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| Furman junior guard Jordan Lyons |
With the win, Furman improves to 18-5 overall and 7-4 in Southern Conference play, while Mercer falls to 8-15 overall and 3-8 in league action. The win marked Furman’s eighth true road win of the season.
After being held to just eight points last week in a loss to Samford, Lyons has scored 20 or more points in back-to-back to games for the first time all season.
Following his 20-point effort in a 71-61 win over The Citadel, Lyons posted 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field, including 4-for-10 from three-point land in the win.
Additionally, the Peach State native added a season-high four assists, two steals and a rebound playing in front of rowdy section of family and friends. All told, it was Lyons’ eighth game with 20 or more points this season.
Furman shot a season-high 57.8% from the field (26-of-45) and shot a blistering 50% (12-for-24) from three-point land. Meanwhile, defensively, the Paladins were stellar, holding the Bears to just 34.8% (24-of-69) from the field for the game, including just 20.8% (5-of-24) from three-point range in the win.
Lyons was joined in double figures by Clay Mounce and Matt Rafferty, who added 16 and 12 points, respectively. Mounce was an impressive 6-of-8 from the field, including 4-for-5 from three-point range, as the redshirt sophomore recorded his third-straight game in double figures. Mounce also added four rebounds and a block.
Rafferty, who spent most of the night saddled with foul trouble, made the most of his 27 minutes of court time. The senior from Hinsdale, Ill, did half of his work at the charity stripe, connecting on 6-of-7 from the free throw line and was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field. Additionally, Rafferty added eight rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal.
The Paladins were strong from the outset of the contest, assuming as much as a 15-point lead in the first, at 31-16, following a free throw by freshman forward Jalen Slawson with 4:55 remaining in the first half.
However, Mercer bounced back with a strong five minutes, finishing the half on an 11-3 run to go to the halftime locker room with all the momentum, following a Jaylen Stowe layup to make it a 34-27 contest with 25 seconds remaining in the opening frame, and that would remain the score at the intermission.
Mercer’s strong play would continue into the second half, as the Bears sliced the Furman lead to just one possession, at 43-40, following an Ethan Stair dunk that brought the crowd to its feet and prompted a Bob Rickey timeout with 14:11 remaining in the game. All told, Stair’s dunk was part of a 24-9 run from the Bears spanning two halves to get Mercer back into the game.
Off the timeout, Furman answered the bell to extend the lead back to eight following two Rafferty free throws, and a key three-pointer from Noah Gurley off a penetrate and kick out from Lyons, extending Furman’s lead back to eight, at 48-40, with 13:11 left.
It was perhaps the most crucial sixth second portion of the basketball game for Furman, and the Paladins’ response looked much more like what we witnessed early in the season in non-conference wins over Villanova and Loyola Chicago.
The Paladins were much more crisp on both ends of the floor, and were beginning to dictate the game defensively from this point forward in the second half.
“We have each others’ back," head coach Bob Richey said. “I mean that’s been the whole mantra of this team and that’s one thing I stressed to them about this weekend’s road swing. “
“I thought we got away last Saturday from playing for each other and this week it’s all been about ball movement and making sure I am helping others have success and defensively I’ve got my teammates back and offensively I am going to trust and move and that the ball’s going to come back to me and the ball’s going to find energy and that’s what we’ve done this weekend.”
“We’ve been committed that it starts with defense and we’ve gotten back in transition and we’ve had each others’ back in rotations and offensively we just moved it.”
Furman would see the Bears continue to hang around over the next few minutes, however, Mercer could never get back within a one possession basketball game the remainder of the game. Furman answered the bell each time.
Mercer had a chance to perhaps close the game on the Paladins with just under 8:30 remaining, following an Alex Hunter missed three-pointer and Furman holding a 56-49 lead.
However, a missed three-pointer by freshman forward Luke Hamilton was answered with a transition three-pointer from Andrew Brown on a nice find by Rafferty to put Furman back up by double digits, 59-49, with 8:02 left. Furman would grow that lead to as much as 17 points, at 66-49, over the next 3:16 of game clock following a Lyons triple with just under five minutes left.
All told, it was a crucial 10- 0 run for the Paladins, and that allowed Furman to close out the win in a tough environment with relative ease. The Bears were never able to close the gap inside double figures over the remaining five minutes.
“They [Furman] were really good and shot the ball extremely well. We got it down to three and missed scoring on our next four opportunities. They shot 58 percent and they do a really good job of executing their stuff,“ Mercer head coach Bob Hoffman said.
One positive that came out of the game for the Bears was the strong play of junior guard Ross Cummings, who finished the game with his 14th-straight double-figure scoring performance, posting 16 points, with 14 points coming in the opening half.
“He’s been amazing,“ Hoffman said of Cummings. “He probably plays too many minutes and we just can’t sub him because you never know when he might get open for a three."
“He’s playing at such a high level right now and our guys have done a tremendous job of running plays and getting nice stuff for him and we keep trying to experiement and figure out new things. He is a blessing to coach and we’re blessed to have him,” Hoffman added.
Cummings finished the contest scoring 16 points on 5-of-13 from the field, including going 3-for-10 from long range. He scored nine of the first 17 points for the Bears to open the game. Cummings also added five boards and an assist.
As good as Lyons was on the offensive end of the floor, it was his defense on Cummings, particularly in the second half, that ended up being a defining point in the Furman win.
“Cummings is a really good player,” Jordan Lyons said. “Once he gets going, he can be a problem.”
“The thing about guarding a prolific scorer like him is it’s never just a 1-on-1 matchup. It’s a whole team collective effort guarding. I think the way all five of us defended him in the second half was a big contributor to how we were able to extend the lead.”
Furman returns to the floor Thursday night, completing a three-game road trip with contest at the Ramsey Center against Western Carolina with tip-off set for 7:30 p.m. Mercer returns to action next Saturday when it hosts The Citadel in a 4 p.m. contest at Hawkins Arena.
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