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| Storm Murphy hits game-winner/photo courtesy of Wofford Athletics |
Samford scored on a jumper by point guard Josh Sharkey, taking a 106-105 lead with four seconds left, however, the ball was quickly in-bounded to Murphy and he quickly dribbled into the forecourt, pulling up for a left elbow, fade-a-away jumper from about 17-feet as time expired, and the ball hit nothing but net as the buzzer sounded.
Murphy, who didn't even know if he would play due to illness, was a perfect 4-for-4 from the field and 3-for-3 from long range to finish with 11 points, and was one of five Terriers to reach double figures.
It was the second time in less than a week that Storm has rained on another league foe's potential upset aspirations, hitting a triple with 18 seconds remaining Saturday night in helping the Terriers to a 59-54 win over league arch-rival Furman inside the friendly confines of Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.
Murphy's jumper to win the game was only part of the drama in the contest, however, as the Terriers trailed by six (93-87) with 44 seconds remaining following a pair of Robert Allen foul shots. However, that set the stage for senior guard Fletcher Magee to shoot the Terriers back into the game.
Following a timeout, Wofford got its first of two triples to close out the game and send the game to overtime courtesy of Nathan Hoover, who made it a 93-90 following a wide-open three from the corner with 30 seconds left.
Following a Chevez Goodwin block on the other end on a driving layup attempt by Sharkey, Wofford had the chance to tie the game on the final possession. Magee and the Terriers made the most of it. The senior from Orlando found himself uncharacteristically wide open from the top of the key with eight seconds remaining, tying the game, 93-93, and ultimately sending the game ot overtime.
Wofford, which claimed its seventh-straight win, improved to 16-4 overall and a perfect 8-0 in the SoCon, while Samford dropped to 12-9 overall and 2-6 in league play.
Game Leaders:
--Samford's Josh Sharkey had quite the outing for the Bulldogs, completing the contest with 19 points and a school-record 16 assists. Brandon Austin scored a career-high 31 points for the Bulldogs. Robert Allen (19 pts), Ruben Guerrero (16 pts) and Myron Gordon (14 pts) closed out the Samford Bulldogs in double figures.
--Wofford was paced by a 31-point peformance from Fletcher Magee. Magee finished going 11-of-24 from the field and 7-for-19 from three-point range. He was also 2-for-2 from the line. Magee was one of five Terriers in double figures, as he was joined by Nathan Hoover (23 pts), Cameron Jackson (19 pts, 9 assists, 8 rebs), Keve Aluma (12 pts) and Storm Murphy (11 pts).
Dogging it from Three-point range.
Both Wofford and Samford combined to sizzle the nets at 55% from three-point range for the contest, connecting on 28-of-51 attempts. The Terriers finished the night knocking down 17-of-36 shots from long range, while the Bulldogs were 11-for-15 from three-point land.
Samford's struggles in Spartanburg:
Based on some recent heartbreakers in Spartanburg, it might be a good time for Scott Padgett to start checking under his hotel pillow for voodoo dolls. Samford has not come away from Spartanburg with a league win since 2012. Below are a look at some of the recent results. Who will ever forget that four-overtime game in 2017?
Samford vs. Wofford in Spartanburg since 2012
2012- (W) 66-61
2013- Did Not Play Wofford in Spartanburg
2014- (L) 77-58
2015- (L) 72-62
2016 - (L) 69-64
2017 - (L) 131-127 (4OT)
2018 - (L) 93-89
2019 - (L) 107-106 (OT)
Paladins Get Back To Winning Ways:
Furman had four players in double figures, including the 10th double-double of the season from Matt Rafferty, who finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds, as the Paladins picked up a 73-58 Southern Conference win over Chattanooga Thursday night at Timmons Arena.
With the win, the Paladins improved to 16-4 overall and 5-3 in Southern Conference play, while the Mocs fell to 10-11 overall and 5-3 in league action. Furman also remained perfect at home, improving to 10-0 on the home hardwood this season.
Furman is the lone unbeaten remaining on its home floor in the SoCon this season, and improved to 48-8 overall and 28-3 against SoCon foes since the start of the 2015-16 season. The win was also Furman's fourth-straight against Chattanooga.
Rafferty and fellow senior Andrew Brown enjoyed a milestone night, as the two now have 81 wins in their career at Furman, accounting for the winningest senior class in school history, surpassing the 1979-80 class, which compiled an 80-37 record over a four-year span. Rafferty and Brown have now compiled a mark of 81-42 record over their four years in the Purple and White.
"When you talk about Matt and Andrew those two are obsessed with 'whatever it takes to win a game' that's what I'm here to do," head coach Bob Richey said. "There's just a huge desire to compete and to win at all costs with whatever their role entails. It's all about 'we've got to win,' and they're going to be able to say nobody has ever won more games," Richey added.
Rafferty finished the night connecting on 7-of-11 shots from the field, including going 1-of-1 from long range, and also dished out six assists and recorded six steals.
Furman was led in scoring by junior guard Jordan Lyons, who finished with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field and 4-for-8 from three-point land. Lyons also dished out a pair of assists. He was joined in double figures by Alex Hunter and Noah Gurley, who added 12 and 10 points, respectively, for the Paladins.
The Paladins would take a 31-23 lead to halftime locker room after Furman broke open what had been previously been a close game late in the frame. Leading by five, at 22-17, with 9:21 remaining in the opening half, the Paladins used a 9-2 run over the next five minutes, taking a 31-19 lead on a Jalen Slawson triple.
"That's crazy. Ten minutes and to have four steals!," said senior forward Matt Rafferty on Slawson's performance. "We stat everything including ball deflections and he had a crazy amount of those today and I think he had eight in the first half which is phenomenal."
"He's probably had his best week of practice and he's been in the gym a lot more and something clicked and he's really focused now and we're all proud of him," Rafferty added.
Slawson's triple came in combination with one of his four steals on the other end, and he was was rewarded for running the floor, as Clay Mounce found Slawson on a perfect feed up the floor, and Slawson did the rest by scoring his only points of the night. All told, Slawson played 10 minutes, recorded four steals, a block and three points.
Chattanooga finished the half with the final four points, with the final bucket coming from Maurice Commander with three seconds to play in the half, providing the final eight point margin (31-23) as the two teams entered the halftime locker room.
In the second half, it looked as the Mocs might get back into the game following a four-point play by Thomas Smallwood, as the center hit a three from the top of the key and was fouled by Rafferty with 12:47 left, and following the free throw, Furman's lead had been cut to seven, at 47-40.
From there, however, Furman would stretch its lead back out to double-digits on buckets by Hunter and Gurley, pushing the Paladins' lead back to 11 with 11:47 remaining, at 51-40. The Mocs would cut the margin inside double digits three times the rest of the way, doing so for the final time on a jumper by Jerry Johnson Jr. with 6:17 remaining, making it a 63-54.
However, Furman would extend its lead back out to double digits taking its largest lead of the night at 15 points on a pair of Mounce foul shots, which gave the Paladins a 71-56 lead with 1:46 remaining.
Johnson Jr. ended up leading the Mocs and was the only Chattanooga player to finish the contest in double figures, posting 13 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field, including going 1-of-5 from three-point range.
All 13 of Johnson's points came in the second half. Kevin Easley, who was the reigning Southern Conference Player of the Week and averaged a team-leading 15.1 PPG coming into the contest, was held to just seven points on 2-of-8 shooting from the field, and 1-of-4 from three-point land.
The Paladins ended the night by holding advantages in shooting percentage (53.7%-40.0%), points off turnovers (15-5), second-chance points (10-9), fast-break points (7-0), and assists (17-10). Chattanooga claimed advantages in points in the paint (32-28) and bench points (19-10). The two teams each had 30 rebounds. Furman forced Chattanooga into 14 miscues, while the Mocs caused 11 Paladin mishaps.
The Paladins outscored Chattanooga 33-15 from the perimter. Furman shot 44% (11-of-25) from long range, while holding the Mocs to just 23.8% (5-of-21) from long range.
Records Watch:
With his performance Thursday night, Jordan Lyons now has 71 three-point field goals on the season. He needs just 19 more three-pointers this season to break Furman's single-season mark of 88 set by Anthony Thomas back in the 2001-02 season.
The Other Games:
UNC Greensboro held The Citadel, which had entered the game as the No. 1 scoring offense in the nation, averaging 92.1 PPG, to a season-low 60 points en route to an 83-60 win at the Greensboro Coliseum Thursday night. The Spartans were led by Kaleb Hunter's 21 points, and he posted 17 of those points in the opening half. UNCG improved to 18-3 overall and 7-1 in the SoCon, while The Citadel dropped its eighth-straight contest, falling to 9-10 overall and 1-7 in league play. The Bulldogs were led by Matt Frierson's 15 points, while Zane Najdawi added a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards.
Mercer made easy work of VMI Thursday night, posting an 88-68 SoCon win over the Keydets Thursday night at Hawkins Arena. Ross Cummings, Ethan Stair and Jaylen Stowe combined to score 58 of the Bears' 88 points in the win, with Cummings leading the way with 24 points, while Stair and Stowe added 18 and 17 points, respectively, in the win. VMI got 17 points from Bubba Parham to lead the way for Dan Earl's Keydets, while fellow backcourt mate Garrett Gilkeson chipped in with 15. The win saw Mercer improve to 8-12 overall and 3-5 in SoCon action, while VMI fell to 7-13 overall and 1-7 in the SoCon.
Power Rankings Following Thursday night:
1. Wofford (16-4, 8-0 SoCon)
2. UNCG (18-3, 7-1 SoCon)
3A. ETSU (16-5, 6-2 SoCon)
3B. Furman (16-4, 5-3 SoCon)
5. Chattanooga (10-11, 5-3 SoCon)
6. Mercer (8-12, 3-5 SoCon)
7. Samford (12-9 overall, 2-6 SoCon)
8. Western Carolina (5-16, 2-6 SoCon)
9. VMI (7-13, 1-7 SoCon)
10. The Citadel (9-10, 1-7 SoCon)
Saturday's slate:
VMI at The Citadel, 1 p.m.
Samford at Furman, 4:30 p.m.
Mercer at UNCG, 5 p.m.
East Tennessee State at Western Carolina, 7 p.m.
Chattanooga at Wofford, 7 p.m.
Paladins Get Back To Winning Ways:
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| Furman junior guard Jordan Lyons |
With the win, the Paladins improved to 16-4 overall and 5-3 in Southern Conference play, while the Mocs fell to 10-11 overall and 5-3 in league action. Furman also remained perfect at home, improving to 10-0 on the home hardwood this season.
Furman is the lone unbeaten remaining on its home floor in the SoCon this season, and improved to 48-8 overall and 28-3 against SoCon foes since the start of the 2015-16 season. The win was also Furman's fourth-straight against Chattanooga.
Rafferty and fellow senior Andrew Brown enjoyed a milestone night, as the two now have 81 wins in their career at Furman, accounting for the winningest senior class in school history, surpassing the 1979-80 class, which compiled an 80-37 record over a four-year span. Rafferty and Brown have now compiled a mark of 81-42 record over their four years in the Purple and White.
"When you talk about Matt and Andrew those two are obsessed with 'whatever it takes to win a game' that's what I'm here to do," head coach Bob Richey said. "There's just a huge desire to compete and to win at all costs with whatever their role entails. It's all about 'we've got to win,' and they're going to be able to say nobody has ever won more games," Richey added.
Rafferty finished the night connecting on 7-of-11 shots from the field, including going 1-of-1 from long range, and also dished out six assists and recorded six steals.
Furman was led in scoring by junior guard Jordan Lyons, who finished with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field and 4-for-8 from three-point land. Lyons also dished out a pair of assists. He was joined in double figures by Alex Hunter and Noah Gurley, who added 12 and 10 points, respectively, for the Paladins.
The Paladins would take a 31-23 lead to halftime locker room after Furman broke open what had been previously been a close game late in the frame. Leading by five, at 22-17, with 9:21 remaining in the opening half, the Paladins used a 9-2 run over the next five minutes, taking a 31-19 lead on a Jalen Slawson triple.
"That's crazy. Ten minutes and to have four steals!," said senior forward Matt Rafferty on Slawson's performance. "We stat everything including ball deflections and he had a crazy amount of those today and I think he had eight in the first half which is phenomenal."
"He's probably had his best week of practice and he's been in the gym a lot more and something clicked and he's really focused now and we're all proud of him," Rafferty added.
Slawson's triple came in combination with one of his four steals on the other end, and he was was rewarded for running the floor, as Clay Mounce found Slawson on a perfect feed up the floor, and Slawson did the rest by scoring his only points of the night. All told, Slawson played 10 minutes, recorded four steals, a block and three points.
Chattanooga finished the half with the final four points, with the final bucket coming from Maurice Commander with three seconds to play in the half, providing the final eight point margin (31-23) as the two teams entered the halftime locker room.
In the second half, it looked as the Mocs might get back into the game following a four-point play by Thomas Smallwood, as the center hit a three from the top of the key and was fouled by Rafferty with 12:47 left, and following the free throw, Furman's lead had been cut to seven, at 47-40.
From there, however, Furman would stretch its lead back out to double-digits on buckets by Hunter and Gurley, pushing the Paladins' lead back to 11 with 11:47 remaining, at 51-40. The Mocs would cut the margin inside double digits three times the rest of the way, doing so for the final time on a jumper by Jerry Johnson Jr. with 6:17 remaining, making it a 63-54.
However, Furman would extend its lead back out to double digits taking its largest lead of the night at 15 points on a pair of Mounce foul shots, which gave the Paladins a 71-56 lead with 1:46 remaining.
Johnson Jr. ended up leading the Mocs and was the only Chattanooga player to finish the contest in double figures, posting 13 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field, including going 1-of-5 from three-point range.
All 13 of Johnson's points came in the second half. Kevin Easley, who was the reigning Southern Conference Player of the Week and averaged a team-leading 15.1 PPG coming into the contest, was held to just seven points on 2-of-8 shooting from the field, and 1-of-4 from three-point land.
The Paladins ended the night by holding advantages in shooting percentage (53.7%-40.0%), points off turnovers (15-5), second-chance points (10-9), fast-break points (7-0), and assists (17-10). Chattanooga claimed advantages in points in the paint (32-28) and bench points (19-10). The two teams each had 30 rebounds. Furman forced Chattanooga into 14 miscues, while the Mocs caused 11 Paladin mishaps.
The Paladins outscored Chattanooga 33-15 from the perimter. Furman shot 44% (11-of-25) from long range, while holding the Mocs to just 23.8% (5-of-21) from long range.
Records Watch:
With his performance Thursday night, Jordan Lyons now has 71 three-point field goals on the season. He needs just 19 more three-pointers this season to break Furman's single-season mark of 88 set by Anthony Thomas back in the 2001-02 season.
The Other Games:
UNC Greensboro held The Citadel, which had entered the game as the No. 1 scoring offense in the nation, averaging 92.1 PPG, to a season-low 60 points en route to an 83-60 win at the Greensboro Coliseum Thursday night. The Spartans were led by Kaleb Hunter's 21 points, and he posted 17 of those points in the opening half. UNCG improved to 18-3 overall and 7-1 in the SoCon, while The Citadel dropped its eighth-straight contest, falling to 9-10 overall and 1-7 in league play. The Bulldogs were led by Matt Frierson's 15 points, while Zane Najdawi added a double-double with 12 points and 10 boards.
Mercer made easy work of VMI Thursday night, posting an 88-68 SoCon win over the Keydets Thursday night at Hawkins Arena. Ross Cummings, Ethan Stair and Jaylen Stowe combined to score 58 of the Bears' 88 points in the win, with Cummings leading the way with 24 points, while Stair and Stowe added 18 and 17 points, respectively, in the win. VMI got 17 points from Bubba Parham to lead the way for Dan Earl's Keydets, while fellow backcourt mate Garrett Gilkeson chipped in with 15. The win saw Mercer improve to 8-12 overall and 3-5 in SoCon action, while VMI fell to 7-13 overall and 1-7 in the SoCon.
Power Rankings Following Thursday night:
1. Wofford (16-4, 8-0 SoCon)
2. UNCG (18-3, 7-1 SoCon)
3A. ETSU (16-5, 6-2 SoCon)
3B. Furman (16-4, 5-3 SoCon)
5. Chattanooga (10-11, 5-3 SoCon)
6. Mercer (8-12, 3-5 SoCon)
7. Samford (12-9 overall, 2-6 SoCon)
8. Western Carolina (5-16, 2-6 SoCon)
9. VMI (7-13, 1-7 SoCon)
10. The Citadel (9-10, 1-7 SoCon)
Saturday's slate:
VMI at The Citadel, 1 p.m.
Samford at Furman, 4:30 p.m.
Mercer at UNCG, 5 p.m.
East Tennessee State at Western Carolina, 7 p.m.
Chattanooga at Wofford, 7 p.m.
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