Undefeated Paladins begin long road stretch

PJay Smith has scored 29 points in each of Furman's
last two victories. Photo courtesy of Furman

From the Holy City to Sin City to The Phog to Dunk City, the Furman basketball team will have gone everywhere man over the next 12 days. The Paladins (5-0) open their four-game road trip with a homecoming of sorts for Coach Bob Richey when they play at Charleston Southern Saturday at 2 p.m.

Furman then flies to Las Vegas for the Terry's Chocolate Vegas Showdown where it will face Seattle on ESPNU at 11:30 p.m. Eastern time late Tuesday night. After spending Thanksgiving together on the road, the Paladins visit basketball's most hallowed ground of Allen Fieldhouse when they play at No. 1-ranked Kansas on Nov. 30. The road trip wraps up in Fort Myers, Fla., when Furman plays at Florida Gulf Coast on Dec. 4.

"I think it's a time where our team can continue to bond. This is a very tight team. You can see when we play how close they are, but now we're going to get on the road," Richey said following Furman's win over Oglethorpe Wednesday. "We will find out a lot about ourselves and we're going to play some good teams. Charleston Southern was beating LSU most of the game (Tuesday) before LSU made a good run there late."

Here's a recap of the past two games, along with other notes and more on Saturday's game at Charleston Southern:

Records fall as Furman rolls over Oglethorpe

Playing at historic Parker Gymnasium in downtown Greenville for the first time ever, Furman had absolutely no issues shooting in the small, 100-year-old high school arena. Oglethorpe is a Division III program whose mascot is the Stormy Petrals, a seabird mythically known to appear most often when a big storm is coming. On Wednesday, the Paladins rained down threes - and plenty of other shots - in a 124-48 win.

Just shy of seven minutes into the game, Furman was 10-of-15 from the floor with five offensive rebounds and no turnovers. That pretty much set the tone for the evening as the Paladins made 17-of-42 three-pointers and 32-of-43 twos. Furman matched a school record with 34 assists in its highest-scoring and most lopsided win since a 126-33 victory over Virginia Intermont on Dec. 29, 2004.

PJay Smith's electric season continued Wednesday as matched his Furman career-high with 29 points in just 14 minutes. Smith made his first seven shots - all three-pointers - before his only miss. He followed that miss with a made three next time down. Smith then had a steal and a layup before another three that forced an Oglethorpe timeout with 15:04 left in the game and the Paladins ahead 89-19. The timeout worked in that at least Smith's night was done.

Smith went 10-for-11 from the floor, including 9-of-10 on threes. That 90 percent effort is a new school record on 10 or more three-point attempts. He also had four rebounds, two assists, two steals and no turnovers.

"It was a special night for PJay and I'm just really proud of him. Just moving from the two to the one this season. He's a better one that he is a two, but we just did it out of necessity last year," Richey said. "The ball he's playing is as good as any point guard we've ever had around here. He's leading. He's defending. Not only is he making shots, he's making critical shots.

"He's just playing to our values and he does it with a smile on his face. He doesn't complain. He doesn't make it about him. He's just about going to play to win."

Mason Smith had a career-high 20 points and six rebounds, while Cooper Bowser had 16 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals in less than 16 minutes of action. That made Bowser the 10th different Paladin to score in double figures this season. Nick Anderson had seven assists, while Eddrin Bronson had six to lead a total of 13 different Paladins with at least one. Anderson also had a team-high nine rebounds for Furman, which enjoyed a 64-21 rebounding edge. All 14 Paladins who played had at least one board.

Defense powers Furman past Tulane

Before crushing the seabirds on Wednesday, Furman conquered the sea on Friday, Nov. 15 when it knocked off the Tulane Green Wave. Oglethorpe did have a 1-0 lead 41 seconds into Wednesday's game which is more than can be said for Tulane, as the Paladins never trailed.

In a battle of unbeatens at The Well, the Paladins overcame their first shooting night of less than 45 percent by taking care of the ball while still moving it well in a 75-67 win. The Paladins shot 37.9 percent (22-of-58) from the floor, but had 19 assists and just seven turnovers. How well was everybody moving the ball? Nine Paladins played at least three minutes. All nine had at least one assist and no one had more than three.

Plenty of those passes became assists when the ball reached PJay Smith and Anderson. Smith scored 29 points (three shy of his collegiate career high), while Anderson scored 19. Smith made 6-of-11 three-pointers, while Anderson knocked down 5-of-10. Smith also had three assists, half of Furman's six steals and drew six fouls.

Team basketball has been the biggest factor in Furman's success this season. Defense is obviously a big part of that and Furman did a great job containing Tulane's leading scorers. Kalen Banks, who was averaging 19.3 points and 10.7 rebounds per game for the Green Wave, was held to six points on 2-of-4 shooting and three rebounds. Rowan Brumbaugh was averaging 13.3 points per game, but he finished with two points on 1-of-5 shooting. The Green Wave made 6-of-18 three-pointers for the game.

"They've (Tulane) been torching the nets from three," Richey said in that postgame press conference. "Our defense did a really good job of trying to get to those shooters."

The victory avenged a heartbreaking, controversial double-overtime loss at Tulane last season. The win was especially sweet for Davis Molnar, who was called for an absolute joke of a foul in the final second of regulation of that game. With Furman leading by three and 0.8 seconds left, officials ruled that a Green Wave player caught an inbounds pass, turned around to shoot and was fouled by Molnar on a three-point attempt all in some magical span of 0.5 seconds.

Molnar ended up playing a huge role in Furman's win this season as he had six points, a career-high 10 rebounds, two assists and no turnovers in 17 minutes off the bench. A key sequence came after Smith hit a three from an assist on Molnar on one end. On the other end, Molnar made a deflection from behind and Smith hit the floor, captured the loose ball and drew a foul.

"The game honors toughness. It always has and always will," Richey said. "This offseason was a culture reboot. We weren't that far off, but we had to get our culture back. Davis has been as much a part of that as anybody in our program. ... He's just stayed ingrained in the team and getting better and working hard. Tonight was his night."

Coming off that victory, the Paladins received two votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll on Monday. On Tuesday, Smith was named Southern Conference Player of the Week for the second consecutive week.

On to Charleston Southern

Playing in the cozy confines of Parker Gym could prepare the Paladins for Saturday's trip to Charleston Southern's "Buc Dome." After going 0-4 at the smallest arena in Division I (881 capacity), Furman finally won for the first time there on its last trip - a 91-47 victory on Nov. 12, 2019.

This is always an emotional game for Richey, who got his coaching career started as an assistant at Charleston Southern. Saturday's game will be no different.

"I recruited (Charleston Southern head coach) Saah Nimley. For he and I, it's going to be a cool moment. I was the primary recruiter on Saah the year before I came here (to Furman)," Richey said. "To see what he's been able to do, working his way from assistant to head coach down there, I couldn't be more proud of him.

"We're looking forward to taking the show on the road. Defense travels. Connection travels. System travels. You understand you're playing for one another and with one another. We've got to make sure we keep doing those things. I thought we did that in our one true road test (a win at Belmont) so far. We had a ton of adversity and that win continues to get better and better (based on what Belmont's done since)."

Vintage Furman drive caps upset win at ETSU

Colton Hinton (1) makes an ETSU defender miss to convert a fourth down that
helped Furman wrap up a 24-21 win Saturday. Photo courtesy of Furman

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - There will be no championship celebrations for the Furman football team this season, but for about seven-and-a-half minutes on Saturday it sure looked like a champion. It looked like one of those old school teams that could grind out a victory that Clay Hendrix has been part of as a player, assistant and head coach.

The kind of team that when leading late in a game could tell an opponent, "Punt it to us if you want, but there's a good chance your punter's foot is the last thing that touches the ball for y'all today." Such was the case on Saturday. An offense that hasn't generated a ton of yards this season - or on Saturday - generated enough to run the final 7:18 off the clock as Furman stunned No. 21 East Tennessee State, 24-21.

"The last drive was so satisfying in the fact of the way we did it. There were some really good runs and really good conversions. We overcame a first-and-20. We had a couple of crucial penalties late in the game and we overcame those," Hendrix said. "It was truly a team game today. ... That game had a lot of twists and turns, but credit to our kids for hanging in there and finding a way to get it done."

After Ian Williams' 21-yard field goal gave the Paladins a 24-21 lead with 9:08 remaining, Furman's defense forced a three-and-out. Redshirt freshman linebacker Ryan Earl, who was making his second career start, was in on all three tackles including solo stops on second and third down. With all three of its timeouts remaining, ETSU punted and Furman took over at its own 24-yard line with 7:18 left.

On the first play of the drive, Colton Hinton took a push pass from Trey Hedden for a 15-yard gain. After a holding penalty wiped out the next play, Hedden found tight end Brock Chappell for 14 yards on 1st-and-20. Myion Hicks carried for seven yards and a first down on the next play. Three plays later, Hedden and Chappell connected for a six-yard gain on 3rd-and-4. ETSU called timeout after each of Furman's next three plays - all runs. That left the Paladins with a 4th-and-3 at the Bucs' 31 with 2:30 remaining.

"We weren't going to punt. I didn't want to take a chance on getting a (field goal) kick blocked and we were playing good defense," Hendrix said. "I told our coaches if we get a first down here, the game's over. We got it to one of our best players and he's in a one-on-one. How many times this season have we been in that situation and gotten tackled? But what a heck of a play he made."

Coming out of the Bucs' last timeout, Furman's offense had a beautifully designed play that started with Hedden in an empty set with every receiver bunched up right next to both ends of the offensive line. After the snap, Hinton came in motion and Hedden threw to him in the left flat. When the play was developing, it appeared Hinton was easily going to get the first down, but ETSU reacted quickly. The speedy Hinton made that one defender miss though and got four yards before another defender could make the tackle.

The only clock stoppage left came at the two-minute mark. Coming out of that break, the Paladins went into victory formation. They capped the 14-play drive with three kneel downs to run out the clock and improve to 11-5 against FCS ranked opponents since 2021.

"I was just running under the line trying to get a man look there and beat them with speed. I knew if he threw it, it was the right look," Hinton said. "After I got the ball, I'm just trying to make one miss because it was only a few yards needed.

"It feels awesome. This is what our entire team knew we could do all year and we finally made it happen. Defense stepped up big. That helps the offense so much."

The first half Saturday was eerily similar to Furman's last road trip two weeks earlier at VMI, only with the roles reversed. Despite being outgained 253-112 in the first half, the Paladins held a 14-7 lead at the break - their first halftime lead against an opponent that has football scholarships all season. They held the lead after a first half in which they had no turnovers and no penalties. Amazing what can be done without mistakes.

After forcing just one turnover over its previous 10 quarters and having just four interceptions all year entering Saturday, Furman's defense came up with three picks. However, the first "turnover" Saturday came with a turnover on downs on ETSU's opening drive. After Evan DiMaggio and Earl stopped Bucs' leading rusher Bryson Irby for no gain on 3rd-and-1, the Bucs lined up three backs in a T-formation on 4th-and-1. Furman wasn't fooled by the ancient look as Hyson Dalton and Luke Clark stopped ETSU linebacker Teddy Wilson for no gain.

The stop set the Paladins (3-7, 2-4 Southern Conference) up at the Bucs' 34-yard line. Hicks ran for 12 yards on Furman's first offensive play and Gavin Hall made a great catch on a screen pass and ran to convert a 3rd-and-8. The drive ended when Hedden threw a quick pass left to Ben Ferguson, who meandered his way to the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown. Hedden rejoined the starting lineup Saturday after Carson Jones was diagnosed with a concussion last Tuesday.

ETSU (6-5, 4-3) responded quickly when Devontae Houston raced 64 yards untouched for a touchdown to tie the game 7-7 with 10:31 left in the first quarter.

The Bucs, who have the the top-ranked run defense in the SoCon, returned the favor of the fourth-down stop on Furman's next drive. Hicks was tackled for no gain on 4th-and-1 at the Bucs' 42. With the excellent field position, ETSU drove to the Furman 26. A third-down sack by Luke Clark forced a 49-yard field goal try that missed.

Early in the second quarter, the Bucs drove to Furman's 14-yard line. On 3rd-and-17 from the 22, Caleb Williams came up with an interception which he returned 35 yards to the Paladins' 40.

Furman put together a 13-play scoring drive that took 6:45. On 4th-and-1 at the ETSU three-yard line, Hicks converted to the two. Hicks scored on the next play to give the Paladins a 14-7 lead with three minutes left in the first half.

It appeared that ETSU answered again when freshman quarterback Baylor Hayes threw a 42-yard pass to A.J. Johnson. Johnson would've scored if not for a touchdown-saving tackle by Billy Lewis at the five-yard line. On 3rd-and-goal from the one, Irby easily got into the end zone but ETSU was flagged for holding. Lewis' tackle got bigger when he couldn't hang on to an interception, but did break up the third-down pass to the end zone. His tackle became huge when the Bucs missed a 27-yard field goal to leave the score at 14-7 going into halftime.

"The receiver caught the ball, but you've just got to try to limit the yardage. If you can stop him for one yard less, you've got to do it," Lewis said. "That last drive was awesome. You're on the sideline with almost eight minutes left expecting to go back out there, but the offense kept making the play every time."

On the first play of the second half, Hedden was sacked. That set the tone for yet another Furman first drive after halftime that produced nothing but a three-and-out.

ETSU began to take command as it scored to tie the game on its ensuing possession. After another three-and-out for the Paladins, their next drive lasted just one play due to Hedden's lone mistake. He took a deep shot to Hinton, but threw off his back foot and the underthrown ball was easily intercepted by Jaden Woods at the Bucs' 43. ETSU made Furman pay for the mistake with a scoring drive to take a 21-14 lead with 6:13 left in the third quarter.

A holding penalty on the kickoff return had Furman's ensuing possession begin at its own nine-yard line, but the Paladins - and Hedden - responded. On 3rd-and-7 from the 12, Hedden hit Ethan Harris for a gain of 37. On 3rd-and-1 at the ETSU 42, Hedden found Devin Hester for seven yards. On 3rd-and-5, Hedden threw a slant to Hinton. Hinton got out front of every defender and there was nobody catching him from behind on a 30-yard touchdown to help tie the game 21-21 with 1:36 left in the third quarter.

Prior to that 91-yard scoring drive, Furman had been outgained 368-119 in total offensive yards. Starting with that drive, the Paladins outgained the Bucs 163-57 the rest of the way.

On the second play of the fourth quarter, Lewis jumped a route along the sideline and returned an interception 16 yards to the Furman 46. The Paladins couldn't take advantage of that turnover, but ETSU's next drive ended with an interception by Maurice Perkins. Perkins returned his pick 18 yards and was taken down by his facemask. The penalty set Furman up at the ETSU 11-yard line and led to what turned out to be the game-winning field goal by Williams.

Hedden completed 23-of-28 passes for 210 yards with the two touchdowns and one interception. The sack he took to start the second half was the only one surrendered by Furman all day. Holding the ball too long, taking sacks and turning the ball over are problems that Hedden has been plagued by this season, but not Saturday.

"The way Trey responded. I think a lot of guys wouldn't have responded like he did given the circumstances (of not starting the past two weeks)," Hendrix said. "And credit to Carson for coming to us and telling us something didn't feel quite right when he did."

Hicks ran 21 times for 65 yards, while Hinton caught six passes for 62 yards and Harris had 61 yards on three receptions. Defensively, Evan DiMaggio had a game-high 13 tackles including 2.5 tackles-for-loss. Earl finished with eight tackles, including two tackles-for-loss, while Luke Clark and Amaah Achina each had seven stops.

That touchdown-saving tackle was one of a career-high nine for Lewis, who also had a forced fumble in addition to his third interception and the pass break-up. On Monday, the redshirt sophomore was honored by being named the Stats Perform National Freshman Player of the Week and the SoCon's Defensive Player of the Week.

"You talk about a guy making the most of his opportunity. ... Billy came up big," Hendrix said. "He has great instincts and really good ball skills. That's a good combination for a guy back there at safety."

The victory was the 41st SoCon win for Hendrix, who's in his eighth year as head coach. That's the same amount that Dick Sheridan and Bobby Johnson had in their eight seasons as head coach, two more than Jimmy Satterfield had in his eight seasons and two fewer than Bobby Lamb had in his nine seasons.

Furman will try to make it back-to-back upset wins when the Paladins visit eighth-ranked Mercer Saturday for a 3 p.m. kickoff.

Furman visits ETSU in spoiler mode

Furman tight end Jackson Pryor makes a leaping catch during the
Paladins' 19-13 loss to Wofford. Photo courtesy of Furman

Furman enters the final two weeks of the football season in the unfamiliar position of spoiler. A victory Saturday at No. 21-ranked East Tennessee State, where the Paladins and Buccaneers kick off at noon, would likely end ETSU's FCS playoff hopes. A win in the season finale next Saturday at Mercer could wipe out the Bears' chance of an opening round bye in the FCS playoffs.

Much more important than spoiling, Furman probably just wants to know what it feels like to win again. The Paladins (2-7, 1-4 Southern Conference) head to ETSU (6-4, 4-2) on a four-game losing streak, it's longest in Clay Hendrix's eight-year tenure as head coach. It's the longest skid since the 2016 team opened the season 0-6 for a nine-game streak dating back to the previous season.

The Paladins will try to build off things it has done well lately. Obviously, they have played better - albeit against lesser competition - in close losses the last two weeks than they did in blowouts to Chattanooga and Western Carolina to begin this streak. Little mistakes just keep snowballing into big ones, which every opponent has made Furman pay for during this skid. That theme continued last Saturday in a 19-13 home loss to Wofford.

"Our kids' attitudes have really been phenomenal. We've just got to continue to try fix things where we hurt ourselves," Hendrix said Monday during his weekly press conference. "Certainly we could do some things better as coaches, put them in better position and make some better calls.

"We've go to go play against a really good East Tennessee team. It's like you're playing against a completely different team from a year ago. ... They had a big win against Western Carolina last Saturday, so it will be a huge challenge for us."

Last Saturday, the Paladins were coming off perhaps the most frustrating setback of the season at VMI. Furman dominated the Keydets statistically but still found a way to lose, 21-17. It appeared that the Paladins had put that all behind them when they opened the game against Wofford on a 68-yard scoring drive. Carson Jones, who went back in the starting lineup at quarterback, guided Furman down the field before Myion Hicks carried for a seven-yard touchdown.

Furman's defense then turned in a three-and-out capped on a third-down sack by true freshman Ty Kauserud. For the third time in as many tries, Jones converted a third-and-long with a long pass on the Paladins' next possession as they reached the Wofford 23.

Then it happened. Another turnover.

While everything had been going great for Furman to that point, there had to have been a feeling of "well, here we go again," after yet another turnover which has plagued the Paladins all season. Sure enough, four plays later Wofford was in the end zone and the game was tied 7-7.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Amari Odom, who made his first career start in Wofford's stunning 19-13 upset of Furman last season, completed 3-of-3 passes for 46 yards and a touchdown on the drive.

It was still 7-7 midway through the second quarter when Furman faced third-and-three at the Wofford 50. A low shotgun snap threw the timing off and Grant Robinson had a two-yard gain. Another low snap occurred on fourth-and-one and this shotgun handoff to Robinson resulted in a one-yard loss. The Terriers took advantage of the field position, but settled for a 29-yard field goal with 1:06 left.

The Paladins came to life on their next possession and reached the Wofford 20. But on second down with 15 seconds and two timeouts left, Furman had another shotgun handoff to Robinson. Robinson did have runs of 17 and 13 yards, respectively, on the drive but a throw to the end zone seemed like a more likely call. Robinson lost a yard on the play. Furman called timeout with two seconds left and settled for a 39-yard field goal by Ian Williams to go into halftime tied 10-10.

"We popped a couple of runs on that drive and thought we could pop another," Hendrix said in the postgame press conference.

A 45-yard completion by Odom on the third play of the second half led to a field goal that put Wofford back on top 13-10. The Paladins answered with yet another horrific opening possession after halftime as it went three-and-out with no yards gained.

Against Charleston Southern, Furman had a 79-yard touchdown drive to start the second half. Against Stetson, the Paladins had a 90-yard touchdown drive coming out of halftime. Against the other seven opponents combined, Furman has had 21 plays on its first possession of the third quarter. The longest of those has gone six yards and the net total of those 21 is four yards.

Like it did on its second drive of the first half, Wofford marched for a touchdown on its ensuing possession. The Paladins appeared to have held the Terriers out of the end zone on an incompletion on third-and-goal from the five, but was flagged for an obvious roughing the passer. Two plays later, Ryan Ingram scored from a yard out to push the lead to 19-10.

"We make a really dumb penalty after we lost contain and missed a sack," Hendrix said. "I think that's the third straight game we've had a roughing the passer and it's been a critical part of the game."

Furman advanced to Wofford's 15 on its next possession, but a low shotgun snap on second down resulted in no gain on a Hicks' run to begin the fourth quarter. On third down, Jones was sacked and Furman settled for a 41-yard field goal to cut the lead to six.

On the Paladins' next drive, they were faced with a third-and-one. With backs on either side of Jones in the shotgun, Jones kept and was forced out of bounds for no gain and Furman punted.

Furman had second-and-one at the Wofford 21 on its next drive, but Jones was sacked for an 11-yard loss. On third down, Jones was sacked again back to the 38. The Paladins passed on letting Williams try a 55-yard field goal and he punted again. His kick was downed at the six.

Wofford converted a pair of first downs before it had to punt. Colton Hinton was back deep to field the punt for the Paladins, but it bounced and rolled to the Furman 18 taking precious time off the clock. Furman's final drive began with 57 seconds left and the Paladins out of timeouts. On third-and-three, Jones completed a two-yard pass to Robinson. On fourth-and-one, a shotgun handoff to Robinson resulted in a one-yard loss to seal the Terriers' win.

After outgaining Wofford 135-53 in the first quarter, Furman was outgained 332-149 the rest of the way. Jones finished with 229 yards on 21-of-33 passes with no interceptions. Hinton caught five passes for 77 yards. Hicks and Robinson rushed for 41 yards apiece. After a breakout performance at VMI the week before, Hall was held to 12 yards on four carries and had that first quarter fumble, which turned out to be Furman's lone turnover.

"We're just trying to stick together and stay the course. I think that's how we won as many games as we have the last few years," Hendrix said. "We certainly want to finish strong for these seniors that we have. The frustrating part is the number of times we've hurt ourselves.

"If you look at that game Saturday we had all kinds of opportunities (to win it). Just as we had the week before. ... We just have a very, very slim margin of error and we're just not making enough plays to get us over the hump."

Johnston shoots Furman past Jacksonville

Charles Johnston had 25 points and missed one shot in Furman's 78-69
win over Jacksonville Monday. Photo courtesy of Furman

Charles Johnstone hasn't been with the Furman basketball program very long, but he's already aware of one of Bob Richey's mantras. It's that shooters need to shoot - no matter what happened last time, or the last 10 times. If there's an open look, shooters shoot.

Coming off the bench Monday night against Jacksonville, Johnstone made each of his first six shots. With 4:05 left to play, Johnston just missed his seventh. The loose ball rebound deflected off Jacksonville out of bounds. When Johnstone got another clean look 15 seconds later, he drained his fourth three-pointer. That helped give the Paladins their biggest lead of the game at 64-48 and they went on to a gritty 78-69 victory at The Well.

Johnstone finished with a team-high 25 points on 8-of-9 shooting to help Furman start off 3-0 for the first time since the 2020-21 season.

"I haven't been playing that long and haven't been shooting threes that long. So coming into a program like Richey's, where the five is around the perimeter a lot, has honestly been great," said Johnstone, a native of Australia who didn't begin playing basketball until he was 17 years old. "I haven't really had a summer where I've been able to work on my game as much as I did this summer. Shooting was a big focal point for me and the team.

"That's like the best thing about playing for Richey. He doesn't care how many shots you take, as long as they're all good shots. ... If I didn't take that shot after the miss, I would've heard about from him and from the team as well."

Despite leading by 16 late and winning by nine, this was no walk in the park for Furman (3-0). It was more reminiscent of gritty, hard-nosed games the Paladins have had against teams like UNC Greensboro in the past. At the first media timeout, the game was tied 3-3 and Furman point guard PJay Smith had already suffered a pair of turnovers.

While Jacksonville went on to lead by as many as six in the opening half and 36-33 at the half, Smith got settled in. Despite being hounded defensively and taking bumps all night, Smith basically never flinched and had just two turnovers the rest of the night. He finished with 14 points, six assists, six rebounds and four steals. He drew seven fouls, but never committed one.

Another big factor that Richey may have been the only person to single out was Tyrese Hughey. Hughey didn't take a shot and fouled out in less than 12 minutes of action off the bench, but he did plenty of important things while in there. Namely, it was the five rebounds he got at a time when the Dolphins - who had 18 offensive rebounds against Florida - were controlling the boards. Furman outscored Jacksonville by 16 when Hughey was on the floor.

"There was a chance Tyrese Hughey wasn't going to play tonight. Davis Molnar's been playing well. Cooper Bowser's been playing well. Garrett Hien's been playing well. It's not about 'this guy's not good enough.' It's about 'we've got to get minutes to guys who are practicing and playing well.' But we couldn't get paint off the glass, so we said 'Hey (Hughey), let's go,' " Richey said. "He plays 12 minutes and he's plus-16. Chuck (Johnston) was phenomenal, but at the end of the day if Tyrese doesn't come in and do that, we don't win tonight."

The Paladins trailed 41-37 before Tom House drained a 3-pointer nearly five minutes into the second half. Just over a minute later, House was fouled on another three and made 2-of-3 free throws to give Furman a lead it never relinquished.

On the Paladins' next possession, Hughey got an offensive board which led to a Johnston dunk. Twenty seconds later, Smith made a steal and found Johnstone for a three. Less than 30 seconds later, Nick Anderson had a steal and a layup  After a steal by Hughey, Furman had a turnover, but Anderson got another steal which led to a Smith layup and the Paladins led 51-41 with 10:54 left.

Jacksonville (1-2) went nearly seven minutes until scoring again, but could never get the lead under eight.

"We knew coming in that they were going to try to rough us up and out-tough us," Smith said. "So just keeping our composure, playing smart and trying to take care of the ball was part of our game plan."

House finished with 13 points off the bench, while Garrett Hien was the fourth Paladin in double figures with 11 points. Hien also pulled down a career-high 14 rebounds for the second double-double of his career and had three assists.

In the first half, Furman was outrebounded 22-16, outscored 10-0 on second chance points and 18-10 on points in the paint. The teams ended up tied in rebounds with 39 apiece, while the Paladins outscored the Dolphins 7-4 on second chance points and 20-16 in the paint in the second half.

"I thought it turned there a couple of minutes before halftime. Things were starting to get away from us a little bit, but our guys responded," Richey said. "That's what this group has been about.

"They want to play for one another and play with one another. It doesn't matter who's night it is. There's no ego. It's just 'let's go try to win a game,' and I think that's why they're being rewarded."

Furman will next face fellow unbeaten Tulane (3-0) at The Well at 7 p.m. Friday. The Paladins will look to avenge last year's heartbreaking double overtime loss in New Orleans in which they ingested some foul home cooking in the final tenths of the last second in regulation. 

Paladins open season with blowout, buzzer beater

Furman's PJay Smith earned Southern Conference Player
of the Week honors Monday. Photo courtesy of Furman

There were plenty of questions surrounding this year's Furman basketball team following an offseason in which four players, who accounted for 59.1 percent of last season's scoring, left via the transfer portal. The coaching staff also saw assistants Jeremy Growe and Tim Johnson, as well as strength coach Matt Aldred, leave. Paladins coach Bob Richey put things in perspective after a preseason practice.

While major changes like these were new territory for Furman this year, that hasn't been the case for the majority of college basketball programs these days. Richey pointed out that eight players returned this season. That's more than plenty of programs typically have back anymore.

"Garrett's (Hein) played a lot of games. Tyrese Hughey's played a lot of games. Ben VanderWal's played a lot of games. Cooper Bowser started for us last year," Richey said. "We lost some good coaches and we brought some good coaches in. ... We lost some good players, but we signed some good players. When you have a good program that sustains winning, you're going to attract people and we've done that."

One week into the season, that mix of old and new Paladins is off to a 2-0 start. Furman opened the season on Nov. 4 by blowing out NAIA member Columbia International. Last Friday, another thrilling chapter in the Furman-Belmont series was written as PJay Smith's last second three-pointer lifted the Paladins to a big road victory.

Furman 104, Columbia International 46

Obviously the Paladins were facing an overmatched, non-Division I opponent, but that hasn't always turned out to be an automatic nearly 60-point win. Season openers aren't always smooth either, but Furman looked like a crisp team that had been playing together for years.

On a night in which Smith and key newcomer Charles Johnston - a transfer from Cal State Monterey Bay - sat out with minor injuries, 12 of the 13 Paladins who saw action scored. They were led by Florida State transfer Tom House, who had 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting, including 4-of-6 three-pointers, and three steals.

"I think guys like Tyrese, Garrett and PJay have done a good job instilling the culture in the transfers," House said. "Sometimes for transfers, it's hard to gel with the team and the culture, but the older guys have done a good job to make sure that happens."

How balanced was Furman's scoring in the opener? Tommy Humphries was the 10th different Paladin to score and he ended up with 15 points. Tyrese Hughey came off the bench to record a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds in just 15 minutes of action. True freshman Mason Smith had 11 points and five rebounds, while redshirt freshman Eddrin Johnson scored 10.

The Paladins shot 63.5 percent (40-of-63) from the floor and made 13-of-21 (61.9 percent) three-pointers. Furman also held the Rams, who've scored at least 107 points in two of their three non-Div. I games this season, to 28.6 percent (16-of-56) shooting.

"I thought we did a really good job of setting the game with the defense. ... We kept them out of transition, made sure they didn't get clean post touches and limited them to one shot," Richey said. "We had 40 deflections. I don't care who you're playing, when you have 40 deflections, you're dialed in.

"A lot of guys got to play. You got to see some of our youth has a chance to be really good."

Furman 76, Belmont 74

While Smith and Johnston returned to action in Nashville last Friday, one key Paladin didn't make the road trip. Associate Head Coach Chad Warner guided Furman as Richey stayed home in Greenville after his wife gave birth to a baby girl earlier Friday.

This was the latest in a series of back-and-forth great games between these two mid-major powers over the past few years. The Paladins made it a happy birthday for Richey's fourth child when Smith drilled the game-winning three-pointer from the top of the key with 2.3 seconds left. Smith, who was playing about 15 minutes from home, then hustled back down court and stripped the ball free before Belmont could get a three-pointer off at the buzzer.

Smith finished with 21 points, five rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block to earn Southern Conference Player of the Week honors Monday. Nick Anderson, a grad transfer who played for former Furman coach Butch Estes at Division II Barry University, scored 17 points while Hien added 15 points, six rebounds and six assists. All three had a big night shooting from three as Smith made 5-of-8, Anderson hit 5-of-7 and Hien - who had six made threes all last season - went 3-for-6.

While he fouled out without scoring, Bowser was also a force as he had 10 points, four blocked shots and two steals.

This week

Furman hosts Jacksonville as part of the SoCon-Atlantic Sun two-game challenge Monday at 7 p.m. at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. The Dolphins (1-1) opened the season with a 78-65 win over NCCAA Division II member Trinity Baptist before losing at No. 21 Florida, 81-60, last Thursday.

The Paladins host another game at The Well on Friday, when they face Tulane at 7 p.m.

Mistakes outweigh stats as Furman falls at VMI

Furman freshman Caldwell Bussey had two sacks, but the
Paladins fell at VMI, 21-17. Photo courtesy of Furman

LEXINGTON, Va. - Two out of three might not be bad, but it wasn't enough for Furman to beat a previously winless VMI team Saturday. The three biggest problems for the Paladins this season have been an non-existent running game, an inability to convert on third down and turnover ratio. They rank near the bottom in the country in all three categories.

On Saturday, Furman rushed for 195 yards, converted 10-of-18 third downs - and 2-of-4 fourth downs, but lost three turnovers and didn't force any. The Paladins had twice as many offensive plays as VMI (87 to 43), outgained the Keydets 412-177, had 26 first downs and allowed nine, and held the ball nearly twice as long (39:35 to 20:25).

None of those stats mattered. The only one that did was on the scoreboard, where Furman lost 21-17. The Paladins (2-6, 1-3 Southern Conference) could not overcome the big mistakes like turnovers and all the little mistakes like multiple low snaps to the quarterback sprinkled along the way. In Furman's six losses this season, it's lost 17 turnovers and forced four - two against William & Mary and two against Western Carolina.

In a season filled with frustration, Saturday was a whole new slice of it.

"I'd rather play worse and win," Furman coach Clay Hendrix said. "Our team hangs in there and fights. They didn't give up, but we just invent ways to hurt ourselves.

"We had three turnovers and we don't get one. Two possessions inside the 10 and we get three points. We had a bad snap at the three-yard line and then don't give ourselves a chance because we take a sack. We give up a seven-play drive to start the game. ... It's just the details that we're not very good at and that falls on me."

Entering Saturday, VMI (1-8, 1-4) had more than one offensive touchdown in a game just one time this year - against Bucknell eight weeks earlier. But on the opening possession, it looked like Halloween was still going and the Keydets were cosplaying as Western Carolina's offense that torched Furman two weeks ago.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Chandler Wilson threw a 17-yard touchdown to freshman Ethen Horne to cap the Keydets' seven-play, 75-yard drive. After going 5-for-5 for 70 yards on that opening possession, Wilson completed 4-of-11 passes for 65 yards the rest of the way. Furman held VMI to just 102 yards of offense after that first drive, but for the fourth time this season it didn't force a turnover.

Furman's opening drive lasted 14 plays, reached the Keydets' 17-yard line and resulted in zero points. After freshman quarterback Trey Hedden lost his footing before he ever got going on a third-and-four run, the Paladins had to settle for a 38-yard field goal attempt. After a high snap on the try, VMI recorded its fourth blocked kick of the season.

Things then started looking like the more recent history of this series in which Furman had won the last two meetings by respective scores of 41-3 and 37-3. Its defense forced a three-and-out in which Tanner Schuck got a second-down sack and Caldwell Bussey just missed one on third down. With Bussey charging hard at Wilson, he just tossed the ball down for an intentional grounding penalty instead of getting sacked.

The Paladins' ensuing possession began with three consecutive runs by Myion Hicks before they took a deep shot and Hedden hit a wide open Colton Hinton for a 43-yard touchdown.

Furman's next drive reached the VMI 38 before a fumbled handoff on first down was recovered by the Keydets. On the Paladins' next possession, freshman Gavin Hall made the most of his first touch. After taking a handoff, Hall faked an end-around pitch and for a split-second looked like he was about to look for a receiver to throw to. Instead, Hall took off for a 46-yard run to the VMI seven-yard line.

While Furman gladly took its longest running play of the year, Hall really should've scored as there was one defender and one blocker between Hall and the goal line when he reached the 15. VMI's Joe Comello did a nice job of shedding that block and Hall happened to cut the same direction that Comello did and he was tackled.

On the next play, Hedden somehow avoided a sack and somehow got the ball to Brock Chappell's outstretched hands amongst a group of defenders in the end zone. Chappell couldn't hang on though when he was hit by a pair of Keydets. A delay of game further foiled the drive and Furman settled for a 29-yard field goal by Ian Williams to take a 10-7 lead.

Of the 102 yards VMI posted after its first drive, half came on the next play as Wilson's 51-yard pass to Egypt Nelson reached the Furman 24. Furman was later flagged for pass interference in the end zone on a ball that Nelson caught at least one yard to the left of the end zone out of bounds. I'd be interested to know how a ball that was caught well out of bounds would've been catchable in bounds, but nobody asked me and the ball was automatically placed at the two. Hunter Rice scored on the next play to put the Keydets back on top 14-10.

On a first down on Furman's first play in VMI territory on the next drive, Hedden took a big hit from Eric Rankin as he was about to pass and fumbled. Rankin scooped up the fumble and returned it to the Paladins' four-yard line. It was similar to a play at The Citadel a month earlier, which was reviewed and reversed to an incomplete pass. Fumble appeared to be the correct call Saturday, but there was never an official review.

Two plays later, freshman quarterback JoJo Crump checked in for his only snap of the day and kept for a three-yard touchdown. VMI, which was averaging 11.4 points per game this season entering Saturday, led 21-10 with 1:56 left in the half.

For the sixth time in as many drives, the Paladins entered VMI territory on their next possession. On third down from the Keydets' 32, Hedden rolled to his left and was able to set his feet for a throw but could not get rid of the ball before being sacked by a gang of Keydets for a nine-yard loss. That left Furman with a 59-yard field goal attempt by Williams that had enough leg, but just missed wide right and the Paladins trailed by 11 at the break.

"We've harped all week, 'Throw it to the flat. He's wide open. It's going to be a five- to 10-yard gain probably.' And also, 'They can hit you. You don't have a red (practice) jersey on,' " Hendrix said. "We just don't have the urgency to get that done."

On a day in which all but one true Furman drive reached VMI territory, the only one that didn't was unsurprisingly its first of the second half. Unsurprising because the Paladins seem unable to do anything offensively coming out of halftime anymore.

In their first possession of the second half against Charleston Southern and Stetson, the Paladins had touchdown drives of 79 and 90 yards, respectively. In the other six first possessions of the second half this season, Furman has had 18 offensive plays net zero yards and one first down thanks to a facemask penalty against Western Carolina.

After Rice ran for 10 yards on VMI's first play of the second half, Furman's defense allowed 19 total yards and one first down - on a roughing the passer penalty - the rest of the way.

"You win and lose as a team. Individual stats really don't matter. It's winning as a team. We're close, but we've got to continue to figure that out," said Bussey, who finished with two sacks. "We're always going to miss the guys we've lost (to injuries on defense), but I think we're a gritty group that continues to fight. That's something we can definitely build off of."

Furman's second possession of the half was a 16-play, 87-yard effort capped off by a great play after taking points off the board when the Keydets were flagged for an offsides penalty on a field goal. On fourth-and-one at the VMI four, the Paladins lined up in an I-formation with Chappell at fullback. After faking a handoff to Hicks, Carson Jones rolled right and tossed to Chappell who could've walked into the end zone for a touchdown. That helped cut the lead to 21-17 with 3:39 left in the third quarter.

Despite multiple golden opportunities, the Paladins got no closer. A 12-play drive on their next possession ended on fourth-and-two at the VMI 23. Jones found a wide open Ja'Keith Hamilton in the end zone, but the overthrown pass bounced off the fingertips of the diving Hamilton.

"I think he makes that throw eight out of 10 times, but didn't make it that time," Hendrix said. "That's just kind of who we are right now."

While a 40-yard field goal there would certainly be in Williams' range, VMI's proclivity for blocking kicks this season was likely a factor in the decision to go for it. The way the defense was playing, it felt like Furman would have plenty of opportunities left with more than 12 minutes remaining and it did.

The Paladins had a 14-play drive on their next possession. On second-and-goal from the three, a fumbled snap resulted in a two-yard loss. On third down, Jones was sacked for a five-yard loss. On fourth down, Jones' pass to Ben Ferguson was broken up. The pass went to the two, so it likely wouldn't have resulted in a touchdown had it been caught anyway.

That gave the ball back to VMI with 2:45 remaining and Furman with only one timeout. In one of the worst possessions you'll ever see, including a deadball unsportsmanlike conduct after a second-and-one play and running out of bounds on third down, the Keydets punted.

Furman got the ball back at its own 34 and somehow still had that one timeout with 1:41 left in the game. On the first play, Jones' pass into double coverage was picked off by Shamus Jones. VMI didn't screw up this time, taking a knee three times to end the game.

"It's frustrating. ... I'm trying to be the positive guy and there are things to be positive about, but the name of the game is finding a way to get wins," Hendrix said. "I haven't done a good enough job of doing that."

Hall averaged 9.3 yards per carry as he had 121 yards on 13 attempts to become Furman's first 100-yard rusher since Dominic Roberto had 154 at Western Carolina last October. Hicks also ran 22 times for 59 yards Saturday.

"The running game was a lot better today. The o-line looked good and we had a lot of things wide open there. We just didn't execute when we got to the red zone," Hall said. "I'm extremely appreciative for the opportunity the coaches have given me as a freshman to go out there and play football."

Jones, who came on to start the second half in relief of Hedden, completed 14-of-21 passes for 110 yards. Hedden finished with 78 yards on 9-of-15 passing. Hinton caught eight passes for 88 yards and also completed a 29-yard pass on a trick play in the fourth quarter.

"I'm proud of Carson Jones. That's not an easy position to be put in and I'm proud of how he's handled it," Hendrix said. "He gave us a boost, but we left a bunch of points out there.

"I don't want to hear another word from anybody about youth. We've played eight games now. We've been to an SEC stadium. We've actually played some of our best football on the road. It's about going and expecting to make plays and do the things we have to do to give ourselves a chance to win. We did a lot of those, but just so many mistakes."

Furman will host Wofford at 2 p.m. next Saturday in the home finale.

Young Paladins set to open final month at VMI

Furman freshman quarterback Trey Hedden
Photo courtesy of Furman

Following last season's departures, this season's Furman football team was set to be one of the youngest in years. By the time the season got here, it was even younger. Two months into the season, that trend has continued. Every team deals with injuries, but it's hard to recall a season in which the Paladins (2-5, 1-2 Southern Conference) lost as many key players. 

Last season, 35 of the 44 Paladins on the two-deep depth chart were comprised of juniors, seniors and graduates. As Furman opens the final month of the regular season at VMI Saturday at 1:30 p.m., there are 25 different freshmen and seven different sophomores on the current two-deep depth chart. The Paladins are particularly young along the defensive front. This week's two deep at defensive tackle, noseguard, weakside linebacker and bandit are all freshman.

Losses in personnel have led to big losses on the scoreboard lately. The Paladins are coming off a bye week that Furman coach Clay Hendrix said "will be good for us" during the postgame press conference after a historically poor performance against Western Carolina. One week after suffering the most lopsided SoCon loss during Hendrix's eight-year tenure as head coach in a 31-point home loss to Chattanooga, the Catamounts topped that as they left Paladin Stadium with a 52-20 win.

It seemed fairly reasonable to believe that Furman's defense wouldn't face any kind of offense like it did in a 76-0 loss at Ole Miss to open the season. While Western Carolina didn't match the point total - or payroll - of the Rebels, the Catamounts did put up a school record 801 of total offense. That included another school record - for Western and against Furman - 620-yard passing day by Western quarterback Cole Gonzales. Furman had never allowed more than 700 yards of total offense in a game before Ole Miss piled up 772.

"Under the circumstances with the guys we were without, I think they both (Chattanooga and Western) were a little better than we were. They were both much better than us on those Saturdays," Hendrix said Thursday. "I thought we were not playing great, but hanging in there pretty good early on (in both games). Right now, we're the kind of team that if a couple things get away from us, the whole game flips."

The Chattanooga game was set to be a battle of teams who desperately want to run the football but had not been able to all season. Without Furman noseguard Xavier Stephens - who suffered a season-ending injury at The Citadel the week before - plugging up the middle, the Mocs ran fairly wild.

Furman also lost cornerback Jaylen Moson when he broke his collarbone after making the win-sealing interception at Citadel. Without Moson and leading pass rusher Luke Clark, who was injured against Chattanooga, Gonzales torched the Paladins all day.

"We just gave up too many big plays, but that's a little bit of who they (Western) are. They can stretch you in a lot of ways," Hendrix said in that postgame. "In the second half, we just had poor tackling that kind of got worse."

In that loss, little mistakes early on seemed to snowball into big mistakes as the game wore along. After Furman's opening drive stalled at midfield, Ian Williams had a perfect, lofty punt in which three different Paladins were positioned to catch the ball near the goal line. Instead, the ball bounced between them at the three-yard line and into the end zone for a touchback.

Western led 7-0 late in the first quarter when Furman had an obvious field goal situation on fourth down. The Paladins had to rush a lineman who was out there on third down back on to the field as the play clock wore down. That caused the entire play to be rushed and Williams missed the 47-yard attempt.

After a 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Colton Hinton cut the Catamounts' lead to 14-6 midway through the second quarter, Williams missed the extra point. 

"That's just kind of been the year for us," Hendrix said in the postgame.

It has been an unusual and uncharacteristic year for the Paladins on the field and off. On the field, the Paladins rank 117th (out of 123 teams) in the FCS in rushing offense, averaging 84.7 yards per game including a paltry 2.58 yards per carry. They're 113th in turnover margin, having forced eight and lost 15, and 113th in third-down conversions at 28.7 percent (27-of-94).

The odd year began in February with the tragic loss of Bryce Stanfield. In addition to the emotional toll his passing has taken on the Furman community and team, Stanfield was one of the new projected starters on defense. During the spring, bandit Alex Maier - an experienced backup to Clark - was lost for the season due to injury. During preseason camp in August, spur/nickelback Justin Hartwell and safety A.K. Burrell each suffered season-ending knee injuries.

"Losing those safeties really killed us. We were already thin there," Hendrix said Thursday. "And we started with nine corners and now we're down to four (because of injuries and moving guys to safety)."

Furman lost Florida State transfer tight end Joshua Burrell in the opening quarter of the second game of the season due to an injury. Hendrix said he could be close to returning though.

Perhaps the offense's biggest weapon was gone shortly thereafter when Joshua Harris, a senior captain who had made 37 career starts, didn't make the road trip to William and Mary and never returned. A couple of weeks ago the cause was finally revealed when The Post and Courier was first to report that Harris had been arrested by the university's police department and was no longer enrolled at school.

"I think that (receiver) group has played pretty good, but that (losing Harris) affects you in some ways that you don't even talk about," Hendrix said Thursday. "I think it affected everybody, me included."

Obviously, anything football related doesn't compare to the destruction caused by Hurricane Helene, but that was another thing beyond Furman's control that impacted the team as the Samford game was cancelled. It marked the third time during Hendrix's tenure that a home game was lost due to weather or disease.

Then there's been the flurry of key injuries over the past few weeks.

"We've just got to stay the course. ... We're just trying to turn this into a four-game season. We've got four games left to see how good we can play and I feel good about our prep," Hendrix said Thursday. "I think (freshman quarterback) Trey (Hedden) is getting better and looking more like a veteran. Like most young guys, he's still making some mistakes but those other times he shows you just what kind of ability he has."

VMI (0-8, 0-4) enters Saturday's game winless this season, but has played better of late. On Oct. 12, the Keydets led Wofford 16-15 midway through the fourth quarter before falling, 31-16. The next week, VMI led rival The Citadel 10-6 at the half. That lead stood until the Bulldogs got the lone score of the second half with less than 10 minutes remaining and went on to a 13-10 win. Last week, the Keydets were up 10-7 at Chattanooga late in the first half before the Mocs came back then pulled away for a 31-10 win.

"(VMI's) Danny Rocco is a really good coach. You kind of know what you're going to get out of them and I'm sure they've got our game circled as one they can win," Hendrix said. "I think we just need to worry about us because we've been our own worst enemy."