Furman rolls over Samford into SoCon semifinals

Nick Anderson (7) had 26 points in Furman's 95-78 win over Samford at the
Southern Conference Tournament. Photo courtesy of SoCon/Jeremy Fleming

ASHEVILLE - The last time Furman played Samford prior to their meeting in the Southern Conference Tournament quarterfinals late Saturday night, the Paladins found a way to win despite making only seven field goals in the second half. On Saturday, they found a more glamorous road to victory by missing only seven field goals in the second half.

In one of the greatest halves in program history, Furman put up 57 points after halftime thanks to 70.8 percent shooting (17-of-24) to pull away for a 95-78 win at the Harrah's Cherokee Center. The fifth-seeded Paladins (24-8) advance to face the No. 1-seed Chattanooga in the semifinals Sunday on ESPNU at 4 p.m. Furman's win wrapped up a wild day of quarterfinal action as the Mocs (24-8) were the only higher seed to advance.

At Samford on Feb. 19, the Paladins pulled out an eight-point win thanks to making 19-of-20 free throws over the final 6:41. On Saturday, Furman shot three-pointers like they were free throws. The Paladins made 17-of-29 threes, including 10-of-15 in the second half. Nick Anderson, PJay Smith and Tom House accounted for 16 of those 17 threes and combined for 71 points.

"I'm really proud of our group tonight. To beat a team of that caliber three times in a season is really hard to do. They (Samford) were picked to win the league. I think ESPN analytics had them picked to win the tournament," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "We know how good of a coach Bucky (McMillan) is and how good their program is, but we've got a group that's playing with a lot of confidence. They've just taken the challenge on of nobody really thinking they've got a chance in this thing.

"Our group played with a lot of fight and a lot of will. We've been counted out for awhile, probably since mid-January, but we're one of four (teams) left. That doesn't guarantee anything, but man, these guys fought tonight. It wasn't that Samford played poorly. ... We had a lot of guys make some plays and our guys played with a lot of belief. We've got to get back and rested up. We know we have a big challenge with Chattanooga."

The Paladins got off to a quick start. After Smith had a layup off a nice feed from Garrett Hien to open the scoring 22 seconds in, Anderson hit a three and drew a foul 14 seconds later. The 89 percent foul shooter couldn't complete the four-point play, but he didn't miss much of anything else the rest of the half.

Anderson was 7-of-10 from the floor in the opening half, including 5-of-7 on threes. His layup with 6:14 left in the first half matched Furman's biggest lead of the half at 25-14. Samford fought back to cut the lead to two as the Paladins took a 38-36 lead into halftime. Anderson accounted for half of Furman's first half points with 19.

"I like it. It kind of reminded me of some Indiana gyms that I used to play in," Anderson said of his first SoCon Tournament game. "My teammates were able to find me tonight and thankfully, the shots went in. I came out in the first half just knowing this could be my last game, so leave no doubt. I just had to be aggressive."

The Paladins led the Bulldogs after every half this season, but Saturday was the smallest halftime lead of the three meetings. That was ironic considering Saturday's final margin was much bigger than Furman's two- and eight-point wins, respectively, in the regular season.

Samford (22-10) was able to get back in it thanks in part to taking advantage of the Paladins' 10 turnovers in the first half. The Bulldogs scored 13 points off those. So for Furman in the second half, ball security would be a key as would finding someone other than Anderson to provide some offense.

Enter first team All-SoCon performer Smith, along with the "third scorer" that emerged down the stretch for the Paladins in Tom House.

House's big day actually started in the first half as his first SoCon Tournament game began with a pair of threes. House drilled 4-of-5 in the second half to match his season high of six threes set in the blowout win over The Citadel on Feb. 26. Meanwhile, Smith scored 20 points in the second half and connected on four threes.

"They may have keyed on me a little more in the second half, but PJay is PJay. When he's out there, he's going to hit shots," Anderson said. "Same with Tom House. They're both killers and everybody's got the utmost confidence in them."

In the second half, Samford never went ahead but managed to pull even three times in the opening 3:04. The Paladins answered the last of those with a 7-0 run over a 54-second span. It began with a three by House, followed by a steal and two free throws for Smith, and was capped by a Cooper Bowser dunk off an assist from Smith to make it 52-45.

A big sequence of the game that could get overlooked in the offensive explosion came just 12 seconds later when Smith was called for his third foul on a reach in. With 15:38 remaining, Furman really couldn't leave its point guard out there with three fouls, so freshman Eddrin Bronson came on for Smith.

Bronson, who missed his only shot in five-and-a-half minutes off the bench in the first half, immediately got in the scoring column with a layup off a feed from Anderson on the Paladins' next possession. Furman's next trip on offense saw Ben VanderWal successfully dribble all the way up the court against Samford's press and that possession ended on a House three-pointer.

Furman led by seven when Smith left and still led by seven at 60-53 when Smith checked back in at the 12:59 mark. The Bulldogs cut the lead to three with 9:52 left before Anderson answered with his only made shot of the second half. His sixth three-pointer pushed the lead to 68-62 and the Paladins never led by fewer than six the rest of the way.

The Paladins were up 70-64 with less than seven minutes to go when Smith's three-pointer started an 18-5 run that was capped by a House three with 2:18 left. House's final bucket gave Furman its biggest lead at 19. After starting 2-of-6 from the foul line in the second half, Furman made 11 of its final 12 free throws.

After those 10 first half turnovers, Furman had six in the second half including just two over the final 7:42. Both of those were deadball shot clock violations that still allowed the Paladins to get set on defense.

Anderson finished with 26 points, while Smith scored 24 and House had 21. Smith, who went 8-for-8 from the foul line, also had nine assists and three steals. VanderWal had eight points, 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals and no turnovers, while Bronson finished with seven points and no turnovers. Bowser had six points and four blocked shots.

Furman's 17 three-pointers are a postseason high in school history and one shy of its season-high of 18 against Mercer. It's also one shy of the SoCon Tournament record of 18 set by VMI against Samford in 2020.

After beating Samford for the third time this season, Furman will try to avoid losing to Chattanooga for a third time on Sunday. The regular season losses to the Mocs came in pretty frustrating manner as the Paladins led each of those games at the half. In the first meeting in Greenville, Furman raced out to a 22-6 lead early, led 34-27 at the break, but went on to a 75-71 loss. The Paladins were just 17-of-28 from the foul line that day, while UTC made 25-of-28.

At Chattanooga on Feb. 8, Furman made 12-of-15 shots over the final 11 minutes of the first half to take a three-point lead into halftime. The Paladins made just 10-of-33 field goals in the second half to go on to an 85-72 loss.

In the SoCon's new scheduling format put in place last season, the No. 4 vs. No. 5 seed game was moved from approximately 2:30 p.m. on Saturdays following the 1/8 matchup to approximately 8:30 p.m. on Saturdays. So while the Mocs had to wait around for about nine hours to find out who they'd be playing, they also got much more rest.

Richey said none of those things will matter at 4 p.m. Sunday in what will be a battle of the two hottest teams in the league. Chattanooga has won 12 consecutive games, while Furman has won each of its last five.

"Both teams will be ready to play tomorrow. Dan's (Earl) a great coach and they have a great program. ... You know, these guys are young. We've got to go home, go to bed and rest up, but you get a chance to play to advance to the championship tomorrow," Richey said. "That (rest time) won't have an effect on the game. The game is going to come down to the same things most games come down to. It's going to be two really good teams playing for a chance to have a shot to go to March Madness.

"I thought our group did a great job this week of focusing in on just one game at a time. There's no championship tonight. There's no championship tomorrow. ... We'll need our full focus and full attention on a Chattanooga team that's very hot."

Hien, Furman set to begin quest for another ring

Left to right, Furman seniors Garrett Hien, PJay Smith and Nick Anderson celebrate
after Hien reached 1,000 points in his career. Photo courtesy of Furman

During the last basketball offseason, much was made about all the talent Furman lost to the transfer portal. A school losing four of its five leading scorers that accounted for 59.2 percent of the scoring certainly was noteworthy, especially for a program that had not really experienced that before.

But there was virtually no talk about what the Paladins had coming back. Nothing much about PJay Smith, who went on to earn Southern Conference Player of the Week honors four times this season on his way to first team All-SoCon honors. Nothing about the most experienced veteran Paladin returning and the team's heart and soul, Garrett Hien. Hien, who already etched his place in Furman history with perhaps the biggest steal and assist ever against Virginia in the NCAA Tournament in 2023, went on to make some clutch plays this season in helping the Paladins go 23-8.

That offseason talk put a little bit of a chip on the shoulders of veterans like Hien and Tyrese Hughey.

"The entire offseason our message was 'they're not going to recognize us.' I mean that was the first thing (Furman coach Bob) Richey said at our first meeting in June," Hien said. "We knew we had guys back that were forward pieces and we knew we were bringing really good pieces in. Our whole mentality in the summer was to build that camaraderie and connection.

"We knew people weren't going to believe in us, but all that matters is in our room. The 20 people in there who think we're going to win."

Folks certainly had to take notice in November and December as Furman built a 12-1 non-conference record with its only loss coming at then No. 1-ranked Kansas. That record was built in a true team fashion. By Dec. 4, 11 different Paladins had at least one double-figure scoring game.

After a blowout win at Western Carolina to open SoCon play on New Year's Day, the Paladins went on a small roller coaster of ups and downs during league play. Furman never won or lost more than two SoCon consecutive games before ending the regular season on a four-game winning streak.

If there ever was a time for Furman to be recognized like they want to be, it's this weekend as all eyes are on Asheville for the SoCon Tournament. The fifth-seeded Paladins open tourney play by facing No. 4-seed and reigning league champion Samford (22-9) Saturday at approximately 8:30 p.m. in the last of four quarterfinals at the Harrah's Cherokee Center.

The 45 combined wins for the Paladins and Bulldogs are the most for a quarterfinal matchup in the 104-year history of the SoCon Tournament. While Furman finished one game back of Samford and ETSU, which tied for third place, the Paladins swept the Bulldogs this season. While it certainly is hard to beat a team three times, it's also hard to be a good team once. To accomplish its goal this weekend, Furman will have to beat a trio of good teams once.

The Paladins enter coming off a pair of thrilling wins over in-state rivals for very different reasons. Last Saturday, Smith drilled the game-winning three with one second left in Furman's 78-75 win at Wofford. Smith's heroics were set up by a huge three from Hien when the Paladins were trailing by four late. Three days earlier, Furman closed out its home season at The Well in style. The Paladins raced out to a 44-11 halftime lead over The Citadel and went on to an 85-42 win, the most lopsided score in the SoCon this season.

"The non-conference is important and so is the conference season, but this is the championship phase and that's when you want to get hot," Hien said. "I think that's what we've kind of done. ... To go into Ashville with momentum and feel like we're one of the hottest teams in the league, I think will be good for us."

In college basketball in 2025, team chemistry often has to develop quickly with new players shuffling in and out of programs through the transfer portal. Furman has had success with that this season with newcomers like Nick Anderson and Tom House. Anderson is second on the team in scoring behind Smith and earned third team All-SoCon honors. Meanwhile, House has been a valuable "third scorer" down the stretch as he long range shooting ability has taken some pressure off Smith and Anderson.

However, team camaraderie can get perhaps its biggest boost from veterans who've played together multiple seasons like Hien and Hughey. That level of camaraderie was evident late in the blowout win over Citadel. After Hien hit a three-pointer to reach the 1,000-point mark in his career, the Furman bench celebrated wildly. Hien immediately checked out to a big hug from Richey and then the rest of his coaches and teammates.

"He's got 100 wins. He's scored 1,000 points. He's got a conference championship. He's got an NCAA Tournament win. I mean, he's got everything and more out of this experience that he wanted to get out of it," Richey said of Hien. "He was loyal and he stayed the course. Garrett's had different spouts of adversity of having to work through some things and figure some things out, but he always stayed committed and loyal. The reward you get out of that is that you see real growth.

"When you see guys stick to why they came here, for the reasons they came here and then you see the payoff for it. You could see the team's energy when he hit that three and just how much that meant to the whole team." 

Hien and Hughey were valuable parts of that 2022-23 SoCon championship team, as was junoir Ben VanderWal. Davis Molnar took a redshirt that season, but he was still part of that team. Hien said those four have tried to talk about what it takes to be a champion with others on the team since they've been there and done that.

 

"We understand the difference in if we have a good game versus having a great game," Hien said. "Every possession's got to be like it's the championship on Monday night. That's what it all comes down to in this league."

Furman women go cold, fall to Chattanooga

In her final college game, Tate Walters had 19 points in Furman's 63-55
loss to Chattanooga. Photo courtesy of the SoCon/Jeremy Fleming

During Furman's first round win over East Tennessee State Thursday at the Southern Conference Women's Basketball Tournament, the Paladins made 5-of-15 three-pointers. That may not sound like a lot in 2025, but it worked for Furman coach Pierre Curtis.

"If we hit 10 threes, great, but we just need five," Curtis said Thursday. "If we can make five threes, I feel great about our offense and then our defense can do the rest."

Unfortunately for the sixth-seeded Paladins, they proved just how right Curtis was in Friday's semifinals. Furman made just 2-of-19 threes and ended up losing by eight to second-seeded Chattanooga. The Mocs'  63-55 win at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville advances them to Sunday's championship against top-seeded UNC Greensboro.

For the game, the Paladins (16-16) shot just 37.7 percent from the floor. After improving to 10-1 in games in which it shot at least 45 percent this season on Thursday, they fell to 1-13 in games in which they shot less than 41 percent on Friday.

"Obviously, it's not the outcome we expected. It was just a play here or there where the game kind of got away from us. Then we fought back, and we got right back into it," Curtis said Friday. "But just for that one minute or two, we kind of as a group - the whole group, myself included - we lost composure for a little bit and they took advantage of it. ... Hats off to Chattanooga for toughing it out and winning a tough game."

Furman standout Tate Walters began her final game with a jumper on the opening possession. UTC standout Caia Elisaldez answered with a jumper 31 seconds later and the Paladins never led again.

Despite being ice cold from the perimeter, Furman was able to hang around thanks to its defense. The Paladins were never behind by more than seven over the first three quarters as they trailed 16-13 after one, 27-24 at the half and 39-33 going to the fourth.

Ironically, Furman made its first three-point attempt when Sydney Ryan tied the game 5-5 less than two minutes in. The Paladins didn't pull even again until the 6:18 mark of the third quarter when Walters hit a pair of free throws to knot the game at 29-29.

Furman had a chance to take the lead on its next possession, but turned it over. That turnover led to a three-pointer by the Mocs, which started a 7-0 run. Chattanooga used another 7-0 run in the fourth quarter to take its biggest lead at 12 and never led by fewer than six the rest of the way. After Ryan's three less than two minutes in, the Paladins other three didn't come until Walters made one with 1:20 remaining - snapping a team streak of 14 consecutive misses.

"It's been such an honor playing at Furman, and for the university, Coach (Jackie) Carson, Coach P and the entire staff during my five long years here," said Walters, who finished with a game-high 19 points and a team-high three assists. "The people here are why I decided to play here. I'll always consider them family."

Walters finishes her career with 1,268 points, which ranks 14th in school history. She's also second in program history with 453 assists. Freshman Raina McGowens had nine points and five rebounds off the bench for Furman Friday, while Jada Session, Kate Johnson and Sydney Ryan each scored seven for the Paladins. Session also pulled down 10 rebounds, giving her 677 in her career - the 10th most in school history.

"This year, I had a lot of nagging injuries that kind of took me out of games. I feel like it made me want to take advantage of the opportunity to play another game," Johnson said. "My mom played at Furman for four years. So it was always a dream of mine when I was little to do the same thing. I think it's amazing looking back on it and fulfilling that little girl's dream that wanted to follow her mom's footsteps."

Karsen Murphy lead Chattanooga (16-13) with 18 points, while Elisaldez had 16 points, five rebounds and five assists before fouling out with 3:10 remaining in the game.

In the final seconds, Curtis called for an intentional turnover to stop the clock. The stoppage allowed him to sub out his senior starters, so they could get one last ovation from fans and embraces from coaches and teammates. After the game, Curtis praised their work ethic.

"Our group as a whole, we fought. We showed who we are as Furman student-athletes. ... I got two kids up here right now (in the postgame conference) who've been with me for the longest. One of them (Walters) is coming off an (torn) Achilles. The other one (Johnson), I don't even know what part of her knee she has left that she hasn't given to Furman," Curtis said. "I've got another one in Jada, who's had two ACL (injuries).

"My kids are getting after it. They're giving everything that have to not only the basketball program at Furman, but the school as well. So I don't have any regrets for how the game went. We can leave here with our heads held high as Furman University women's basketball."

Defense powers Furman women past ETSU

Jada Session had 13 points and 11 rebounds in Furman's 64-58 win
over ETSU Thursday. Photo courtesy of SoCon/Jeremy Fleming

Sixth-seeded Furman used a tremendous defensive effort to knock off third-seeded East Tennessee State, 64-58, Thursday in the opening round of the Southern Conference Women's Basketball Tournament at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville. The Paladins limited the Bucs to 36.7 percent shooting to advance to Friday's second round. Furman (16-15) will take on No. 2-seed Chattanooga at approximately 1:15 p.m. with the trip to Sunday's championship on the line.

The Paladins' defensive effort was especially dominant in crunch time. ETSU made just 3-of-16 field goals (18.3 percent) in the fourth quarter. Furman, which avenged a sweep by the Bucs (17-13) in the regular season, was the lone lower seed to win in Thursday's opening round. The Paladins improved to 9-1 against ETSU in SoCon Tournament history.

"It was obviously a tough game, and we thought it would be. We just played them (last Saturday), and we thought for about 33 minutes of that game, we were right there," Furman coach Pierre Curtis said. "We were really confident coming into this game that if we made a couple of tweaks we could come out victorious. We had contributions from everybody on the team. We had 21 points from the bench in the first half, which was great.

"I have nothing but respect for (ETSU) Coach (Brenda) Mock (Brown) and her program, but I didn't think of us winning as an upset. We didn't come into this game like underdogs. We came in very confident. I have a bunch of seniors that don't want to stop playing basketball right now."

Two of those seniors that helped lead the way Thursday were Jada Session and Tate Walters. Session had 13 points, 11 rebounds and two blocks, while Walters navigated through foul trouble to finish with 10 points and four steals without fouling out.

It was the fifth double-double this season for Session, who was sidelined the first 10 games this season.

"It was upsetting at first, but I've just tried to make an impact since I've been back," Session said. "That was my goal for my senior year and it's been great."

Furman trailed 8-2 three-and-a-half minutes into Thursday's contest, but it held ETSU to just 1-for-8 shooting - sandwiched around four consecutive turnovers by the Bucs - the rest of the first quarter. That allowed the Paladins to take a 12-10 lead going into the second quarter.

Both teams' offenses got going in the second quarter as the game was tied 30-30 at halftime. Of those 21 points by Furman's bench in the first half, Jaelyn Acker accounted for nine of those all in the second. After making a total of three three-pointers over her previous eight games combined, Acker made 3-of-4 in the quarter.

The Paladins were able to take command of the game in a wild third quarter. ETSU had a stretch of seven consecutive missed shots before making six in a row. Meanwhile, Furman missed its first shot of the second half before making 11 of its next 13 to take a 55-48 lead to the final quarter.

Session and Walters helped seal the win as they combined for eight of the Paladins' nine points in the fourth quarter. Walters had a couple of huge defensive plays that helped secure the win. With 4:20 left, Walters made a steal and turned it into a fastbreak layup to give Furman its biggest lead at 61-52. ETSU didn't fold though. With less than a minute to play, the Bucs had the ball trailing 61-58 when Walters blocked a layup attempt by the Kendall Folley.

"It's been quite the journey, but I wouldn't have had it any other way," said Walters, who won her first SoCon Tournament game since leading the Paladins to the 2022 championship game. "I'm very proud of our team and the effort that we put forth today."

While ETSU made just 3-of-16 shots in the fourth, Furman was just 2-of-7 but it made 5-of-8 free throws. With 11 seconds left, freshman Raina McGowens hit 1-of-2 from the foul line to push the lead to four. Session made a pair of free throws with three seconds left to wrap up the victory.

In addition to Session's 13 points and Walters' 10, Acker finished with nine and Sydney Ryan scored eight. Chantelle Stuart also had seven points, a team-high four assists and two steals. The Paladins finished with a 27-9 advantage in bench points.

Meghan Downing led ETSU with 16 points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots. Folley finished with 15 points, six rebounds and six assists.

Despite the relatively quiet fourth quarter, Furman shot 50 percent (24-of-48) for the game. The Paladins improved to 10-1 in games in which they've shot at least 45 percent from the floor. That includes a 74-70 overtime win at their next opponent, Chattanooga, last Thursday. Furman made 28-of-56 field goal that day.

"We have a motto right now: All we can ask for is an opportunity to have an opportunity to have another opportunity," Curtis said. "We had an opportunity to win today to get to another opportunity tomorrow."

Walters set for last shot at SoCon women's title

Furman senior Tate Walters earned second team All-Southern
Conference honors this season. Photo courtesy of Furman

Furman senior Tate Walters knows a thing or two about winning in March. Walters arrived in Greenville five years ago after helping Buford (Ga.) High earn Class 5A state championships in each of her four years there, going 118-8 along the way.

On Thursday, Walters begins her final chance at leading her college team to Southern Conference championship glory. The sixth-seeded Paladins will take on No. 3-seed East Tennessee State in the opening round of the SoCon Women's Tournament at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville. Tip-off is scheduled for approximately 3:30 p.m.

Furman (15-15, 5-9) will try to avenge a season sweep by the Bucs (17-12, 8-6), including a 62-50 road loss in last Saturday's regular season finale. It will be the first postseason meeting between the teams since 2016, but the Paladins have history on their side with an 8-1 record against ETSU at the SoCon Tournament. Furman is shooting for its first SoCon title and NCAA Tournament appearance since 2000.

Walters is one of four Paladins who average double-figure scoring with a team-high 12.3 points per game. Fellow seniors Jada Session and Kate Johnson average 10.5 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, respectively, while junior Sydney Ryan averages 10.8 points and 6.0 rebounds a game. Earlier this week, Walters earned second team All-SoCon honors after finishing sixth in the conference in scoring and third in assists with a team-high 114. Teammate Clare Coyle, who averages 6.2 points and a team-best 6.3 rebounds per game, made the SoCon's All-Freshman team.

Win or lose this week, it's sure to be emotional for Walters who's had a gamut of experiences in her college career. Plenty of the great moments in Walters' career have taken place on the Cherokee Center's court.

Just like this year, Furman was the sixth seed in Walters' freshman season in 2021. In her SoCon Tournament debut, Walters had 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists as the Paladins knocked off No. 3-seed Chattanooga, 58-40. She had 15 points the next day, but the Paladins fell to second-seeded Mercer by 10. 

As a sophomore, Walters helped third-seeded Furman reach the championship game. The Paladins would not have sniffed the final if Walters had not put on one of the greatest individual performances I've ever seen by a Furman athlete in the opening round. Furman trailed Chattanooga by four with just over a minute to play before Walters led a rally that resulted in an overtime win. You can read my recap of that game here: http://www.furmansportsreport.com/2022/03/furman-women-rally-survive-and-advance.html.

In the 2022 semifinals, Walters had 12 points, eight assists and six rebounds in the Paladins' 64-59 win over No. 2-seed Wofford. In the championship, Furman took a one-point lead into halftime over top-seeded Mercer before a big third quarter powered the Bears to the title. Walters had a team-high 20 points that day.

The following season, Walters was looking forward to trying to lead her team back to the SoCon championship in what turned out to be Jackie Carson's final year as head coach. That 2022-23 season ended for Walters before it even started though, after she tore an Achilles tendon in preseason practice. 

She returned to the court for new head coach Pierre Curtis last season. She averaged 10 points per game, had a team-best 107 assists and earned the SoCon's Ann Lashley Award, given to the player who overcomes injury or hardship. Furman had a quick exit at last season's SoCon Tournament as it fell to second-seeded UNC Greensboro in the opening round. Walters was the lone Paladin in double figures with 18 points in the 64-44 loss.

Walters enters this season's tournament ranked 16th on Furman's career scoring list with 1,239 points and is second in career assists with 448.

A two-time SoCon All-Tournament selection, four-time SoCon Academic Honor Roll pick, and CSC Academic All-District honoree a year ago, Walters collected her undergraduate degree in communications in 2023 and is on track to earn her master's degree in strategic design.

Thursday's Furman-ETSU winner will face either second-seeded Chattanooga or seventh-seeded Mercer in Friday's semifinal round at approximately 1:15 p.m.

Smith hits game-winner, Furman earns five seed

PJay Smith (0) and Davis Molnar celebrate after Smith's game-winning three
 in Furman's 78-75 win at Wofford Saturday. Photo courtesy of Furman

SPARTANBURG - Furman's regular season finale Saturday was a pretty good summary of much of the season. Once again, the Paladins built a big early lead. Once again, they saw that lead evaporate. Once again, Furman found a way to come out on top. PJay Smith's three-pointer with 1.1 seconds left lifted the Paladins to a 78-75 win at Wofford.

The victory clinched a fifth-place finish in the Southern Conference for Furman (23-8, 11-7). The Paladins will take on fourth-seeded Samford in the SoCon Tournament quarterfinals in Asheville. Tip-off for the final game of Saturday's quadruple header at the Harrah's Cherokee Center is scheduled for approximately 8:30 p.m.

Furman improved to 15-4 in games decided by single digits this season and enters the postseason as one of the hottest teams in the league. Only three SoCon teams head to Asheville on a winning streak: Regular season champion Chattanooga has won 11 consecutive games, while third-seeded ETSU and the Paladins have won four straight. It's the longest streak for Furman since winning six in a row from Dec. 4 to Jan. 1.

"We got off to a good start, which in this series has often been a big storyteller. ... In our game in Greenville (an 81-62 loss), we got off to a horrible start so we wanted to get a better one today," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "We knew they wouldn't go away. They did a good job and man, they got this place rocking. It got crazy and we had to survive the momentum of it. They hit the three (to go up 74-70) and we could've folded, but we didn't. We ran action that we literally drew up on the board. We haven't got to practice it at all and Garrett Hien hits the big three.

"And then PJay (hits the winner). I told him in the locker room that he earned that in April, May and June. He worked his tail off and chose to lead this team with the way he worked, the way he modeled our program values and wanting to be here. ... It's 23 wins and counting for him and his team. Not a lot of players can say that. For him to finish the regular season with that shot and that momentum, that was earned a long time ago and I couldn't be more proud of him."

The 1-3-1 zone with a big out front has been a difference maker for Furman's defense down the stretch and that continued on Saturday. After it took The Citadel 10 attempts to make its first field goal in the Paladins' previous game, it took Wofford eight tries to make it's first shot on Saturday. By the time the Terriers got on the scoreboard on Jackson Sivills' three-pointer at the 15:48 mark, Furman had already built a 12-0 lead with all of its scoring coming from Smith and Nick Anderson. During that opening four-minute stretch of seven missed shots, Wofford also had three turnovers.

Having big men like Garrett Hien and Cooper Bowser at the top of that zone has caused havoc for perimeter passing by Furman's opponents of late. Even when balls aren't deflected, the threat has still been affective. Wofford had a couple of passes that were thrown so high over defenders they ended up as out of bounds turnovers.

"I really feel like it's just given Garrett some purpose up there. It's been a nice little change up for us. It's not a zone built to just sit in for long stretches because people can get in on it, just like they did in the second half," Richey said. "It's allows us to use our length, which we have. We don't have speed. So it allows us to cover some space with that length. It helped us get a big margin. Looking back, that was a key to winning the game."

Bowser's jumper gave Furman its biggest lead at 28-9 with 8:21 remaining in the first half. The Terriers refused to just roll over and play dead though. Over a stretch of just 74 seconds, Wofford went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 31-22 with 5:34 left. The Paladins were able to stem that tide and took a 40-29 lead into halftime.

Wofford shot just 32.4 percent in the opening half, but that trend did not continue. Furman led 49-36 on Davis Molnar's fast break layup off a Smith steal and assist at the 15:44 mark. The Terriers answered with a 14-4 run over the next four minutes capped by Corey Tripp's step back jumper to cut the lead to 53-50.

Wofford kept things tight as Furman couldn't buy a bucket. From Anderson's layup at the 14:15 mark to his layup at the 7:57 mark, the Paladins went 0-for-7 from the field. However, they didn't lose the lead during that stretch thanks to going 7-for-9 from the foul line.

It appeared that Furman had fully regained command when Hien drilled a three-pointer to push the lead to 68-60 with 4:53 remaining. The basketball gods frowned on Hien's post-shot celebration to the other end of the floor near the Wofford student section though, as the Terriers answered with a 14-2 run to take the lead for the first time. They grabbed the lead on a three-point play by Tripp, which began with a phenomenal dunk on Hien that had the home crowd going wild. Sivills' three-pointer with 1:13 left capped the flurry and gave Wofford a 74-70 lead.

Hien, who had not scored prior to his three that preceded Wofford's run, had Furman's lone two during that run. He then answered with a huge three with 53 seconds left. After his eighth consecutive point for Furman cut the lead to one, there was no celebration this time. Instead, the Paladins locked down defensively.

Despite the Terriers keeping big man Kyler Filewich - a 33 percent foul shooter - on the floor, Furman chose not to foul him. They played straight up and with the shot clock winding down, Bowser made a great play to severely impact Dillon Bailey's driving layup attempt without fouling. On a day in which the Paladins were owned on the glass, including 17 offensive boards for Wofford, they managed to get this huge loose ball rebound when Anderson saved the ball off of Filewich's head out of bounds with 23.5 seconds left.

The teams traded pretty cheap fouls, especially given the game-on-the-line situation. After Smith made both of his free throws with 15.1 seconds left put Furman ahead 75-74, Tripp only made 1-of-2 at the other end to leave the game tied at 75-75 with eight seconds left. With Furman out of timeouts, Smith took the inbounds pass all the way to the top of the key, took a step back and drilled a long three with 1.1 seconds left.

The Paladins held on as Jeremy Lorenz's contested three-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the rim no good. Given the fact that it wasn't listed in the official play-by-play, it appears the shot would not have counted anyway.

"I feel like my teammates and coaches trust me enough to take the last shot. I just knew there was eight seconds left and we didn't have any timeouts, so I was just thinking to go out there and win for my team and I did that," Smith said. "It really wasn't a lot of pressure since we were tied. I just went out there free of mind. I go out there and practice shots like that every day, and I just ended up making that one."

Smith padded his All-SoCon resume with a game-high 26 points, four steals, three assists and one turnover. He was just 5-of-15 from the floor, but all five were three-pointers and he made all 11 of his free throws. As a team, Furman went 22-of-28 from the foul line while Wofford was 15-of-21. Anderson was the lone other Paladin in double figures with 21 points and just one turnover. Hien finished with those eight vitally important points, five rebounds, three assists and no turnovers.

The output by Smith and Anderson was even more significant given the fighting they had to do to get open enough to score. There were active hands by Wofford defenders on both of them away from the ball all night.

"Teams are going to be physical and try to knock us out of what we do, but I give credit to my coaches and teammates," Smith said. "My teammates set good screens to get us open and we end up getting good looks."

Wofford shot 60 percent from the floor in its 46-point second half. The Terriers outrebounded Furman, 39-24, for the game. They outscored the Paladins 36-18 in the paint and 18-5 in second chance points, but Furman once again found a way to victory.

With an unpredictable SoCon Tournament on deck, finding different ways to win like the Paladins have this season could prove to be quite valuable.

"Every game plan, it's 'what can you give up?' and 'what are they going to get because that's just what they do?' We can't inject Bowser with all this weight before he has to go mash up with Filewich," Richey said. "So he's (Filewich) is going to get some and they're going to make some threes, but we had to win certain aspects of it. We won the free throw line tonight, which was a huge deal to us going into the game. We won the three-point line, which is a big deal. We built a margin that allowed us to sustain some of that stuff.

"I just can't say enough about our guys' responses when adversity set in. You need that in March. ... We're headed to Asheville to take them one at a time, but this group is excited to see what they can do in this tournament."

Filewich went 8-for-10 from the floor (and 0-for-3 at the foul line) to finish with 16 points and 11 rebounds for Wofford. While he was solid on Saturday as he's been all season, his plus-minus was minus-19 during his 28 minutes on the floor. Tripp also scored 16 points, but he finished with six of the Terriers' 13 turnovers.

Smith earns Player of the Week honors

Smith's heroics Saturday helped him claim SoCon Player of the Week honors announced Tuesday. Smith's numbers in Spartanburg followed a 19-point showing in Furman's 43-point win over The Citadel last Wednesday. Smith also had four assists against the Bulldogs.

It's the fourth Player of the Week award claimed by Smith this season and first for any Paladin since conference play began.

Paladins close out their Well season very well

PJay Smith (0) and Tom House scored 19 points apiece in Furman's
85-42 win over The Citadel Wednesday. Photo courtesy of Furman

"Find a way Furman" is a moniker the Paladins earned this season thanks to quite a few rallies for close wins, such as their overtime victory at The Citadel earlier this season. In Wednesday's rematch, it was more like "get out of Furman's way." The Paladins dominated from start to finish as they rolled to an 85-42 win in the home finale at The Well. It was the most lopsided score among all Southern Conference games this season, topping Wofford's 82-43 win at VMI a week earlier.

The victory guaranteed the Paladins (22-8, 10-7) at least the No. 6 seed at the SoCon Tournament, avoiding the two Friday "play-in" games. It also gave Furman three consecutive wins in SoCon play for the first time this season, which isn't a bad idea to prove to yourself before heading to Asheville next weekend. It's the Paladins' longest winning streak since six straight from Dec. 4 to Jan. 1. Furman went 11-1 on Wednesdays this season, including 8-1 in SoCon play.

While Citadel (5-23, 0-17) saw its losing streak reach 20 consecutive games, it had not been manhandled like this. The first meeting was one of three SoCon games the Bulldogs lost in overtime. They were coming off a one-point loss at SoCon regular season champion Chattanooga after a video review correctly overturned what was initially ruled a game-winning shot at the final horn.

"Down in Charleston, they outplayed us in a lot of ways and we were fortunate to win the game in overtime. I thought our guys really approached tonight's game with the right mentality," Furman coach Bob Richey said. "That team was a tenth of a second away from winning at Chattanooga. You can say 'well, they haven't won a (SoCon) game,' but people don't understand how hard this stuff is. ... They've had some heartbreakers and to keep fighting the way they have is a credit to a great culture and a great coach in Ed (Conroy)."

Citadel's 42 points were the lowest allowed by Furman during Richey's eight years as head coach. It was the lowest output allowed by the Paladins in a SoCon game since an 85-37 win over Western Carolina in the 2016-17 season. The 1-3-1 zone that Furman switched to late at Samford, which helped secure that big victory a week earlier, appeared from the start Wednesday. The Paladins played zone the rest of the night. After shooting just 15.4 percent in the first half, the Bulldogs shot 34.6 percent in the second half to finish as 25 percent (13-of-52) for the game.

"In that first game (at Citadel) we fell behind by eight and had some success when we went to the zone there, so we wanted to mix it in tonight," Richey said. "We didn't intend to play it as much as we did. It's not something we go to all the time ... but I thought it just gave us good energy all night. Our guys were flying around and had 47 deflections. I don't ever remember a total that high since we started tracking deflections as an assistant or head coach."

While Furman shot 52.5 percent from the floor, including 45.5 percent (15-of-33) on three-pointers, defense set the tone for everything Wednesday. The Paladins led 13-0 nearly eight minutes into the game before the Bulldogs got on the board with a pair of free throws. Citadel missed its first nine shots before converting a layup at the 11:38 mark, then missed it's next seven shots before a three-pointer at the 7:02 mark. By that point, Furman led 26-4. That second defensive stretch was highlighted by an incredible blocked layup by PJay Smith. Nick Anderson grabbed the rebound then fired to Smith, who nailed a three on the other end.

After those first two made baskets for Citadel 13 minutes into the game, it made only two more shots the rest of the half as Furman took a 44-11 lead at the break. It was the lowest output by a Furman opponent in the opening half since the Paladins led Virginia Intermont 69-8 at the half on Dec. 29, 2004.

Getting a lead like Furman got helped the offense play more freely with little worry about missing a shot. The Paladins looked plenty confident from the 7:32 mark of the first half to the 15:56 mark of the second when they made 13-of-17 field goals, never missing back-to-back shots. Four of those made shots belonged to Tom House, who personally outscored Citadel in the first half with 15 points on 5-of-5 three-point shooting in 12 minutes off the bench.

"When you keep focusing on defense, it takes all the pressure off offense. When you get a margin like that, everybody's shot is feeling more loose," House said. "When you get stops and get in transition, people can't key in on our shooters. You've seen when we've had bad offensive games, they've been able to key in on PJay, Nick and me and it's hard to get open. But if you're in transition in a broken floor where you keep getting stops, that's where most of my shots came from tonight."

Often this season, Furman has seen an early double-digit lead evaporate. That includes the first meeting in Charleston when the Paladins saw a 13-point lead early in the second half turn into a seven-point deficit six minutes later thanks to a 23-3 run by the Bulldogs. Because of that defense though, Wednesday's big advantage was never threatened.

In the second half, Furman's lead never got lower than 31. The only drama after halftime came with wondering if Garrett Hien would reach the 1,000-point plateau for his career in his final home game. He needed 14 points in the game and scored four in the first half. Hien was at 997 points with 4:43 left when he knocked down a three and everybody seemed to know what that meant. Sixteen seconds later, a foul stopped play allowing Hien to check out to a standing ovation from the crowd and hugs from his coaches and teammates.

"I think everybody knew because they flashed up (on the scoreboard) that I had 1,000 when I needed about eight more. I was on the bench and saw that and thought, 'unless I miscounted, I don't think I have it yet,' " Hien said with a smile. "It was awesome, especially to do it with this group of guys. We support each other so much. To do it in the last home game in front of the fans was special too.

"Before every game, me, House, Rese (Tyrese Hughey) and Chuck (Charles Johnston) go to a coffee house and chop it up. I was telling Rese today that I had two games to get it and he told me I was going to get it tonight."

A few minutes later, the second biggest roar of the night came when the Furman walk-ons checked in to close out the game. All 15 Paladins on the roster logged at least two minutes. Smith and House had a game-high 19 points apiece as House made 6-of-7 shots and Smith was 7-for-10. House was 6-for-6 on threes, becoming just the third player in school history to have a perfect night from beyond the arc with at least five attempts. Anderson finished with seven points, three steals and six assists for Furman, which had 23 assists as a team.

In addition to his 14 points, Hien had seven rebounds and four assists. 

"It's always neat to see guys get rewarded for their effort and really their loyalty," Richey said. "Garrett's been in a lot of big games and had a lot of good moments here. You cut him open and he's going to bleed purple. You could see the team's energy when he hit that three and just how much that meant to the whole team.

"I couldn't be more proud of him. I told him it was pretty ironic he did it on a three-ball, but you know what? He's been working on his three a lot here lately and listen, Garrett can shoot. That's why we signed him. If he's shooting with that confidence, it gives us another element."

Brody Fox led Citadel with 14 points and six rebounds.

Furman wraps up the regular season at its other in-state rival, Wofford (16-14, 10-7), Saturday at 2 p.m. The winner will be the fifth seed at the SoCon Tournament, while the loser gets the sixth seed. The Paladins will try to avenge an 81-62 home loss to Wofford in the first meeting this season. The Terriers are coming off a 90-67 win at Western Carolina Wednesday for their fourth victory in the past six games.