Downtown ‘Dins Soar Past Winthrop at The Well
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| Furman redshirt sophomore Noah Gurley |
Furman 80, Winthrop 73
When Bob Richey took over as the head coach in 2017-18, he had a big dream...Dreaming of bringing the enthusiasm back to Furman basketball that once saw the Paladins down the likes of Villanova, and nationally-ranked foes East Tennessee State and Davidson in hoops in its downtown home during a 38-year run of playing in the heart of Greenville.
The Paladins went to battle with a good Winthrop basketball team Saturday night in the Bon Secours Wellness Arena and came away with an impressive 80-73 win over Winthrop in front of its largest home crowd of the season—a crowd of 2,752, with an impressive student turnout for a campus located about seven miles away. The motto being—if you have a good product, they will show. Richey believes Furman does and he’s not wrong.
It was Furman’s first appearance in the artist formerly known as the BI-LO Center in 13 seasons and 12 years, with the last being on Feb. 19, 2007, when the Paladins dropped an 80-77 decision to College of Charleston. Tonight’s win snapped a four-game losing skid for the Paladins inside the facility, with the last win for Furman inside the BI-LO Center coming in a 68-54 victory over Georgia Southern in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference.
Though the opponent was on the level of a Villanova or a ranked ETSU or Davidson yet Saturday night, Winthrop is a well-known mid-major program, and all Pat Kelsey’s team had done was beat No. 18 Saint Mary’s on the road early in the season, and went toe-to-toe with then No.1 Duke earlier this season, dropping an 83-70 decision in Durham back on Nov. 29.
The Furman vision is eventually having teams like Villanova or North Carolina to come play the Paladins in front of big crowds at The Well—a big dream and an attainable one.
Winthrop came into the matchup with Furman winners of five-straight in the series, including handing the Paladins a 93-74 setback in the previous meeting between the two back in Dec. of 2017. That was Furman’s last regular-season home loss, as the Paladins have now won 16-straight non-conference home games since that defeat.
Furman’s high-wire act from the outset, with several highlight-reel dunks and thrilling blocked shots, and it was good basketball on both sides for most of the night. It was a big night for Furman’s Jordan Lyons, who has flourished as more of a complete basketball player this season.
Even when the perimeter shots haven’t fallen this season, Lyons, a senior from Peachtree City, GA, has found other ways to affect the basketball game.
On Saturday night, his shot was falling, especially in the opening half of scoring 21 of his game-high 26 points in the opening half of play alone. Lyons did an excellent job of being aggressive and getting to the free throw line. He finished the night going 10-for-13 from the field in the charity stripe.
All told, Lyons finished the night going 6-of-14 from the field, including going 4-for-8 from three-point range. In addition to what Lyons was able to do as a scorer Saturday night, he also added two assists, two rebounds and a steal.
In the opening half, Furman came out playing loose, focused and connected basketball. The Paladins ran out to an early 13-8 lead heading into the first media timeout of the contest.
Threes by Clay Mounce, Noah Gurley and Lyons, and an emphatic slam by Jalen Slawson and a block off the glass on what seemed to be a sure layup by Hunter Hale on the other end, helped set the tone of the contest from the outset, energizing a pro-Furman crowd that would stay engaged and loud for most of the night.
Winthrop stayed within striking distance early, with the largest margin of deficit being six points (22-16) following a Lyons three-pointer and free throw on a four-point play play at the 11:29 mark of the opening half of play.
That would be followed by an 8-0 flurry to give Winthrop its first lead of the contest on a two-handed flush by Josh Ferguson on a play which saw Gurley’s finger get caught between Ferguson’s hand and the rim, dislocating it. Gurley calmly showed the ref his finger and an injury timeout was called so Gurley could receive treatment. At the end of it, Winthrop held a 24-22 lead with 8:47 left in the opening half.
The two teams traded baskets over the next couple of minutes, with freshman forward Chase Claxton’s jumper tying the game 28-28 with 6:02 remaining in the opening frame.
Furman would control the remainder of the opening half, out-scoring the Eagles 18-5 for the remainder of the frame, using a staunch defense and a hot-shooting Lyons to take complete control of the basketball game. Twelve of those 18 points in that flurry to end the opening half by Furman came from Lyons.
In the second half, the Paladins continued to roll, playing off the energy of the crowd for much of the half. Like it had done to open the game, Furman brought those in attendance at Bon Secours Wellness Arena to their collective feet with early with more high-flying dunks, with Tre Clark’s jam giving Furman its largest lead of the night, at 55-37, heading into the first media timeout of the second half.
Furman’s largest lead of the game would be established by Gurley, whose jumper with 7:52 to play gave the Paladins a 19-point edge, at 72-53. However, the Paladins would score only one more field goal the rest of the way, as the Eagles closed the game on a 21-7 run to lose by a much more respectable score, dropping a seven-point decision, 80-73.
In addition to Lyons’ double-digit effort for the Paladins, Mounce continued his strong play to open the season and he put up Matt Rafferty-like numbers, posting 17 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, a block and a steal in one of the most complete performances of his career. The redshirt junior from Elkin, N.C., finished the contest connecting on 5-of-12 shots from the field and was 6-for-9 from the charity stripe.
Gurley rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Paladins by posting 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field, including going 1-of-3 from three-point land. Gurley narrowly missed a double-double with nine boards, while also contributing a block and and assist, however, accounted for seven of Furman’s 11 turnovers. Gurley also went 2-for-2 from the line. Gurley played a large majority of the game with two fingers taped together, yet still maintained his offensive efficiency.
Winthrop placed five in double figures, led by Hale’s 17 points. Hale had to work for his points, going 6-for-19 from the field and just 3-for-13 from three. Chase Claxton chipped in with 14 points, while leading scorer Josh Ferguson and Charles Faulden added 11 points apiece. Chandler Vauldrin rounded out the Eagles in double figures with 10 points.
Furman held advantages in points off turnovers (18-16) and assists (19-13), while Winthrop claimed advantages in bench scoring (41-8), points in the paint (34-32), rebounds (42-35) and points off turnovers (14-8). The Paladins finished an impressive 20-of-28 (71.4%) from the line.
Winthrop finished the game shooting 43.8% (28-of-64) from the field, while Furman finished shooting at a 43.3% (26-of-60) clip for the game. From the three-point arc, Furman finished the night connecting on 36.4% (8-of-22), while holding Winthrop to 28.6% (8-of-28). Winthrop came in leading the Big South and ranked 49th nationally in made three-pointers made per game, averaging 9.1 per outing.
Furman will have a nine-day break before opening up Southern Conference play on the road next Friday night. Tip-off for that contest is set for 7:30 p.m. at Hawkins Arena.
Saturday night’s win for the Paladins and the Weekends at the Well initiative by Director of Athletics Jason Donnelly was a major hit—at least so far. Furman offered an exciting brand of high-quality basketball to downtown Greenville. The next Weekend at the Well comes up on Saturday, Dec. 11, as the Paladins host SoCon power UNC Greensboro, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. Plan accordingly.
Takeaways and notes from Non-Conference Play:
—Furman finished non-conference play with a 10-3 mark and is now 22-4 over the past two seasons in non-conference games and 44-21 since the start of the 2015-16 season.
—Though it will be listed as a neutral site, Furman was the home team and improved to 58-11 in Greenville since the start of the 2015-16 season. The Paladins finished non-conference play 6-0 in home games and have now won 16-straight regular-season non-conference home games.
—Furman’s losses in the non-conference came against SEC members Alabama (73-81) and No. 14 Auburn (78-81), as well as on the road at South Florida (55-65). That’s losses to an NIT team, a Final Four team and a team that won the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) with four starters returning.
—Furman took down the reigning Big South champions (Gardner-Webb), a team projected to finish second in the Sun Belt (UT-Arlington) and the reigning Missouri Valley champions (Loyola-Chicago) in the non-conference.
Link to postgame press conference:
Around the Southern Conference:
It’s a good week of opportunities for the SoCon to get some marquee wins. UNCG and Wofford take on a pair of ACC foes Sunday, as Wofford travels to take on No. 17 North Carolina at Carmichael Gym with a 4 p.m. tip-off slated for the ACC Network. The Spartans will be at the Greensboro Coliseum for a 3 p.m. contest with NC State.
Just two years ago, the Spartans and Wofford knocked off that duo in a four-day span, with Wofford claiming a 79-75 win in Chapel Hill, while the Spartans were 81-76 victors in Raleigh.
ETSU will have a chance to claim an SEC scalp on Wednesday night, when the Bucs travel to LSU to face the Tigers at the Pete Maravich Center. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m. EST and will be televised by the SEC Network.
In fact, Dec. 18 might be the best night of games in terms of matchups for the SoCon in the entire non-conference schedule. Western Carolina will take on No. 23 Xavier at 6:30 p.m. on FS1, while Alabama will be at Samford at Legacy Arena in downtown Birmingham in a 7:30 p.m. EST tip-off. That game will be available on ESPN+.
In a battle of two great mid-major programs, UNCG will be at Vermont for a 7 p.m. contest on Wed night. That game is also available on ESPN+.
Wofford closes out the week next Thursday night at No. 13 Duke, with tip-off for that game scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPN2.
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