When Bob Richey arrived at Furman in 2011 as an assistant coach, the Paladin basketball program and the building it plays its home games in looked and felt a lot different.
Now 14 years later as the head coach, that vision he once entertained if he was ever one day fortunate enough to be the Furman head coach came to be a reality, as 2,750 fans piled inside the newly refurbished Timmons Arena.
However, Alabama's depth and sheer talent eventually wore down Furman, and the Crimson Tide went on to a 96-71 win inside the newly renovated Timmons Arena before the sellout crowd in attendance.
After scoring 109 points in its exhibition win over Florida State, Alabama's 96 points were part of a well-oiled offensive showcase inside Timmons Arena, as the Crimson Tide finished the evening with four players in double figures, with 12 of the 13 players that entered the game registering a field goal in the contest.
Leading the way for the Crimson Tide was guard Aden Holloway, as he dropped in 20 points on 18 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field, including connecting on 4-of-9 from three-point land. Holloway also dished out four assists, grabbed two rebounds and posted one steal in 30 minutes of work in the Crimson Tide's second exhibition of the season. The 18-point effort from Holloway follows an impressive 20-point effort against the Seminoles a week-and-a-half ago.
Joining his backcourt mate in double figures was Labaron Philon, as the preseason first-team All-SEC guard finished with 16 points, connecting on 6-of-10 from the field, including 1-of-3 from three-point range. He was also 3-for-4 from the charity stripe. Philon also dished out a team-leading five assists and snagged three rebounds.
Rounding out the Crimson Tide's double-figure scorers on the day were Latrell Wrightsell Jr. and Amari Allen, who added 12 and 11 points, respectively, off the bench for Alabama.
Furman also finished the afternoon with four players scratching out double-figure scoring efforts, with Charles Johnston charting an impressive double-double, finishing with 14 points and 12 rebounds in 30 minutes of work. The junior forward finished 5-of-11 from the field and was 2-for-6 from three-point land, while also going 2-for-6 from the line to equal his total. In addition to his 14 and 12, Johnston added two assists and a steal.
Cooper Bowser equaled Johnston for team-high scoring honors for the Paladins, finishing with 14 points, seven rebounds, dished out six assists, blocked two shots and netted a pair of steals in what was an impressive night across the board for the junior forward. Bowser was 6-for-7 from the field and 2-for-4 at the line.
Rounding out the Paladins in double figures in the game were senior guard Tom House and freshman point guard Alex Wilkins, who finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively. House came off the bench to connect on 4-of-9 from the field and went 2-for-6 from the line. He was also 1-of-2 at the line and added three rebounds and an assist.
Wilkins scored 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting, including a 2-for-7 effort from three, in just 14-and-a-half minutes of action, fouling out with 12-and-a-half minutes remaining in the game. The freshman from Boston also finished the night as one of two Paladins in the positive when it came to the +/- category, as despite his foul troubles, which plagued him the entire night after a tight whistle saddled him with three in the first half, finished at +5 for the game.
Ben Vander Wal recorded five of the team's of the team's nine total steals, while adding seven points, six rebounds, and two assists, in 30 minutes of court time.
Clemson transfer Asa Thomas ended the night on the cusp of double figures, finishing with nine points, as he scored all nine in the first half on shots from beyond the arc. He finished 3-of-14 from the field and 3-for-10 from long range.
Another notable freshman performance came from Collin O'Neal off the bench. The Nashville product looked good in his debut for the Paladins, as he was especially strong on the defensive end of the floor, with an unusual combo of power, strength and athleticism for a true freshman guard. Those attributes made it tough for talented Crimson Tide guards to get downhill easily against him. He finished with four points, two assists, and a steal in 12-and-a-half minutes of work, joining Wilkins as the only other player for the Paladins to end the night in the positive in the +/- category, as the rookie finished +2 to cap a solid debut.
Alabama finished the night shooting the ball at a 54.0% (34-of-63) clip, including a 34.6% (9-of-26) effort from three-point range.
Furman connected on just 35.1% () from the field in the first game back in its newly refurbished facility since March 1, 2024. The Paladins also struggled from both three-point range, connecting on just 25.0% (9-of-36), and after making their first three perimeter shots of the game, went just 6-of-33 from long-range the remainder of the afternoon. The more alarming stat, however, is the Paladins went just 10-of-25 from the free throw line, finishing the night at just 40.0% from the charity stripe.
The Crimson Tide held substantial advantages in points in the paint (50-32) and bench scoring (43-17), while also finishing the contest with advantages in total rebounds (50-38), second-chance points (20-10), fast-break points (14-7) and points off of turnovers (17-13). Alabama also outscored the Paladins from the line (19-10) on just one more free throw attempt (26-25). The Crimson Tide finished the game connecting on 73.1% (19-of-26) from the charity stripe, including going 17-of-18 from the line in the second half.
How It Happened:
Furman connected on its first three three-pointers to take a 9-0 lead right of the gates in its newly re-imagined venue, however, once the game got settled in, so did the Crimson Tide and by the time the first half reached the midway point, a 9-0 run by Alabama allowed the 2025 Elite Eight qualifier to eventually erase Furman's early flurry and take a 28-20 lead before heading the half with a 48-36 advantage.
Alabama threatened to further its advantage in the early stages of the second half, taking an 18-point following a pair of made free throws from Latrell Wrightsell Jr., taking a 61-43 lead with just under 15 minutes remaining. Furman charged back quickly with an 8-2 run in a little over a two-minute span, as Charles Johnston's triple with 12:35 remaining got Furman back to within 63-51.
Twelve seconds later, however, Furman's talented freshman point guard Alex Wilkins was whistled for his fifth personal foul, changing the momentum. Coincidentally enough Alabama went on an 11-0 run after that and were never seriously threatened the rest of the night, as a pair of Labaron Philon free throws extended Alabama's lead to 22 (73-51) with 9:07 remaining.
Takeaways From The First Afternoon in Timmons:
Sunday's exhibition against Alabama was part of a dream realized for Furman basketball and for Paladin fans, which for the better part of the facility's first 27 years in existence (28 seasons), had to endure far more futility than success.
Over the past 11 seasons, however, Furman basketball under the direction of first Niko Medved (2012-17) and now Bob Richey (2017-present) has seen Furman basketball reach unprecedented sustained success as a perennial league title contender in the Southern Conference.
The Paladins have won 223 games since the start of the 2015-16 season, including having posted 109-19 record at Timmons Arena from 2015-24. Prior to the 2015-16 season, the Paladins had just 142 wins at Timmons Arena in the previous 18 seasons of existence for the facility, which opened on Dec. 30, 1997, when the Paladins hosted non-Division I and now defunct Northeastern Illinois in the inaugural game.
It was a great afternoon for all involved and it was great to see so many faces from the past in attendance. The afternoon probably went off better than expected from the game operations staff to the atmosphere and a decent showing for Furman for most of the afternoon. There was no shortage of excitement on many levels.
The interesting thing to see is what the response will be in the home dates to come that don't include opposition on-par with Alabama. In other words, can Furman build a sustained fan presence this season.
Postgame Press Conference
Paladin Positives
--19 offensive rebounds against an elite SEC foe.
--Alex Wilkins lived up to the hype, but in only a limited sample size of 14 minutes. Anxious to see what he does in 25-30 minutes of court time. Furman is a different team offensively with him in the game.
--Freshmen lived up to expectations, and as Bob Richey alluded to the postgame press conference, it was those five newcomers that saw minutes that had a superior work ethic than the upperclassmen, although for the most part it was a strong effort all around for the Paladins in terms of competing from tip-to-buzzer. Furman's lone to positives on the +/- came from a pair of rookie guards, in Alex Wilkins (+5) and Collin O'Neal (+2)
--Bowser and Johnston excelled under the basket at times, with neither player's effort waning the entire night. For Johnston, a native of Sydney, Australia, who is entering his second season with the program, it was arguably his best performance in a Furman uniform and you could see a definite difference in a 100% healthy Charles Johnston vs. a 75-80% Charles Johnston, which Furman got last season due to back and knee issues. The most notable difference was Johnston's constant activity on the glass, finishing the night with 12 boards.
--Bowser ended the night with five of his seven rebounds on the offensive end, and a start like this against a good SEC front line has to do wonders for his confidence, as the Paladins prepare to enter the 2025-26 campaign next week. Bowser's six assists show he's developed and enhanced his skill level and it looks as if he has stronger hands than he did a year ago. At times previously in his career, he had trouble catching or coming up with loose balls on occasion as a result of that not having strong enough hands, but that's an initial observation, but so far so good. Bowser finished with just one turnover in 33 minutes of work!
--Furman had just nine total turnovers facing pressure from Alabama for most of the afternoon. Considering the Paladins played with a freshman point guard, who then fouled out, giving way to others like Collin O'Neal and Eddrin Bronson helping share the responsibilities for the rest of the night, the Paladins looked sound at point guard all evening, which was a concern coming into the season with the departure of PJay Smith Jr.
--Johnston and Bowser combined to go 9-of-11 from two-point range.
--Effort and commitment were at high levels all night. Furman played with a lot of pride late when the game was already academic, and throughout the first game and despite the fact that the foe was an elite SEC team, Furman showed an uncanny swagger, which hasn't been evident since Furman won the SoCon in 2022-23.
--Collin O'Neal's on-ball defense. Alabama's guards couldn't get downhill against his physicality.
Negatives
--Shooting was not good. Rarely has a Furman team gone 10-of-25 from the line (40%) and connected on just 25.0% from three-point land. Those are not good totals, but it's just game one in a new arena, so maybe some nerves and some being an SEC foe, but the free throws don't get a pass. That has to improve.
--19 offensive rebounds yields only 10 points.
--Surrendering 50 points in the paint is bad if it's a SoCon foe, however, since it's Alabama it's a bit more palatable. On the flip side, there weren't many nights last season when Furman approached 30 points in the paint by a wide margin and the Paladins finished with 32 in this contest against the best front line they'll see all season.
--Furman's defense around the basket needs to improve, as there wasn't enough rim protection and that was the case at points last season. Rim protection is not all blocks; it's weighted heavily in shot deterrence or alteration of shots taken around the basket. Furman didn't deter or alter enough shots around the basket. When freshman guard Collin O'Neal was on the floor, he helped prevent Alabama's guards from getting downhill, which deterred the driving layups the Crimson Tide were getting in time when he wasn't on the floor. So, that's a little piece of it as well, as the two go hand-in-hand in some respects. The issue is also that Alabama shoots a ton of threes and its primary offense in the halfcourt is founded upon dribble penetration to create spacing for its perimeter shooters on kickouts, so some of the "pick your poison" can also be applicable here. That can understandably is hard when it comes to defending a team like that.
Final Observations
--On first appearance, Furman is a little better defensively and on the offensive end, better underneath the basket than they were a year ago. I don't think it's as good of a shooting team (my opinion) upon observation as some of those fans have been accustomed to seeing under coach Richey. I think Furman's two-point offense, however, has the potential to be elite much the same as it was in 2022-23. I don't project this team to be at or near the 400-made three mark at season's end, however, that's not to say this team doesn't have shooting ability because I think they do.
I guess the biggest takeaways of a positive nature are that this has a chance to be the best frontcourt in the SoCon, while I also would have to say the freshmen class brought in certainly didn't disappoint and will play a big role in Furman's success on both ends of the floor this season (also my opinion). I also have to take into account that some things get skewed because the opponent was Alabama and they are an elite foe, so it's important also for me as well as others to not read too much into this result for that reason alone.
The dynamics and makeup of this team is a little different. Supremely talented, but not all weighted in one area or another, and with plenty to improve on before league play. I'll give the performance overall a B+ only because the free throw shooting. Otherwise, a pretty solid A- if Furman makes 10 of the 15 it missed.
Furman's overall performance was about on-par with what I expected and saw nothing to make me think they aren't one of the top two or three teams in the SoCon for the upcoming season. If anything, those preseason notions were only enhanced by the level of performance in certain areas.
Upcoming
Furman opens the 2025-26 season on Nov. 3, taking on High Point as a part of the Field of 68's Opening Day Marathon Tournament. Tip-off for the Paladins and Panthers is set for 6:30 p.m. EST inside the Rock Hill Events Center in Rock Hill, S.C. The Panthers were an NCAA Tournament participant last season and had arguably the best portal haul of any mid-major program in the country entering the 2025-26 season.
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