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| Furman redshirt sophomore Clay Mounce |
It was the biggest win by the Paladins in series history. Furman, which has not lost back-to-back home games since Feb. of 2015, was not interested in making it a home losing streak.
After all, the Paladins are now 49-9 at Timmons Arena since the start of the 2015-16 season, and 29-4 against SoCon foes in the friendly confines during that same span.
With the win, Furman improved to 20-5 overall and 9-4 in Southern Conference play. The loss drops ETSU to 19-7 overall and 9-4 in SoCon action. The Paladins and Bucs are now tied for third in the SoCon standings.
The win is Furman’s fourth-straight, and the Paladins became the fastest team to reach the 20-win mark since the 1952-53 season. The win helped avenge a 79-56 loss by the Paladins to the Bucs in Johnson City back on Dec. 29.
It all started with two seniors--Matt Rafferty and Andrew Brown--as the two roomates played like veterans all night, combining to score 36 points, and were two of five players in double figures Saturday night.
Rafferty finished the night doing what Rafferty does, as he finished with 19 points, three rebounds, dished out five assists and recorded three steals. With those three steals, Rafferty now has 67 this season, which set a new school single-season record at Furman, breaking the previous mark of 64 in a season set by Guillherme Da Luz in the 2001-02 season.
"When you’ve played for four years, it’s pretty easy to predict where the ball’s going to go or what plays are going to be run, especially if you start to know the systems,” senior forward Matt Rafferty said. “Getting hands on passes, rolls and post-ups, turning the ball over and getting out and running. I think it helps our team a lot.” The single-season steals record for Rafferty was indicative of the type of defense played the entire evening, coming up with 35 ball deflections--a stat the coaching staff charts meticulously.
Brown was simply on fire all afternoon,and connected on all six of his shots from the field and all five of his three-pointers, finishing with 17 points. Brown also recorded a steal.
Brown and Rafferty were joined in double figures by Clay Mounce (15 pts), Jordan Lyons (14 pts), and Alex Hunter (11 pts). Hunter continues to be the model of consistency at the point for the Paladins, as he dished out five assists and also recorded a pair of steals without registering a turnover in 30 minutes of floor time. All Lyons’ 14 points came in the second half.
"It was one of those nights where the ball just kept going in. It’s fun when that happens and it hasn’t happened a lot for me this year,” senior guard Andrew Brown said. “Credit to my teammates like Raff, who just kept finding me. Whenever I was open, the ball was in my hands.”
Furman rushed out of the gates quickly, as the Paladins returned to Timmons Arena for the first time since blowing a 10-point lead in the final 4:21 to drop a 75-73 decision to Samford. Three three-pointers by Mounce and a three-point play the old-fashioned way by Rafferty staked Furman to an early 12-4 lead with 16:13 remaining in the half.
The Bucs answered by scoring the next seven points in less than two minutes, cutting the Furman lead to one, using a Patrick Good three-pointer and a pair of layups by Jeromy Rodriguez to make it a 12-11 game with 14:35 remaining in the half. ETSU took its only lead of the game with 11:51 remaining in the first half on a layup by Tray Boyd.
Furman managed to take a 41-32 lead into the halftime locker room, despite the fact that Rafferty was saddled with two early fouls in the opening frame. Brown came off the bench to supplement Mounce and the Paladins’ first-half offense and perimeter scoring, posting 11 of his 17 points in the opening half of play.
In fact, Brown and Mounce combined to score 22 points of the Paladins’ 41 first-half points, as the duo combined to connect on 6-of-7 shots and from beyond the arc. The Paladins shot the ball at a 59.1% (14-of-27) clip in the opening half of play, while ETSU shot an impressive 51.9% (13-for-22) from the field.
ETSU would seemingly come out strong in the opening minutes of the second half, scoring the first four points of the second half, slicing Furman’s lead to five. A Boyd triple cut Furman’s lead to six once again (49-43) with 14:31 to go in the game, however, it was all Furman from there. The Paladins out-scored the Bucs 41-18 over the remainder of the game to provide the substantial winning margin.
Over the past seven games, the Paladins have allowed 70 or more points just once, which came in that aforementioned home loss vs. Samford, and are allowing just 60.2 PPG over that same span. The 61 points scored by the Bucs was their second-lowest total scoring output this season, as Illinois, which held the Bucs to 55, was the only game where ETSU was held to a lower point total over 40 minutes of basketball.
For the game, Furman shot a season-high 64% (32-for-50) from the field, while ETSU ended the contest connecting on 47.1% (24-for-51) from the field. The Paladins also held advantages in points in the paint (38-36), points off turnovers (27-18), fast break points (8-6), and bench points (23-22).
ETSU out-rebounded Furman, 26-23, and held a 15-8 advantage in second-chance points. The Paladins recorded 15 assists on 32 made baskets, while ETSU had just seven assists on 24 made buckets. Furman forced ETSU into 16 turnovers, while the Bucs forced the Paladins into 13 miscues. The Bucs connected on just 2-of-14 three-point attempts for the game, which converts to 14.3%.
ETSU was led by Rodriguez, who scored a game-high 21 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field. Tray Boyd was the only other ETSU player in double figures, finishing with 13 points.
"That was fun. Proud of our group. Proud of our team. Proud of our program and we’re playing as hard as we have played all year on the defensive end and they’ve just bought into it,” said head coach Bob Richey. “We obviously had to make some adjustments to the game plan after what they
[ETSU] did to us up in Johnson City and I thought we stuck to the game plan and all of our guys were connected for the most part,” Richey added.
Furman will be back in action Thursday night, welcoming UNC Greensboro to Timmons Arena for a 7 p.m. tip. ETSU is back in action Thursday, hosting The Citadel, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. at Freedom Hall.
After all, the Paladins are now 49-9 at Timmons Arena since the start of the 2015-16 season, and 29-4 against SoCon foes in the friendly confines during that same span.
With the win, Furman improved to 20-5 overall and 9-4 in Southern Conference play. The loss drops ETSU to 19-7 overall and 9-4 in SoCon action. The Paladins and Bucs are now tied for third in the SoCon standings.
The win is Furman’s fourth-straight, and the Paladins became the fastest team to reach the 20-win mark since the 1952-53 season. The win helped avenge a 79-56 loss by the Paladins to the Bucs in Johnson City back on Dec. 29.
It all started with two seniors--Matt Rafferty and Andrew Brown--as the two roomates played like veterans all night, combining to score 36 points, and were two of five players in double figures Saturday night.
Rafferty finished the night doing what Rafferty does, as he finished with 19 points, three rebounds, dished out five assists and recorded three steals. With those three steals, Rafferty now has 67 this season, which set a new school single-season record at Furman, breaking the previous mark of 64 in a season set by Guillherme Da Luz in the 2001-02 season.
"When you’ve played for four years, it’s pretty easy to predict where the ball’s going to go or what plays are going to be run, especially if you start to know the systems,” senior forward Matt Rafferty said. “Getting hands on passes, rolls and post-ups, turning the ball over and getting out and running. I think it helps our team a lot.” The single-season steals record for Rafferty was indicative of the type of defense played the entire evening, coming up with 35 ball deflections--a stat the coaching staff charts meticulously.
Brown was simply on fire all afternoon,and connected on all six of his shots from the field and all five of his three-pointers, finishing with 17 points. Brown also recorded a steal.
Brown and Rafferty were joined in double figures by Clay Mounce (15 pts), Jordan Lyons (14 pts), and Alex Hunter (11 pts). Hunter continues to be the model of consistency at the point for the Paladins, as he dished out five assists and also recorded a pair of steals without registering a turnover in 30 minutes of floor time. All Lyons’ 14 points came in the second half.
"It was one of those nights where the ball just kept going in. It’s fun when that happens and it hasn’t happened a lot for me this year,” senior guard Andrew Brown said. “Credit to my teammates like Raff, who just kept finding me. Whenever I was open, the ball was in my hands.”
Furman rushed out of the gates quickly, as the Paladins returned to Timmons Arena for the first time since blowing a 10-point lead in the final 4:21 to drop a 75-73 decision to Samford. Three three-pointers by Mounce and a three-point play the old-fashioned way by Rafferty staked Furman to an early 12-4 lead with 16:13 remaining in the half.
The Bucs answered by scoring the next seven points in less than two minutes, cutting the Furman lead to one, using a Patrick Good three-pointer and a pair of layups by Jeromy Rodriguez to make it a 12-11 game with 14:35 remaining in the half. ETSU took its only lead of the game with 11:51 remaining in the first half on a layup by Tray Boyd.
Furman managed to take a 41-32 lead into the halftime locker room, despite the fact that Rafferty was saddled with two early fouls in the opening frame. Brown came off the bench to supplement Mounce and the Paladins’ first-half offense and perimeter scoring, posting 11 of his 17 points in the opening half of play.
In fact, Brown and Mounce combined to score 22 points of the Paladins’ 41 first-half points, as the duo combined to connect on 6-of-7 shots and from beyond the arc. The Paladins shot the ball at a 59.1% (14-of-27) clip in the opening half of play, while ETSU shot an impressive 51.9% (13-for-22) from the field.
ETSU would seemingly come out strong in the opening minutes of the second half, scoring the first four points of the second half, slicing Furman’s lead to five. A Boyd triple cut Furman’s lead to six once again (49-43) with 14:31 to go in the game, however, it was all Furman from there. The Paladins out-scored the Bucs 41-18 over the remainder of the game to provide the substantial winning margin.
Over the past seven games, the Paladins have allowed 70 or more points just once, which came in that aforementioned home loss vs. Samford, and are allowing just 60.2 PPG over that same span. The 61 points scored by the Bucs was their second-lowest total scoring output this season, as Illinois, which held the Bucs to 55, was the only game where ETSU was held to a lower point total over 40 minutes of basketball.
For the game, Furman shot a season-high 64% (32-for-50) from the field, while ETSU ended the contest connecting on 47.1% (24-for-51) from the field. The Paladins also held advantages in points in the paint (38-36), points off turnovers (27-18), fast break points (8-6), and bench points (23-22).
ETSU out-rebounded Furman, 26-23, and held a 15-8 advantage in second-chance points. The Paladins recorded 15 assists on 32 made baskets, while ETSU had just seven assists on 24 made buckets. Furman forced ETSU into 16 turnovers, while the Bucs forced the Paladins into 13 miscues. The Bucs connected on just 2-of-14 three-point attempts for the game, which converts to 14.3%.
ETSU was led by Rodriguez, who scored a game-high 21 points on 10-of-12 shooting from the field. Tray Boyd was the only other ETSU player in double figures, finishing with 13 points.
"That was fun. Proud of our group. Proud of our team. Proud of our program and we’re playing as hard as we have played all year on the defensive end and they’ve just bought into it,” said head coach Bob Richey. “We obviously had to make some adjustments to the game plan after what they
Furman will be back in action Thursday night, welcoming UNC Greensboro to Timmons Arena for a 7 p.m. tip. ETSU is back in action Thursday, hosting The Citadel, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. at Freedom Hall.
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