https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1061111108508045312
Furman is no stranger to ending road losing streaks.
Two years ago following a season-opening, 73-71, loss at Presbyterian, who went on to win only five more games the entire season, it didn’t seem that Furman was on the cusp of a big non-conference win that would be evidence of the progress the program had made in such a short time. It certainly wasn’t the kind of start to a season that then head coach Niko Medved and top assistant and now head coach Bob Richey would have hoped for.
Add to that the next time the Paladins were to take the floor three nights later was in Birmingham to face a UAB team that was coming off a Conference USA title and entered the contest sporting a 26-game homecourt winning streak.
The task ahead for the Paladins, who came into the season with such high expectations, seemed daunting considering a season-opening loss to a team picked to finish near the bottom of the Big South. Follow that up by then facing a Blazers club that returned four starters from a team that had won 26 games the previous season, the possibility of starting 0-2 seemed to almost be foregone conclusion.
After all, the Blazers had won their season opener by 20 over Arkansas Pine-Bluff a couple nights early and looked impressive in doing so.
However, after practicing a couple with days without a basketball, Furman knew it didn’t give its all in the season-opening loss to Clinton, S.C., and came out with a point to prove against UAB two years ago.
Now a redshirt sophomore, Clay Mounce was in his true freshman campaign back in 2016-17, which was a season he ultimately red-shirted. Senior All-SoCon Matt Rafferty sat out the beginning of that 2016-17 season after off-season back surgery.
Those two would play a knock-down, drag-out game of one-on-one a couple of hours prior to the tip-off that night particular at Bartow Arena. Those two would witness a statement for the Paladins that night, as Furman downed the Blazers, 84-74, for their first significant win of what would turn out to be a regular-season title season for the Paladins and the first of back-to-back school-record tying 23-win seasons for the Paladins.
Rafferty and Mounce would watch from the sidelines, as the Paladins pulled off the win. Now junior guards Jordan Lyons and Andrew Brown, and former player turned current assistant coach Daniel Fowler played key roles in that win a couple of years ago. Fowler scored a career-high 23 points, while Brown and Lyons hit key three-pointers down the stretch as part of an 11-0 run to help the Paladins seal what at that time was a monumental stepping stone for the Paladin basketball program.
Two years later, those four would be present in yet another huge step for the ever-changing culture of Furman basketball, although in different capacities, as Furman knocked off 2018 Final Four participant Loyola Chicago, 60-58, at Gentile Arena Friday night ending an eight-game winning streak for the Ramblers overall, and a streak of 16-straight wins against non-conference foes on the home hardwood.
Remember what I said about those five aforementioned players. Fowler is now the director of recruiting and an assitant on staff for Furman basketball, while Mounce, Brown, Lyons and Brown were all present for one of the biggest wins in recent memory for Furman basketball as players on the court Friday night. And oh yeah Bob Richey, he’s now the head coach and he’s seen this turnaround from the worst of times of Furman basketball until some of the best of times. That’s right Richey was on staff when the Paladins won seven--count em on two hands seven--wins in a single-season in 2012-13. He would be the only coach retained by Medved upon his hiring.
How It Happened:
Richey is now the head man on staff of a team that has won 48 games since the start of that 2016-17 season, and 78 since the start of the 2014-15 season. Times are changing. Culture is changing every day for Furman basketball, much the same way it did for Porter Moser’s Loyola Chicago club over a short period of time under the young, energetic head coach.
It must seem as no coincidence that Rafferty, Mounce, Lyons and Brown all had roles to play Friday night, almost as if the 2016 win over UAB was a foreshadowing of how the events would unfold in the second game of the 2018-19 season. With time winding down, after all, it was Mounce who took the feed from Rafferty and flushed a one-handed tomahawk dunk off the left side with 1.6 seconds remaining to seal a special win for the Furman basketball program, and for the Southern Conference.
The past two seasons has seen the SoCon seal wins over a defending national champion (Wofford def. North Carolina 79-75 on Dec. 21, 2017) and now a Final Four participant from the preceding season (Furman def. Loyola Chicago 60-58 on Nov. 9, 2018).
It was also a homecoming for Rafferty. He hails from Hinsdale, Ill, which is a place he still remembered as being a star quarterback and basketball player. It was Rafferty’s pin-point feed--one of his four helpers on the night--that helped lead Mounce perfectly into his path for the one-handed game-winning stuff, which also landed on Sportcenter as the “Top Finish of the Night.”
Rafferty completed the night connecting on 7-of-16 shots from the field and was 4-for-5 from the line, accounting for his team-leading 18 points. Additionally, Rafferty added seven boards, two blocks and two steals to go with his point and assist totals.
Also adding double-figure scoring performances were Lyons (15 pts, 1 reb, 1 ast, 3 stls) and redshirt freshman Noah Gurley (11 pts, 6 rebs, 1 ast), while Brown and Mounce posted finished just out of double figures, providing key plays down the stretch. The super-athletic Mounce also added three blocks and seven boards, while Brown had a pair of steals, an assist and a rebound.
The trio of Mounce, Rafferty and Lyons scored the final 15 points of the game for the Paladins to turn a 15 points of the game to turn a 49-45 deficit with 5:07 remaining into a 60-58 win.
The Paladins trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half (42-29) after leading by as many as 15 (23-8) in the opening half of play. Furman jumped out with good early defense, which turned Rambler turnovers into points, and were aided by poor shooting and a pair of three-pointers from Lyons and Brown in opening 13 minutes of the game to produce a somewhat scoreline to the casual on-looker.
However, Furman would learn quickly why Moser’s club was able to make such a deep run in the college basketball postseason last March, and it started with Naismith Award candidate Clayton Custer, who scored 16 of his game-high 19 points in the opening half of play.
From the 7:08 minute mark of the opening half to the 13:08 mark of the second, the Ramblers rattled off a 34-6 run to take a 42-29 lead. Some might have thought Richey’s Paladins would fold, however, Furman would in fact pick up the pace over the final 13 minutes, stepping up the intensity on the defensive end of the floor, as well as hitting timely shots.
But down the stretch, it was Rafferty, who was playing in front of many family and friends, that will steal the night and facilitate the win for the Paladins. He scored seven points, added a pair of boards and the all-important assist over the final 4:31 of the game to help the Paladins escape with the memorable win.
Custer finished the night connecting on 8-of-14 shots from the field, including 2-for-6 from three-point range and was 1-of-2 from the line. He also added two boards, one assist and a pair steals. Custer was joined in double figures by Lucas Williamson, who added a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards. He also posted two steals, two blocks and an assist.
Senior guard Marques Townes closed out the Ramblers in double figures with 10 points, while senior post Cameron Krutwig just missed double figures with nine points and added seven boards.
Furman ended the night holding advantages in three-point field goal percentage (27.3% -15.0%), over field goal percentage (38.2%-37.0%), free throw percentage (70.6%-60.0%), second-chance points (8-6) and bench points (11-3). The Ramblers held slight advantages in rebounds (37-36), assists (10-9), fast-break points (13-8), and points in the paint (28-26).
After turning the ball over just three times in the season opener against Bob Jones, the Paladins committed 17 miscues this evening. The Ramblers turned it over only 14 times. Furman returns to Timmons Arena Tuesday night when it hosts Gardner-Webb, with tip-off set for 7 p.m.
Furman continues to come of age as a program, and even though 42 points of production were lost to graduation, Mounce’s emphatic finish to help capture the road win showed Richey and staff continue to cultivate a winning culture in Greenville.
Two years ago following a season-opening, 73-71, loss at Presbyterian, who went on to win only five more games the entire season, it didn’t seem that Furman was on the cusp of a big non-conference win that would be evidence of the progress the program had made in such a short time. It certainly wasn’t the kind of start to a season that then head coach Niko Medved and top assistant and now head coach Bob Richey would have hoped for.
Add to that the next time the Paladins were to take the floor three nights later was in Birmingham to face a UAB team that was coming off a Conference USA title and entered the contest sporting a 26-game homecourt winning streak.
The task ahead for the Paladins, who came into the season with such high expectations, seemed daunting considering a season-opening loss to a team picked to finish near the bottom of the Big South. Follow that up by then facing a Blazers club that returned four starters from a team that had won 26 games the previous season, the possibility of starting 0-2 seemed to almost be foregone conclusion.
After all, the Blazers had won their season opener by 20 over Arkansas Pine-Bluff a couple nights early and looked impressive in doing so.
However, after practicing a couple with days without a basketball, Furman knew it didn’t give its all in the season-opening loss to Clinton, S.C., and came out with a point to prove against UAB two years ago.
Now a redshirt sophomore, Clay Mounce was in his true freshman campaign back in 2016-17, which was a season he ultimately red-shirted. Senior All-SoCon Matt Rafferty sat out the beginning of that 2016-17 season after off-season back surgery.
Those two would play a knock-down, drag-out game of one-on-one a couple of hours prior to the tip-off that night particular at Bartow Arena. Those two would witness a statement for the Paladins that night, as Furman downed the Blazers, 84-74, for their first significant win of what would turn out to be a regular-season title season for the Paladins and the first of back-to-back school-record tying 23-win seasons for the Paladins.
Rafferty and Mounce would watch from the sidelines, as the Paladins pulled off the win. Now junior guards Jordan Lyons and Andrew Brown, and former player turned current assistant coach Daniel Fowler played key roles in that win a couple of years ago. Fowler scored a career-high 23 points, while Brown and Lyons hit key three-pointers down the stretch as part of an 11-0 run to help the Paladins seal what at that time was a monumental stepping stone for the Paladin basketball program.
Two years later, those four would be present in yet another huge step for the ever-changing culture of Furman basketball, although in different capacities, as Furman knocked off 2018 Final Four participant Loyola Chicago, 60-58, at Gentile Arena Friday night ending an eight-game winning streak for the Ramblers overall, and a streak of 16-straight wins against non-conference foes on the home hardwood.
Remember what I said about those five aforementioned players. Fowler is now the director of recruiting and an assitant on staff for Furman basketball, while Mounce, Brown, Lyons and Brown were all present for one of the biggest wins in recent memory for Furman basketball as players on the court Friday night. And oh yeah Bob Richey, he’s now the head coach and he’s seen this turnaround from the worst of times of Furman basketball until some of the best of times. That’s right Richey was on staff when the Paladins won seven--count em on two hands seven--wins in a single-season in 2012-13. He would be the only coach retained by Medved upon his hiring.
How It Happened:
Richey is now the head man on staff of a team that has won 48 games since the start of that 2016-17 season, and 78 since the start of the 2014-15 season. Times are changing. Culture is changing every day for Furman basketball, much the same way it did for Porter Moser’s Loyola Chicago club over a short period of time under the young, energetic head coach.
It must seem as no coincidence that Rafferty, Mounce, Lyons and Brown all had roles to play Friday night, almost as if the 2016 win over UAB was a foreshadowing of how the events would unfold in the second game of the 2018-19 season. With time winding down, after all, it was Mounce who took the feed from Rafferty and flushed a one-handed tomahawk dunk off the left side with 1.6 seconds remaining to seal a special win for the Furman basketball program, and for the Southern Conference.
The past two seasons has seen the SoCon seal wins over a defending national champion (Wofford def. North Carolina 79-75 on Dec. 21, 2017) and now a Final Four participant from the preceding season (Furman def. Loyola Chicago 60-58 on Nov. 9, 2018).
It was also a homecoming for Rafferty. He hails from Hinsdale, Ill, which is a place he still remembered as being a star quarterback and basketball player. It was Rafferty’s pin-point feed--one of his four helpers on the night--that helped lead Mounce perfectly into his path for the one-handed game-winning stuff, which also landed on Sportcenter as the “Top Finish of the Night.”
Rafferty completed the night connecting on 7-of-16 shots from the field and was 4-for-5 from the line, accounting for his team-leading 18 points. Additionally, Rafferty added seven boards, two blocks and two steals to go with his point and assist totals.
Also adding double-figure scoring performances were Lyons (15 pts, 1 reb, 1 ast, 3 stls) and redshirt freshman Noah Gurley (11 pts, 6 rebs, 1 ast), while Brown and Mounce posted finished just out of double figures, providing key plays down the stretch. The super-athletic Mounce also added three blocks and seven boards, while Brown had a pair of steals, an assist and a rebound.
The trio of Mounce, Rafferty and Lyons scored the final 15 points of the game for the Paladins to turn a 15 points of the game to turn a 49-45 deficit with 5:07 remaining into a 60-58 win.
The Paladins trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half (42-29) after leading by as many as 15 (23-8) in the opening half of play. Furman jumped out with good early defense, which turned Rambler turnovers into points, and were aided by poor shooting and a pair of three-pointers from Lyons and Brown in opening 13 minutes of the game to produce a somewhat scoreline to the casual on-looker.
However, Furman would learn quickly why Moser’s club was able to make such a deep run in the college basketball postseason last March, and it started with Naismith Award candidate Clayton Custer, who scored 16 of his game-high 19 points in the opening half of play.
From the 7:08 minute mark of the opening half to the 13:08 mark of the second, the Ramblers rattled off a 34-6 run to take a 42-29 lead. Some might have thought Richey’s Paladins would fold, however, Furman would in fact pick up the pace over the final 13 minutes, stepping up the intensity on the defensive end of the floor, as well as hitting timely shots.
But down the stretch, it was Rafferty, who was playing in front of many family and friends, that will steal the night and facilitate the win for the Paladins. He scored seven points, added a pair of boards and the all-important assist over the final 4:31 of the game to help the Paladins escape with the memorable win.
Custer finished the night connecting on 8-of-14 shots from the field, including 2-for-6 from three-point range and was 1-of-2 from the line. He also added two boards, one assist and a pair steals. Custer was joined in double figures by Lucas Williamson, who added a double-double with 12 points and 11 boards. He also posted two steals, two blocks and an assist.
Senior guard Marques Townes closed out the Ramblers in double figures with 10 points, while senior post Cameron Krutwig just missed double figures with nine points and added seven boards.
Furman ended the night holding advantages in three-point field goal percentage (27.3% -15.0%), over field goal percentage (38.2%-37.0%), free throw percentage (70.6%-60.0%), second-chance points (8-6) and bench points (11-3). The Ramblers held slight advantages in rebounds (37-36), assists (10-9), fast-break points (13-8), and points in the paint (28-26).
After turning the ball over just three times in the season opener against Bob Jones, the Paladins committed 17 miscues this evening. The Ramblers turned it over only 14 times. Furman returns to Timmons Arena Tuesday night when it hosts Gardner-Webb, with tip-off set for 7 p.m.
Furman continues to come of age as a program, and even though 42 points of production were lost to graduation, Mounce’s emphatic finish to help capture the road win showed Richey and staff continue to cultivate a winning culture in Greenville.
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