Furman storms back to clip UT-Arlington in thriller

ELON, N.C.--Furman only led for 1:34 of the game, however, the Paladins gutted out a 58-57 win over Sun Belt Conference member UT-Arlington in the mainland portion of the Bad Boys Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis Wednesday afternoon at the Schar Center on the campus of Elon College.

With the win, Furman improved to 7-1 overall, while UT-Arlington fell to 3-4. The Paladins have now won 23 of their last 26 non-conference regular-season games, with the only losses coming on at No. 24 Tennessee (L, 66-61/Dec. 2017), at LSU (L, 75-57/Dec. 2018) and Alabama (L, 81-73) last week.

Mike Bothwell converted a three-point play the old-fashioned way with 3.8 seconds remaining, as he layed it in off the glass and was fouled, turning a 57-55 deficit into a 58-57 lead to give the Paladins their only lead of the second half and only their second lead of the entire game.

Bothwell’s winning play was set up by an offensive rebound by Clay Mounce off an Alex Hunter missed three-pointer, which prompted Furman to call a timeout with just under 11 seconds to play. Off the timeout, Furman tossed the inbounds pass into the backcourt, and Bothwell retrieved the ball, then proceeded to penetrate down the left side of the lane and put up a left-handed shot off the glass and drew contact. After UT-Arlington called timeout, Bothwell made the free throw and Furman called timeout to set up its defense.

Following the timeout, UT Arlington point guard Brian Warren crossed the time-stripe and passed it to TiAndre Jakcson-Young and his three-pointer from the corner, however, it bounced off the front of the rim as time expired, allowing the Paladins to come away with the hard-fought win. ‘

Mounce finised the game with his first double-double of the season, posting 14 points and grabbing 12 boards to lead the Paladins. Mounce connected on 6-of-14 shots from the field and was 1-for-6 from three-point range. Mounce also contributed three steals, a block and an assist.

Matching Mounce’s 14 points was Paladin senior guard Jordan Lyons, who posted 14 points on 4-of-11 shooting from the field, including going 4-for-9 from three-point land and was also 2-for-2 from the charity stripe to total his 14. In addition to matching Mounce’s team-high scoring total, Lyons also finished with four rebounds and a pair of assists.

Rounding out the Paladins in double figures were both Noah Gurley and Alex Hunter finished out the contest with 11 points apiece. Gurley posted his 11 points on 3-of-7 shooting from the field and was 1-for-1 from three-point land. He was also 4-for-5 from the charity stripe. Gurley also had a rebound and a block. Hunter connected on 4-of-9 shots from the field, including connecting on 3-for-8 from three-point range. Hunter also contributed four rebounds and dished out three assists and had only one turnover.

The Paladins trailed by as many as 13 points in the second half, as UT-Arlington’s Coleman Sparling gave the Mavericks a 42-29 lead with 16:47 remaining in the game. However, Furman finished the contest on a 29-15 run, with Mounce and Gurley posting nine points apiece in the second half. Furman, which committed 17 turnovers in the contest, took care of the basketball over the final 11:30 of the contest, posting only one miscue in that time frame.

Furman struggled shooting the basketball in the contest, connecting on just 39.2% (20-of-51) from the field, including connecting on 43.3% (13-of-30) from three-point range. The Mavericks finished the contest connecting on 43.4% (23-of-53) from the field, including going 38.5% (10-of-26) from three-point range in the contest. Furman finished the game shooting 69.2% (9-of-13) from the charity stripe, while the Mavericks connected on 87.5% (7-of-8) from the field.

UT-Arlington was led in scoring by a pair of players in double figures, with All-Sun Belt performer Brian Warren leading all scorers with 18 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field and 1-for-1 from three-point range. He was also 5-for-5 from the charity stripe. David Azore added 12 points for the Mavericks.

The Paladins posted advantages in second-chance points (10-5) and bench points (8-7), while UT-Arlington owned advantages in points in the paint (28-20), points off turnovers (20-14), and fast-break points (4-3).

Furman returns to action Monday night when it travels to South Florida. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.