Catamounts Post First OT win over Furman in the 90-game series since 1984
Western Carolina 80, Furman 77 OT
For the first time since the 2012-13 season, Western Carolina picked up a Southern Conference win at Timmons Arena, as the Catamounts posted an 80-77 overtime win over Furman in Southern Conference action before a crowd of sellout crowd of 2,500 fans Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena.
After finishing out the final month of 2025 unbeaten, the Paladins started 2026 by suffering its first loss of the calendar year in their first outing, ending a streak of six-straight wins, falling to 10-5 overall and 1-1 in league play. Western Carolina, meanwhile, improved to 5-8 overall and 1-1 league action, putting an end to four-game losing streak.
The last time a Western Carolina came to Greenville and Timmons Arena and came away with a victory was on Nov. 28, 2012, when the Catamounts were able to garner a 79-65 win at Timmons Arena.
It was the fourth time in the past seven meetings that the game has gone to overtime between the hardwood battle of Purple Supremacy, and also marked the eighth time in the 90-game series history that the game has needed an extra five minutes to be settled and it marked the first time the Catamounts garnered a victory in an overtime game against the Paladins since an 88-85 double-overtime win at Reid Gym on Feb. 20, 1984.
The most-recent overtime thriller between the two featured eight ties and 16 lead changes.
It was most apparent that the more physical team and the team that wanted the win more from the outset Saturday was Western Carolina. A 48-35 rebounding margin is revealing, and for Furman, it was the largest margin it has suffered on the backboards this season.
"That's been a big emphasis for us and our team this year since the off-season and in our last game we had 20 offensive rebounds and so to go get 17 offensive rebounds again I felt like that was a huge deal and it made a big difference and obviously 18 second-chance points and we needed them all and so that's been an emphasis for us and so hopefully we can continue doing that going forward," Western Carolina head coach Tim Craft said after his team's SoCon road win over Furman.
The Catamounts finished doubling up Furman in second-chance points, 18-9, for the game, which was the most decisive statistical advantage other than overall rebounds that the Catamounts held in Saturday's game, and it was arguably the most telling one.
The Catamounts were the aggressor, and it would lead them to assume as much as an 11-point advantage twice late in the opening half of play, and if not for beyond halfcourt heave from freshman phenom point guard Alex Wilkins, Furman would have headed to the locker room facing a double-digit deficit on its home floor.
Leading a balanced Catamount attack were Marcus Kell and Julien Soumaoro, who posted 16 points apiece to lead four players in double figures in the win. Kell came alive in the second half for the Purple and Gold, as he finished with 13 of his 16 coming in the latter 20 minutes and overtime. Last season, Kell totaled 29 points and eight rebounds in WCU's 84-75 overtime loss to the Paladins at Davis Fieldhouse on the campus of Bob Jones University.
Kell went just 1-of-5 from the field in the opening half of play, however, over the final 25 minutes of action, he connected on 6-of-9 shots from the field to finish 7-of-14 shots from the field, including a 2-for-3 effort from three-point range to finish off what turned out to be a stellar game after an opening half that saw the Fort Mill, S.C., native struggle to find an offensive rhythm.
Soumaoro, who gave the Paladins plenty of problems with his quickness, especially in being able to come away with 50-50 balls throughout the contest. He was a big part of why the Catamounts had 17 offensive rebounds in the game, and his eight rebounds (7-defensive, 1-offensive) led Western's efforts on the glass.
His ability to keep the ball alive so a teammate could come away with the ball was key. The former Gardner-Webb Bulldog and East Carolina Pirate finished the day with 16 on 6-of-13 shooting from the field and 2-for-6 from long-range. He also connected on both of his free throw attempts and added one assist.
Cord Stansberry finished with 15 points, and he was the Catamounts' most-prolific three-point shooter, connecting on 3-of-5 long-range efforts in the game.
Rounding out the double-figure scorers for the Catamounts in the contest was Tijdiane Dioumassi--a transfer from Southern University and native of Paris, France--recorded his second-straight game in double figures for the Catamounts, adding 12 points, which was just one off his season-high of 13 points he had in the previous outing, which was a 79-74 home loss to Wofford. Dioumassi also added six rebounds, four assists and one steal.
Furman would be paced by freshman point guard Alex Wilkins, who posted 24 points, including 18 in the second half and overtime, as he finished 11-of-20 from the field, including going 2-for-6 from three-point range. He also added six assists, four rebounds and a steal, while also recording his seventh 20+point scoring effort of the season, including his third in succession.
Wilkins would be joined in double figures by Charles Johnston, who added 14 points and six rebounds, and did most of his damage from long-range in the game, as he would finish 4-of-8 from downtown in the loss.
Ultimate "glue guy" Ben Vander Wal rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Paladins with 11 points, while adding eight rebounds, six assists and three steals in another outstanding performance from the senior wing.
Fellow senior Tom House just missed a double-figure scoring effort, as he finished with nine points on 3-of-8 shooting from long-range.
Western Carolina finished the game connecting on 44.1% (30-of-68) from the field and finished 50% (10-of-20) from three-point range.
Furman finished the game 44.6% (29-of-62) from the field and that included a 34.4% (11-of-32) effort from three-point range.
The Catamounts held advantages in points off turnovers (16-13), total rebounds (48-35), second-chance points (18-9) and bench scoring (17-11). The Paladins finished the game holding advantages in points in the paint (34-28), fast-break points (16-3) and total assists (18-13).
Both teams were without key players due to injury, with Furman being without Cooper Bowser, while Western Carolina was missing the presence of big man Vernon Collins.
"We can sit here and talk about who's available and who's not available and I mean I've just always been a believer in if you get to go play a college basketball game and you get to play and you get to go out there and you get to go play to the values of ...go be a great teammate...go fly around on defense and play as hard as you can defensively and move and value that ball...and look I'm not a dummy and nobody is a dummy and we've got a first-team all-league five man that's sitting on the bench and we've got one of the best freshman in the league in Collin O'Neal sitting on the bench...I get it...Yes those two guys will drastically help our defense and there's no doubt about it but they're not out there today...We had enough against Mercer didn't we....We had enough against Charleston Southern...We can't switch the narrative and bail ourselves out and say we've got injuries," head coach Bob Richey said after his team's first SoCon loss of the season.
Furman's free throw shooting woes continued, as the Paladins missed nine key charity shots in the contest, finishing just 8-of-17 from the charity stripe. Meanwhile, the Catamounts were 10-for-16 from the charity stripe, making two more shots in one less attempt. In conference games with little if any margin for error, it ended up being a costly one for the Paladins in Saturday's loss.
"Obviously I am doing a poor job of getting guys to make free throws right now and we've never really struggled with that in our time here and I just told the team that typically you just trust that everything is going to regress to the mean and as long as our process is right and we're getting our free throws in and making our shots out here you know and we just trust that good shooters are going to step up to the line and make free throws but it's really hard to lose a game in overtime and miss nine free throws and have to look at that and think that if just one of those free throws goes in we win by one in regulation."
Finally, head coach Bob Richey commented in his postgame press conference that he wanted to play his bench guys more, but their defense needed to be better for him to have been able to allow for that and that was an "opportunity" to carve out more playing time for each bench player. He also mentions Mason Smith is going to be a player that could be looked to in the future as getting more time because of his ability as a shooter and rebounding support he can provide. The complete postgame is below.
How It Happened:
Furman won the tip-off, but an Alex Wilkins turnover gave the Catamounts a run-out the other way and a Julian Soumaoro three put WCU up 3-0 before Ben Vander Wal answered with a layup on the other end off a nice feed from Charles Johnston to make it a 3-2 game. Buckets by Asa Thomas and Alex Wilkins were sandwiched by a jumper from Cord Stansberry, as the Paladins took a 6-5 lead into the first media timeout of the game with 15:40 left in the opening half.
Both teams traded blows early, with two teams heading to their respective benches at the second media timeout tied at 14, with a pair of threes from Owen Ritger and Abijah Franklin and a layup off a loose ball by Eddrin Bronson, while Justin Johnson connected on a step-back three and layups by Julien Soumaoro and Abdulai Fanta Kabba highlighting the scoring for the Catamounts.
Western Carolina used a Tahlan Pettway three to assume its biggest lead of the opening half, at 23-18, as Stansberry and Pettway hit back-to-back threes and the Catamounts headed to the third media of the opening half with a 23-18 lead with 7:31 remaining in the opening 20 minutes of basketball.
A Soumaro three briefly extended the Catamount lead to 10, at 28-18, however, Ben Vander Wal took a no-look feed from Wilkins and converted a layup and was fouled by Terrence Smith creating a three-point play opportunity, as the two teams headed to the final media timeout with 3:55 left in the opening half. However, Vander Wal missed leaving the margin at eight and Johnson converted a layup on the other end to push it back to 10 at 30-20.
Five threes—three by Furman and two by Western Carolina—in the final 1:40 saw the Catamounts take a 38-30 lead to the locker room. After Kell made a three from right elbow, Furman would get a beyond midcourt heave from Wilkins as time expired that hit nothing but net, getting the Paladins to within eight at the break.
By the time the first media timeout of the second half, Furman had trimmed an eight point deficit to two, using a 8-2 run out of the halftime locker room, using 17-straight points spanning the end of the first half and the start of the second from Wilkins and Johnston to get the Paladins to within a bucket. Furman took its first lead on a running one-hander in the lane by Wilkins, making it a 44-42 game and the first lead since the Paladins led 11-7.
However, WCU hit back with five-straight points on a three by Johnson and a dunk by Kell to seemingly retake control of the game, as the Catamounts would eventually increase their lead to the largest of the second half, at 52-45, following a 1-of-2 performance by Tijdiane Dioumassi at the charity stripe, making it a 52-45 Western Carolina lead with 10 minutes left.
An 8-0 by the Paladins, which started with a three from Charles Johnston and ended with Asa Thomas' lone made three of the game, staked the Paladins to a narrow, 53-52, lead with 8:19 left.
The Catamounts hit back with six-straight of their own, as Dioumassi finished a layup in the paint and a short jumper just outside the paint, while a Kell turnaround, fade-a-way sandwiched those two buckets from his teammate, as the Catamounts took a 58-53 lead with 5:45 remaining.
The see-saw affair continued as the intensity increased as did the noise level inside the refurbished Timmons Arena down the stretch, as the Paladins posted seven-straight points of their own, utilizing a friendly bounce over the front rim for a Tom House three to go in, and then Wilkins added back-to-back buckets to give Furman the 60-58 lead with 4:18 remaining.
Neither team would lead by more than two points over the final four minutes, and the lead would also change hands four times over the final three minutes. After Wilkins made a layup to give the Paladins a 65-63 lead with 2:15 remaining, a Soumaoro jumper, which was well-guarded, hit nothing but the bottom of the net to tie the game with 1:14 remaining.
Furman had a chance to win the game in regulation following a three-pointer missed by Stansberry for the Catamounts inside the final 30 seconds, and it was rebounded by Tom House, who got the ball to Wilkins and after dribbling the clock down to four seconds, he dribbled to the corner and fed Asa Thomas at the right elbow for a three as time expired, but the shot was well short, sending the game to overtime.
In the extra session, Western Carolina took the initiative and after a Tom House three answered another Kell fade-a-way in the paint, which gave the Paladins a brief 68-67 lead 50 seconds into the extra session, the Catamounts would score nine-straight points over the next two-and-a-half minutes, assuming a 76-68 lead after Dioumassi knocked down a pair of foul shots with 1:15 left.
Things would get particularly interesting when Asa Thomas was fouled on a three with 1:09 left. Thomas made all three foul shots to cut the Furman deficit to five. Soumaoro answered with a tough fade-a-way, 12-foot jumper, despite being guarded well, extending the WCU lead back to seven, at 78-71, with 40 seconds left.
Furman raced quickly down the floor and House converted a layup to make it a five-point deficit for the Paladins with 31 seconds remaining. Furman called a quick timeout to set up a press, which would pay off in a big way, as the Paladins got steals by Ben Vander Wal and Abijah Franklin to produce consecutive layups by Johnston and Wilkins, getting the Paladins to within a single point, at 78-77, with 23 seconds left.
Furman then quickly fouled Stansberry with 15 seconds remaining and he knocked down both charity shots to increase the WCU lead back to 80-77. Following a Furman timeout with 6.7 seconds remaining after crossing the timeline, head coach Bob Richey drew up a play for his star guard Wilkins, however, after clearing out one side of the floor, the Paladins needed a three and Wilkins step-back triple was well short, and WCU escaped Timmons Arena with a three-point win.
Both teams return to action Wednesday night, with Western Carolina traveling to the Pete Hanna Center to face off against Samford (8-7, 1-1 SoCon) in a 7 p.m. EST tip-off, while the Paladins will be in the Scenic City to take on reigning SoCon champion Chattanooga (6-9, 0-2 SoCon) in a 5 p.m. EST game, which will be televised live on CBS Sports Network.
Postgame Press Conference
Postgame Press Conference
(Furman head coach Bob Richey)
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