GREENVILLE, S.C.--Asa Thomas led Furman in scoring for the second time this week, posting 18 points to lead four in double figures, as the Paladins claimed a 79-69 win over visiting Harvard in a non-conference battle before 2,187 fans at Timmons Arena.
With the win, the Paladins move to 6-4 overall, while Harvard falls to 5-6 on the young season.
Thomas finished his strong efforts from three-point range of late, five of his six field goals were three-pointers, and over the past two games, the redshirt sophomore transfer from Clemson has connected on 50% of his shots from long range, knocking down 10-of-20 from long-range in the past couple of games. The Lake Forest, Ill., product finished by scoring 12 of his 18 points in the second half.
All told on Saturday against Harvard, Thomas had a strong shooting performance, connecting on 6-of-11 shots from the field and was 5-for-9 from three-point range, which was a microcosm of the team's season-high shooting performance of 57.1% (28-of-49). Thomas added five rebounds, two assists, and one steal to round out another complete performance.
After finishing with eight points and battling foul trouble for much of the night in the win at Elon, freshman guard Alex Wilkins found his way back into double figures, finishing with 16 points, five assists, and three steals, however, did have seven of the team's 16 turnovers. Despite the turnovers, it was a complete game on both ends of the floor once again for Wilkins, as he continues to acclimate himself to the college game and Furman's intricate offensive system.
Cooper Bowser put together another perfect outing from the field to finish, connecting on 5-of-5 shots from the field and was 2-of-2 from the line to finish with 12, while Ed Bronson added 11.
One of the more concerning moments came early in the second half, as Collin O'Neal went down with an apparent serious knee injury. He had given the Paladins another strong effort off the bench, posting seven points. In a recent loss at Illinois State, O'Neal had gone a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range to finish with a career-high 12.
Last time out against Elon, O'Neal finished with nine and appeared to be well one the way to challenging his recent career-high high, as he had seven points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field and 1-of-1 from the line before going down with his apparent knee issue after getting fouled by Harvard's Tey Barbour with 16:17 left. O'Neal never returned to the game.
Robert Hinton finished with a game-high 26 points for Harvard, as he finished 12-of-21 shooting from the field, while also connecting on 2-of-4 shots from the charity stripe. Hinton also added five rebounds and dished out five assists without turning it over. He also finished with a team-leading three steals on the defensive end of the floor. Hinton ended up as one of three Crimson players in double figures, as he would be joined by Ben Eisendrath and Austin Hunt, who both posted 10 points apiece.
In addition to shooting the ball well from the field, the Paladins also shot the ball well from the charity stripe for a second-straight game, connecting on 75% (16-of-20) from the charity stripe. The Paladins have connected on 40-of-51 free throws, which converts to 78.4% from the line. Furman did struggle to find their touch from long-range, as it finished the day connecting on just 29.2% (7-of-24).
The Crimson finished the game connecting on 45.2% (28-of-62) from the field and 38.9% (7-of-18) from three-point range. The Crimson finished just 54.5% (6-of-11) from the charity stripe.
Overall, Furman held advantages in total rebounds (33-25), second-chance points (9-7), bench scoring (24-14), and fast-break points (12-11). Harvard held a slight edge in points from turnovers (11-7). The Paladins and Crimson finished tied on points in the paint (36-36) and total assists (13-13).
How It Happened:
Furman and Harvard both got off to fast starts, and the
Paladins were able to assume an early 9-6 advantage following a three from Asa
Thomas. A layup and dunk from Cooper Bowser and an Alex Wilkins layup on a nice
drive, as he split a pair of Crimson defenders. The Crimson got five early
points from leading scorer Robert Hinton.
The game would teeter back-and-forth over the next five minutes and the Paladins would retake the lead by a point following a three-pointer from Asa Thomas off a nice feed from Wilkins, making a 17-16 game.
A 9-5 run by Furman, which was highlighted by a long three from Alex Wilkins and a great pass to Ben Vander Wal for a layup on a fast-break opportunity, which gave the Paladins a 26-21 lead with 7:24 left in the half. The Paladins would eventually take a 37-30 lead into the halftime break.
Furman, which had finished the opening 20 minutes playing some of the basketball of the afternoon, continued that momentum into the second half, as Furman used a 15-4 run to start the second half, with an Ed Bronson three-pointer and layup highlighting the Paladins' opening flurry to build an 18-point lead, at 52-24, with 13:57 remaining.
The Crimson would not go quietly, however, as the Crimson sliced Furman's lead in half, at 57-48, when Thomas Batties II knocked down a short jumper in the lane with 10 minutes left. A Robert Hinton jumper with 8:39 left got the Crimson to the closest they had been since the opening minute of the second half, as it brought Harvard to within seven, at 59-52.
A three-point play the old-fashioned way from Wilkins and a Cooper Bowser layup off a lob from Wilkins helped the Paladins provide the needed answer, restoring its lead to double digits, at 64-52, with 7:16 remaining.
A Barbour three-pointer with 2:22 remaining briefly got the Crimson back to within single digits, at 71-62. However, Bowser responded with a layup and two free throws sandwiched by a defensive stop from Furman, as the Paladins built the lead back to 13 with 1:14 remaining and never looked back en route to the 10-point win.
Furman will return to action during exam week next week, as the Paladins will play their third and final non-Division I foe in the non-conference, welcoming Bob Jones to Timmons Arena on Wednesday evening, with tip-off set for 6:30 p.m. EST.
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