Gurley leads Furman past Upstate

Noah Gurley scored a career-high 29 points and led Furman to an 84-72 win over USC Upstate Sunday afternoon at Timmons Arena.

With the win, Furman improved to 8-3 overall, while Upstate fell to 2-8.

The Spartans sliced the Furman lead to just a single point, at 72-71, with 2:40 remaining, as Cartier Jernigan connected on a right elbow jumper to make things interesting. It was part of an 8-0 run that made things too close for comfort in Furman’s only Sunday afternoon regular-season game in 2019-20.

However, Furman would respond when Clay Mounce knocked down a three-pointer from the top of the key to extend the Paladin lead back to two possessions (75-71) with 2:29 remaining. 

It would be part of a 12-1 run to close out the game for the Paladins, who would go on to win in convincing fashion. Gurley’s emphatic two-handed dunk with just under a minute left gave the Paladins an eight-point lead (79-71) and helped put an exclamation point on the victory. 

Furman took a 42-29 lead into the halftime locker room, shooting 56.7% (17-of-30) in the opening half, and Gurley posted 16 of his 29 points in the opening half of play. Furman got out to the double-digit first-half lead as a result of out-scoring the Spartans 15-5 in points off turnovers and 18-8 in the opening half of play.

Gurley scored his 29 points on 11-of-14 shooting from the field, including going 2-for-3 from three-point range. 

Additionally, Gurley also added five rebounds, a steal and an assist to his overall worksheet. Over the past three games, Gurley is shooting 59.1% from the field and averaging 23 PPG. In the past two games against Upstate and Auburn, Gurley has scored 50 points on 50% (19-of-38) from the field and over the past four outings, the redshirt sophomore from Fayetteville, GA is shooting 64% (7-of-11) from three-point range.

Gurley was joined in double figures by Mounce (16 pts), Jordan Lyons (15 pts) and Alex Hunter (11 pts). Mounce connected on 7-of-14 shots from the field, including going 2-for-5 from three-point range, while also adding three assists, two steals and two blocks. Lyons posted 12 of his 15 points in the second half, posting career-highs in assists (5) and steals (3). Hunter had three assists, and posted his seventh performance without turning the ball over this season.

Upstate was led in the game by Bryson Mozone, who led three Spartans in double figures, posting 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field, including going 6-for-8 from three-point land. Mozone also added three assists and a steal. Rounding out the Spartans in double figures were Tommy Bruner and Cartier Jernigan, who added 18 and 17 points, respectively.

Upstate finished the contest shooting a blistering 56.0% (28-of-50) for the game, while Furman finished the afternoon connecting on 51.7% (31-of-60) from the field. Furman held advantages in points in the paint (42-30), points off turnovers (17-9), assists (17-15), total rebounds (32-22) and second-chance points (12-2). Upstate held advantages in bench scoring (30-11) and fast-break points (8-0). Furman forced 15 turnovers, while committing just nine.

Furman returns to action Wednesday night when it hosts North Greenville in a tip-off slated for 7 p.m. at Timmons Arena.

Other Notes:
—Furman improved to 55-11 at Timmons Arena since the start of the 2015-16 season
—Furman is 24-5 in its last 29 regular-season non-conference games, with losses to Tennessee (L, 66-61), LSU (L, 75-57), Alabama (L, 81-73), Auburn (L, 81-78 OT) and South Florida (L, 65-55). Furman has won 14-straight non-conference home games.