VanderWal's career night leads Furman past VMI

Furman sophomore forward Ben VanderWal (photo courtesy of Jeremy Fleming/Furman athletics)

Paladins use 21-1 second half run to pull away from Keydets

Ben VanderWal posted career highs of 15 points and 13 rebounds, and Furman grabbed 50+ rebounds for the third time this season, owning a 51-39 on the glass, as the Paladins were able to grind out a 75-62 home win over VMI.

The win sees the Paladins improve to 14-12 overall and 8-5 in Southern Conference action, while VMI falls to 4-22 overall and 1-12 in Southern Conference play. The win gives the Paladins the season sweep of VMI, as the Paladins won the earlier meeting this season 100-60 at Cameron Hall in Lexington, VA, in what was the first game back in the lineup for Paladin leading scorer Marcus Foster. 

The win over the Keydets sees the Paladins remain tied with Wofford (15-11, 8-5) for fourth in the Southern Conference standings, while both the Terriers and Paladins move ahead of Western Carolina (18-8, 7-6 SoCon), who dropped an 88-62 decision on the road at league-leading Samford (23-3, 12-1 SoCon), as the Catamounts fall into sixth in the league's standings. Wofford remained tied with Furman in the SoCon standings as a result of the Terriers' 73-60 win at Mercer.

The Paladins, who out-rebounded the Keydets by 12 (51-39), recorded 50 or more rebounds in a game for the third time this season, as Furman also grabbed 50+ rebounds in wins over Bob Jones (52 rebs) and Belmont (51 rebs) back in non-conference play. Furman used 14 offensive rebounds, which led directly to 14 second-chance points. 

The two teams were a little short-handed in the contest, as Furman played without its third-leading scorer, in Alex Williams (15.1 PPG, 4.9 RPG), who was suspended for the mid-week league clash, while the Keydets were without their leading scorer Brennan Watkins (15.2 PPG , 2.1 RPG) for a second-straight contest, as he was out with an injury. 

The win wasn't pretty for a second-straight game, however, it's a results oriented business, and for a second-straight game, the Paladins were able to overcome 19 points surrendered offof turnovers, as the Keydets owned a 19-6 advantage in points off 14 Paladin turnovers, while ETSU turned 11 Paladin turnovers into a 19-2 edge in points off turnovers, however, the Paladins have played pretty good defensively to do enough to overcome those large deficit in that category each of the last two outings.

That said, the 2023-24 Paladins are becoming a tougher team in-season than maybe have in past seasons simply because they have had to. Several of Furman's wins this season haven't come in the fashion many who have watched Furman win games over the past seven seasons under head coach Bob Richey aren't accustomed to. That could be a harbinger of good things to come in Asheville, but there's much basketball to be played until that point.

VanderWal scored his team-leading 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field, including hitting his lone three-point field goal attempt. The sophomore forward also finished the night 4-of-6 from the charity stripe. VanderWal grabbed five of the team's 14 offensive rebounds in the contest, while collecting eight caroms on the defensive glass.

VanderWal was joined in double figures for the Paladins by JP Pegues and Marcus Foster, who added 14 and 13 points, respectively, to round out the Paladins in double figures in the contest. Pegues finished the contest by connecting on 5-of-14 shots from the field, which included finishing 4-for-11 from three-point land. Pegues also dished out a team-leading eight assists, grabbed three rebounds and recorded a steal.

Foster finished the night connecting on 4-of-14 shots from the field and went 2-for-8 from three-point land. The redshirt senior guard also finished 3-of-4 at the free throw line, and added seven rebounds, an assist and a steal.

Garrett Hien finished just out of double figures, finishing with nine points, seven rebounds and a steal, while Carter Whitt completed his night with eight points and seven assists.

For a second-straight game, Cooper Bowser was big off the bench for the Paladins, as he finished with five points, four boards and blocked a pair of shots in 15:42 minutes of court time.

VMI ended the night with two players in double figures, led by Taeshaud Jackson II, who added a double-double of 14 points and 12 rebounds. It marked the sophomore forward's 13th-career double-double, including his eighth of the 2023-24 season. Jackson finished the contest connecting on 5-of-12 shots from the field, including missing his only three-point shot, while making 4-of-7 from the charity shot.

Highly-touted recruit Maurice Wright Jr. had a career night for the Keydets, as he posted a career-best 13 points and registered three of the team's 10 steals in the contest. Stephen Olowoniyi and DJ Nussbaum finished just out of double figures, adding nine and eight points, respectively, in the losing effort. 

The Paladins remained second in overall wins since the start of the 2015-16 season, improving to 195-94 overall during that span, which includes a 111-43 in league games, which is also second to only UNCG over that span, as the Spartans are 112-45 over that same span in league play.

Additionally, the Paladins improved to improved to 107-18 at Timmons Arena since the start of the 2015-16 campaign, which includes a 61-19 mark against Southern Conference foes.

Furman finished the night connecting on 42.4% (28-of-66) from the field, including shooting 29.0% (9-of-31) from three-point land. The Paladins also finished the night shooting the ball at a 62.5% (10-of-16) clip from the free throw line.

VMI finished the game connecting on 35.3% (24-of-68) from the field, which included a 22.2% (4-of-18) shooting effort from long-range. The Keydets connected on 66.7% (10-of-15) from the free throw line. 

The Paladins finished the night with advantages in total rebounds (51-39), second chance points (14-10), total assists (18-6), points in the paint (38-32), fast-break scoring (12-2) and free throw attempts (16-15). 

VMI finished the game owning advantages in bench scoring (29-28) and points from turnovers (19-6).

How It Happened:

After owning as much as a 12-point lead in the opening half of play, which included some spectacular plays on a Ben VanderWal dunk off a feed from Carter Whitt, as well as a JP Pegues alley-oop to Cooper Bowser en route to building a 37-25 first half lead with 4:32 remaining in the frame, however, the Keydets closed the half in strong fashion with a 9-2 run to get to within 39-34 at the halftime break. 

VMI opened the second half strong, using a 12-7 run, which was highlighted by a pair of Stephen Olowoniyi buckets and steal and layup by Maurice Wright Jr. to tie the basketball game, 46-46, with 14:42 remaining in the contest. 

Furman responded with a 21-1 run over the next six-and-a-half minutes, however, to put the game away, star junior guard JP Pegues opened the Paladin run with a pair of threes on consecutive Furman possessions, while Furman turned up the heat on the defensive end of the floor, holding VMI without a field goal for nearly a seven-minute span (14:42-7:53), allowing the Paladins to build a 20-point lead (67-47).

It allowed the Paladins to end the game in stark contrast from how it did in its road win at East Tennessee State, which saw Furman convert 12 of its final 13 field goal attempts, as the Paladins would close the game struggling from the field, and at one point missed seven-straight shots before JP Pegues converted a layup as time was winding down and VMI trying to steal the ball, after Pegues was trying to let all the time run off the clock. 

With its second win in a row, it sets up a huge game for Furman on Sunday when the Paladins will host red-hot Chattanooga (18-8, 10-3 SoCon) in a nationally-televised game on CBS Sports Network, with tip-off for that contest set for 2 p.m. EST on Sunday afternoon. 

The Mocs, who were powered by a career-high 31-point effort from Honor Huff in an 84-71 home win over East Tennessee State Wednesday night, handed Furman its worst Southern Conference loss since the 2018-19 season earlier this season by downing the Paladins 73-58 at McKenzie Arena. Chattanooga will come to Greenville on the strength of having won eight of their last nine games, including three-straight. The 18 wins matches last season's win total, which saw the Mocs fall 88-79 in the Southern Conference Tournament championship game to Furman.

VMI heads to arch-rival The Citadel (9-17, 1-12 SoCon) on Saturday afternoon with tip-off set for 1 p.m. EST at McAlister Field House on Saturday. The Keydets won their lone league game of the season with a 70-63 win over the Bulldogs back on Jan. 20 in Lexington, VA. The Citadel dropped a 76-61 home tilt to UNC Greensboro Wednesday night in Charleston, as the Spartans secured the season sweep of the Bulldogs. 

Postgame Press Conference:

Head coach Bob Richey: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0aoNv3Nmic

Players JP Pegues and Marcus Foster: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m78OUqoJngA