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| Cooper Bowser dunks over Samford's 6-foot-10 Will Shaver during Furman's 86-81 win Saturday. Photo courtesy of Jeremy Fleming/SoCon |
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Furman didn't go with its normal starting five against Samford Saturday in the Southern Conference Tournament quarterfinals. It really didn't go with the normal starting five to start the second half either.
But Furman coach Bob Richey knows that the status quo isn't enough in March. Not when you're fighting for the championship of a one-bid league like the SoCon. Richey pressed a lot of different buttons on Saturday and made them work. The sixth-seeded Paladins withstood a phenomenal shooting performance by SoCon Player of the Year Jadin Booth to defeat the third-seeded Bulldogs, 86-81, at the Harrah's Cherokee Center.
Furman (20-12) advances to face seventh-seeded UNC Greensboro in the semifinals Sunday at approximately 6:30 p.m. For the sixth time in the past seven seasons, the seven seed upset the No. 2 seed when the Spartans beat Wofford Saturday. It's the fifth consecutive year that the Paladins have reached the semifinal round and the second consecutive year that they improved their season record against Samford to 3-0 to do so.
"It was a tremendous, high level basketball game, which we fully anticipated. They're one of the hottest teams in the league having won eight of nine coming in. The one they lost was a nail-biter in Macon. I knew we were going to have our hands full and I don't know if I've seen many shooting performances like Booth put on tonight," Richey said. "Our team showed a tremendous amount of fight tonight. We had three freshmen out there at some points and had two freshmen guarding the Player of the Year and they just battled.
"We had to start a little bit different and none of our guys complained about it. We started the second half a little bit different, but we just knew it was going to take everybody. It was going to take a team effort. ... The humility of our group is shown in a guy like Cooper Bowser. We felt like we had to play a lot of single big tonight because of how they (Samford) play. So either Ben (Vander Wal), Chuck (Charles Johnston) or Coop's got to come off the bench. For Cooper to have the character and confidence in his teammates to say, 'those guys are seniors. Let them start,' ... it takes that type of connection and culture."
The change to the starting lineup saw Eddrin Bronson replace Bowser. It was also done because Bronson has excelled defensively down the stretch and he had the first chance to try to guard Booth.
On a day filled with exciting basketball, Furman-Samford was a banger from the start as both teams best players squared off. After it took all of 16 seconds for Booth to open the game with a three, Alex Wilkins answered with a three. Booth came back with another three and Wilkins answered with a layup. While other Bulldogs began to get in the scoring column, Wilkins kept on firing. Furman's freshman phenom reached double figures in less than three minutes as he scored the Paladins' first 10 points.
Once Bowser checked in, Wilkins took advantage of the attention he was gaining and lobbed a perfect pass to Bowser for a dunk. After a steal by Tom House, Bowser converted a layup while he was fouled to put Furman ahead 14-9 at the first media timeout.
Cooper's brother, Cole Bowser, gave the Paladins their first double-digit lead on a corner three with 13:01 left in the first half. Three minutes later, an Asa Thomas gave Furman its biggest lead at 33-22. After making 16 of its first 22 shots, Furman went 2-for-11 from the floor the rest of the half.
Samford (18-14) took advantage of the Paladins finally cooling off and stormed back to tie the game 46-46 at the half. Booth accounted for half of Samford's 46 points in the first half and he made 5-of-7 threes.
Richey knew he had to try something different to contain Booth. Brunson fought hard to stay with Booth, but he got screened to death by the Bulldogs' big men. Some of them were particularly hard body blows. That job in the second half primarily went to the bigger Cole Bowser as well as fellow freshman Abijah Franklin.
After a first half in which Thomas was at minus-11, Ben Vander Wal at minus-10 and Bronson at minus-1, Furman opened the second half with Charles Johnston, Wilkins, House and the Bowser brothers on the floor.
The second half could not have started more differently than the first as Samford outscored Furman 6-4 over the first five minutes to take a 52-50 lead. That's when Vander Wal, Thomas, Bronson and Franklin came off the bench and lit a spark that Furman rode the rest of the night.
"I told the team this afternoon that the adversity they've faced all season is going to pull you together in this tournament setting. I thought there were multiple moments tonight where they'd make a run or tighten things up. ... The way these guys handled those moments was really impressive tonight," Richey said. "It's not about who starts. It's all about playing team basketball to continue to have success in this tournament."
After Vander Wal's putback tied the game, Franklin drew an offensive foul from Booth. Franklin then found Thomas for a layup that gave the Paladins a lead they never relinquished. After the layup, Franklin got a steal and then drilled a three off a feed from Bronson. On Furman's next possession, Vander Wal made a hook shot to push the lead to 59-54.
Samford first team All-SoCon selection Dylan Faulkner hit a layup to cut the Furman lead to 66-65 with 7:21 left, but the Paladins responded with their most crucial run of the night. It started when House drove for a layup to answer Faulkner's. Bronson hit a pair of free throws before Cooper Bowser got a hook shot to fall. With 3:14 left, House capped the 9-0 run when Franklin hit him for a three coming off a perfect screen.
While the Bulldogs hit four threes over the final three minutes, Furman made 11 of its final 12 free throws to seal the win. Perhaps the biggest factor of the second half was that Booth made his first three of the half with 19:32 left and his last two over the final 28 seconds - including a ridiculous one in which three Paladins were guarding him. In between those makes, Booth was 0-for-5 from three allowing Furman to take control.
"Our 'bench' was tremendous tonight. Starters are kind of like seeding in this tournament. It's pretty irrelevant who you start. It's about your matchups, what mix is working and what you need to do to stop the other team," Richey said. "Our rotation was much more about strategy than our 'best' five players. Everybody who played tonight can start on this roster and everybody except Baba (Franklin) has started multiple games."
With Furman devoting so much attention to Booth in the second half, there could've been a concern about Faulkner taking over. That didn't happen though as he was held to four points after halftime.
"Faulkner is an amazing player. He plays so physical and is a force down low. We just tried to make sure his buckets weren't as easy," Cooper Bowser said. "He made some tough ones because he's just that great of a player, but we just tried to make it hard for him and take away the easy ones."
Tom House scored 15 of his team-high 20 points in the second half as he hit both of his three-point attempts and all seven of his free throws. He also had two steals. Wilkins finished with 19 points and three assists, while Cooper Bowser had 14 points and six rebounds and Johnston pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds. Furman had a 32-20 advantage in points in the paint, a 15-6 edge in second-chance points and its bench outscored Samford's 48-6.
In his 17:36 off the bench, Cole Bowser had 10 points, seven rebounds, three steals and a blocked shot. Not a bad SoCon Tournament debut for a guy who was still redshirting two months ago.
"It's just an amazing blessing to be out there. I'm thankful to Coach Richey for putting me out there," Cole Bowser said. "I just went out there and did the best I could. I just believed in God and my teammates and my teammates believed in me."
Booth finished with a game-high 34 points, while Faulker had 12 points, nine rebounds, three assists and two blocks.
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