Furman drops first home game of the season to Samford

Josh Sharkey scored 17 of his game-high tying 21 points in the first half, while also recording 12 assists for his second-straight double-double, as Samford posted a 75-73 Southern Conference win over Furman Saturday night at Timmons Arena.

With the win, Samford improved to 13-9 overall and 3-6 in the Southern Conference, while Furman fell to 16-5 overall and 5-4 in the Southern Conference. The Paladins have now dropped three out of their last four.

Furman held a 71-61 lead following a Matt Rafferty layup with 4:21 remaining, however, it would be the Paladins' final field goal of the game, as the Bulldogs closed on a 14-2 run to take the win. Key in the stretch run was the play of forward Robert Allen, who scored six of the 14 points on two crucial three-pointers, including hitting the game-winner with five seconds remaining from the right elbow. 

Furman inbounded the ball quickly to Jordan Lyons, but the ball slipped out of Lyons' hand when he tried to get off the potential game-winning three-pointer just beyond mid-court as time expired. Allen's game-winning three-pointer was set up by a Furman turnover, as the ball was inbounded to Lyons, but he his foot was on the line giving the ball over to Samford.

Only moments earlier, the Paladins had assumed a 73-70 lead with 21 seconds remaining following a pair of Matt Rafferty free throws following an intentional foul by Sharkey on Rafferty following a video review. 

Samford fouled Lyons immediately on the in-bounds pass, putting the junior guard at the free throw line for a 1-and-1. His first shot rimmed in-and-out, and the ball was rebounded by Brandon Austin, who found a streaking DeAndre Thomas streaking up the floor for a layup off the left side, cutting the Furman lead to one (73-72) with 14.2 seconds remaining.

Following a timeout, the Paladins had a chance to in-bound the ball, and Rafferty passed to Lyons, but his foot was on the inline, resulting in the Paladins' 15th turnover of the night. Samford would take advantage of the turnover on Allen's game-winning three-pointer with five seconds remaining.

Furman, which trailed 39-32 at the half, started the second half with some of their best basketball of the day, scoring six-straight points out of the locker room, capped by a double-pump slam dunk by Clay Mounce off a Samford turnover, cutting the Bulldogs' lead to one, at 39-38, and prompting a Scott Padgett timeout less than three minutes into the second half. 

An 8-3 run by Samford, which was highlighted by an Austin three-pointer and a Myron Gordon dunk stretched the Bulldogs' lead back to six, at 47-41, with 14:26 left. With 8:48 left, Furman would take its first lead since 2-0 when Rafferty was scored and was fouled, converting the three-point play the old-fashioned, as Furman took a 58-57 lead. 

The Paladins would eventually increase that lead to 10 (71-61) a little over four minutes later, however, the Paladins would see Samford respond down the stretch with a 14-2 run to win in dramatic fashion. 

In the opening half of play, Samford came out and took the game to the Paladins taking a 39-32 lead on the strength of those 17 first-half points from Sharkey. Furman point guards Alex Hunter and Tre Clark picked up three first-half fouls, disrupting the Paladins rhythm on offense, as well as severely affecting the ability to consistently defend Sharkey. 

"It hurt us, but that's on us. There weren't any schematic changes we made at halftime to our ball-screen coverages," Furman head coach Bob Richey said. "It's not what we do, it's how we do it. In the first half, we were just a half-step slow. We didn't have active hands and only had 10 deflections by halftime," he added.

For the game, Samford shot the ball at a 44.8% (26-of-58) and connected on 40% (10-of-25) from three-point range. Furman shot the ball at a 42.9% (27-of-63) and 25.8% (8-for-31) from three-point range. 

Furman hit its first five of six second half three-pointers to take a 63-57 following a Lyons triple with 7:59 remaining, prompting a Samford timeout and sending the 2,300 in attendance cheering on the Paladins into a frenzy. However, Furman would go on to miss its final nine three-pointers to close the game. 

Samford held advantages in points off turnovers (18-11) and bench points (8-5). Furman held advantages in points in the paint (38-30), second chance points (13-4), rebounds (39-31) and fast-break points (11-10). Furman turned the ball over 15 times, while Samford committed 13 miscues. The two teams had 17 assists apiece.

Sharkey, who was sensational in the overtime loss at Wofford Thursday night, scoring 19 points and dishing out a school-record 16 assists, was equally as outstanding against Furman. His 21 points came on 7-of-19 shooting from the field, which included going 1-for-6 from three-point range. 

He was joined in double figures by Allen, who had 14 points and nine boards, while Gordon and Austin chipped in with 12 points apiece.

Rafferty at it again for Furman, turning in yet another performance that have seemingly become expected of him this season for the Paladins. He finished with a game-high tying 21 points to go with nine rebounds, seven assists, and five steals. 

For the game, Rafferty connected on 7-of-14 from the field, including 0-for-1 from three-point range. Rafferty was one of four Paladins in double figures, as he was joined by Noah Gurley (15 pts), Mounce (13 pts), and despite being saddled with foul trouble most of the afternoon, Hunter chipped in 11 points.  Hunter also added six rebounds, four assists and had just one turnover in 31 minutes of floor action.

The game was a struggle offensively for junior guard Jordan Lyons, however, Furman head coach Bob Richey was quick to point out the job Lyons did defensively to get the Paladins back into the contest. Quite simply, Lyons put Furman in position to win the game with his performance on the defensive end of the floor. Lyons finished with eight points on 2-for-8 shooting from the field and 2-for-7 from three-point range. The Peachtree City, GA native also dished out three assists and had a steal. 

"We're not back in that game if Jordan doesn't come out and play the defense he played in the second half," Richey said. 

"We couldn't guard Sharkey in the first half. Nobody could. Jordan's intensity and his defense, along with Matt Rafferty and some other guys, that's what turned that game around."We didn't have the right collective mentality defensively tonight and that's on me, but he did and I was proud of him for that. There's a multitude of reasons why we didn't get this done."

Furman and Samford return to action Thursday night, with the Paladins heading to Charleston to face The Citadel at McAlister Field House to face the Bulldogs in a 7 p.m. contest, while Samford hosts East Tennessee State in a 7:30 p.m. EST contest at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham.