Wilkins rallies Paladins to SoCon tourney final

Furman's Alex Wilkins shoots over UNCG's Justin Neely. Wilkins had 34 points
in the Paladins' 81-75 win Sunday. Photo courtesy of Jeremy Fleming/SoCon

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Saturday at the Southern Conference Tournament, the textbook definition of "team effort" helped Furman knock off Samford. On Sunday, the Paladins showed that having a phenomenal individual performance certainly doesn't hinder that "team effort."

After an uninspiring opening half of basketball for Furman, freshman Alex Wilkins rewrote the game script and rewrote the school's record book along the way. Wilkins scored 28 of his game-high 34 points in the second half to help the Paladins rally for an 81-75 win over UNC Greensboro in the SoCon semifinals at the Harrah's Cherokee Center.

For the fourth time in the past five seasons, Furman (21-12) will compete in Monday's championship game. The sixth-seeded Paladins face top-seeded East Tennessee State at 7 p.m. on ESPN. While Furman rallied from a 11-point second half deficit in Sunday's nightcap, the Buccaneers (23-10) rallied from a 17-point deficit to defeat Western Carolina in the first semifinal.

"This is what we’ve gotten used to with semifinal Sunday in the SoCon. Both semifinal games were incredible. Our game came down to the end, and fortunately, we were on the positive end of it. A lot of credit to Greensboro and we’ve got a lot of respect for them," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "I just think Coach (Mike) Jones does a heck of a job. And they beat us up in the first half pretty good. They were the aggressor from the jump of the game. … We had a pretty direct conversation at halftime about what we had to go do. We just had to go out there and play with a better spirit. We couldn't go out there with any self pity.

"To our credit, we went from one of the worst offensive first halves of the year to one of the best offensive halves. ... Obviously, Alex had a night. I love him to death. We just kind of take it for granted, but this is a freshman doing what he does on a nightly basis while continuing to grow. ... He put on a show in the second half, but it was a collective effort."

Furman opened the second half of a 17-5 run to rally from a 38-27 halftime deficit. It took its first lead on Asa Thomas' only bucket of the night. His three gave the Paladins a 44-43 lead with 12:13 left. The lead changed four times before Wilkins' layup over the next five minutes before Wilkins converted a driving layup with 7:15 to go to put Furman in front 58-57.

After UNCG standout Justin Neely hit 1-of-2 free throws, Eddrin Bronson answered with a three-pointer and the Paladins led the rest of the way. For the first 38 minutes, the Spartans (15-19) went 3-for-15 on three-pointers. Over a 56-second span in the final two minutes, UNCG's Lilian Marville hit three consecutive, but Furman made its free throws to preserve the win. After Marville's last three with 14 seconds left cut the lead to 77-75, Bronson made a pair of free throws to help seal the win.

Furman ended up with 54 points in the second half, the exact same total they posted in the second half of a blowout win at UNCG earlier this season.

Wilkins led the Paladins' sizzling second half in which they shot 72.7 percent from the floor by making 8-of-9 shots. Wilkins made all 10 of his free throws for the game as Furman, which ranked as one of the worst foul shooting teams in the country early on this season, made 88 percent (22-of-25) Sunday.

Wilkins matched Jonathan Moore's Furman single-game freshman record of 34 points, which the former SoCon Player of the Year established in a loss to Georgia on December 15, 1976. With 34 points in the semifinal win, Wilkins also surpassed Moore's freshman scoring record of 561 points in 1977 and netted the most points by a Paladin in a SoCon Tournament game since Roy Simpson had 36 in a championship game loss to East Carolina in 1972.

"All the work you put in the gym by yourself. Just keep trusting it and trust your teammates, like I always do," Wilkins said about his big second half. " But really, just my teammates in huddles just continuing to talk to me to keep my head high and making sure that I just stay focused."

Neely led UNCG with 27 points, but the nation's leading rebounder was held to five on Sunday after pulling down 24 on Saturday. The Spartans' entire team had 24 boards on Sunday, to lose the rebounding battle by one as Furman had 25. 

"UNCG is a big, physical team and ... we didn't match up to it very well in the first half. We gave a good response in the second half," Charles Johnston said. "I think that's why we found so much success. Just trying to be more physical going into that second half."

In addition to his game-high 34 points, Wilkins also had a game-high five assists. Cooper Bowser had 14 points on 6-of-6 shooting, while Bronson was the other Paladin in double figures with 12. Johnston added nine points and six rebounds.