute later, House drilled a three off an assist from Ben Vander Wal, who had checked in with him.

Cole Bowser came on at the under-16 media timeout and one minute later, hit a three off an assist from House. Furman grabbed two offensive rebounds on its next possession before House found Wilkins for another three. The fifth different Paladin with a three pushed the lead to 21-13 with 13:02 left in the first half.

"I just think we knew collectively that it wasn't about one person each night. We needed different guys to step up ... all the way down the roster," House said. "We knew that a whole team effort was how you get these things done."

Furman led by as much as 10 points and shot 60 percent in the opening half to take a 42-35 lead into halftime. There was no let up in the second half. There wasn't a hint of blowing a big second half lead, which became a nasty habit of this team for a tough stretch including an overtime loss at ETSU in which a 15-point lead evaporated. On Monday, the Bucs never got the lead under nine over the final 13:28.

By the time Cooper Bowser missed his first shot of the game Monday, the Paladins lead had stretched to 61-46 with 9:35 remaining. It snapped a string of 15 consecutive made shots for Bowser, dating back to his final attempt in the quarterfinal win over Samford on Saturday.

"For me personally, I played with a lot of motivation. The first day we drove from the hotel to the arena, I was actually tearing up because the last thing I remember is losing here (to rival Wofford in the 2025 SoCon final)," Cooper Bowser said. "It means the world to come back here, because that was motivation for me all offseason. I stayed here (at Furman) for the whole month of May, just trying to get stronger and better."

There was one faint bit of hope left for ETSU. After it cut the lead to 70-61 with 2:46 left, the Bucs had a 5-on-4 advantage when Bronson stayed down after hitting the floor on a blocked layup attempt. As play continued, Wilkins took a chance and went for a steal at midcourt. He made it and drove uncontested to the rim where he punctuated the championship win with a dunk.

That dunk to seal the SoCon championship came exactly one year to the day that Wilkins hit a game-winning, buzzer-beatng shot in his high school's state championship.

"Coach Richey has put an amazing amount of trust in me and has just let me get better through mistakes. It's just a blessing," said Wilkins, who became the first freshman since Davidson's Stephen Curry in 2007 to earn SoCon Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors. "God has put his hands on my life and continues to bless me. I'm just excited for the future."

Richey gave the raucous Furman crowd, which included more than 700 students who bussed up from Greenville, one more reason to roar when senior walk-on and fan favorite Thomas Tillman checked in with 10 seconds to play.

After those final seconds ticked away, happy tears began to flow as the Paladins hugged and celebrated while confetti and streamers fell to the court. Following its fourth trip to the title game over the last five seasons, Furman then cut the nets down for a second time.

Bowser and Wilkins, who finished with 12 points and two steals made the All-Tournament first team. House, who had 13 points and three assists, made the second team. Vander Wal was honored with the Knight Commission Pinnacle Award, which is annually given to the player with the highest GPA on the winning team.

Tom House had 13 points and 3 assists Monday.
Photo courtesy of Jeremy Fleming/SoCon

While Bronson likely didn't have the stats to make the All-Tournament team, he was the other Paladin on my ballot. After joining the starting lineup for all three games, Bronson was the unsung hero with clutch free throws, key baskets and hard work on both sides of the floor. While he scored seven points Monday, Furman outscored ETSU by 21 during his 24 minutes on the floor. It was the highest plus-minus of any Paladin all weekend.

"Ed wasn't able to practice last week, but we made a decision to adjust our starting lineup. We wanted another attacker on the floor and to get one less big man on the floor to open up some space," Richey said. "He was phenomenal."

In addition to not blowing the sizable lead Monday, the Paladins righted other wrongs of the past.

After making 6-of-33 threes in a home loss to ETSU on Feb. 18, Furman drilled 10-of-26 in the final. For the tournament, the Paladins hit 30-of-67 (44.8 percent) threes. After spending the first couple of months of the season as one of the worst foul shooting teams in the country, Furman made 12-of-15 free throws Monday and 51-of-61 (83.6 percent) for the tournament. After getting obliterated on the boards in a blowout loss at Western Carolina in the regular season finale, the Paladins outrebounded all three tournament opponents. That included a 36-24 advantage in the championship.

"Hard isn't always bad, it's just hard. You've got to make a decision and a lot of times, it can destroy you. You can just fold up and quit trying," Richey said. "Sometimes it can define you. The definition of this season could've been that a young team got injured. ... Or you can let it develop you and that's what this group chose to do.

"We always believed we had the talent. I think individually, we were trying to find ourselves at times. To be a great team, you've got to buy in to everybody together all the time. We came up here and this is the best we've done that all season. It was incredible. ... We played our best when our best was required. That's what 'team' does. That's what 'program' does. We're always going to be about the program here."

Furman coach Bob Richey and players celebrate.
Photo courtesy of Jeremy Fleming/SoCon

Watch party set for Sunday

Furman's NCAA Tournament destination and opening round opponent will be revealed during the Selection Show Sunday at 6 p.m. on CBS. The only guarantee is that the Paladins won't be playing at The Well in Greenville, as host schools are not allowed to play in the arena they're hosting in. That also basically guarantees that Furman won't be facing Duke, which seems destined to be a No. 1 seed playing in Greenville.

Nevermind the fact that the Paladins also have no business being in the No. 16 seed discussion in the first place, but one never knows what might happen. My gut feeling is that Furman will be a No. 15 seed facing Houston in Oklahoma City on Thursday. 

Fans can join the team to find out during a watch party at Timmons Arena. Admission to the event is free and doors will open at 5 p.m. A brief program is set for 5:30 p.m. featuring remarks from players, coaches, and administrators. There will be an opportunity for pictures with the Southern Conference championship trophy, while concessions and championship merchandise will also be available for purchase.

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