Recapping Furman’s win over North Greenville and a brief preview of ‘Weekends at the Well’

Furman redshirt sophomore forward Noah Gurley and redshirt junior forward Clay Mounce 

Sophomore point guard Mike Bothwell scored a career-high 25 points, and Furman won its final of three non-Division I games going away, downing North Greenville, 90-65, Wednesday night at Timmons Arena. 

With the win, Furman improved to 9-3 overall and will play its final non-conference game of the season when it plays its first of three in the “Weekends at the Well” series when the Paladins host Winthrop Saturday evening in a 6 p.m. tip-off at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena. 

The Paladins improved to 5-0 on their home court this season, including notching their 15th-straight regular-season non-conference win on the home hardwood. 

Bothwell posted his career-high 25 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, including going 6-for-8 from three-point range and was 3-for-4 from the charity stripe. Additionally, Bothwell also contributed four rebounds, an assist and a steal. 

Bothwell was one of four Paladins in double figures and was joined by Jordan Lyons (14 pts), Alex Hunter (11 pts) and Noah Gurley (11 pts) to round out the double-figures for the Paladins. 

Lyons connected on 5-of-8 shots from the field, including going 2-for-5 from three and knocked down both of his foul shot opportunities. He also had two assists, two rebounds and a steal. Clay Mounce, who finished with eight points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field, finished by leading the Paladins in assists with four, while Jalan Slawson narrowly missed a double-double, with nine points and a team-leading and career-high 10 rebounds.

Furman took control of the game from the outset, especially from the outside, connecting on 10 of its 15 three-pointers in the opening half to head to the halftime locker room with a comfortable 52-30 lead. 

Leading 14-10 following a North Greenville layup by Spencer Kirkpatrick, the Paladins closed the half on a 38-10 run, which was bookended by three-pointers, starting the run with a triple from a triple from Hunter and ending with one from Jaylon Pugh to stake the Paladins to the huge halftime lead. Bothwell’s 25 points helped Furman’s bench out-score North Greenville’s 40-14 in the contest. 

In the second half, and with the game having long been decided, Furman’s Rett Lister, who is the son of North Greenville head coach Chad Lister, played the final 3:57 of the contest. The freshman walk-on guard from Easley, S.C., maneuvered  through a couple of Crusader defenders and layed the ball in off the glass to bring the loudest roar from the modest crowd on-hand with 20 seconds remaining, giving the Paladins a 90-63 lead. 

Joe Conley’s layup on the other end would set the final score line, as Furman improved to 56-11 at Timmons Arena since the start of the 2015-16 season. The Paladins have now won 25 of its last 30 non-conference games and claimed their 21st win in their last 23 games on the home hardwood. 

The Crusaders were led in the scoring by Jalon Cokley, who paced three three North Greenville players in double figures by posting 16 points on 6-of-17 shooting from the field, including a 2-for-9 performance from three-point land, while connecting on both of his foul shot opportunities.Cokley also added three rebounds, two steals and an assist.

Rounding out the Crusaders in double figures were DJ Brooks (12 pts) and Joe Conley (11 pts). Conley’s seven rebounds led the Crusaders on the backboards. 

Furman finished the night connecting on 50.0% (34-of-68) of its shots from the field, including going 42.9% (15-of-35) from downtown, while shooting 58.3% (7-of-12) from the charity stripe.

The Paladins held the Crusaders to just 39.1% (25-of-64) from the field, including a meager 19.0% (4-of-21) shooting clip from the charity stripe. The Crusaders connected on 78.6% (11-of-14) shots from the line.

Additionally, Furman held advantages in assists (20-11), points in the paint (38-36), second chance points (13-11), points off turnovers (15-11), fast-break points (24-8) and bench scoring (40-14). Furman also blocked five shots and forced North Greenville into 13 turnovers, while committing only eight.

Quotable

Mike Bothwell on being more confident

“Just getting a lot of shots up...coach Richey just stressed getting more shots up every day during the off-season and to be in the gym and challenged us to see how much we wanted it and in basketball you got to be able to defend obviously, but it’s also about making shots too, and to make them when they count and that’s exactly what we like to do...We like to shoot threes and lets us shoot them when we have room, rhythm and range so that’s just what we do...We shoot a lot of threes and we have a lot of great shooters.”

Bob Richey on Noah Gurley’s improvement and patience

“The fun thing about Noah is it’s always fun as a coach when you can see people get better during the season. It’s very common to see players get better in the off-season and that’s something that we take a lot of pride in around here and to see people improve during the season is always fun.

“You think about earlier in the year when Loyola [Chicago] and a couple of other people started doubling him and just how confused he looked and you know what there was a text that went out after the Upstate game that coach [Tim] Johnson put in our staff chat and it was Noah Gurley saying when can we watch film right after he scored 29 points and that’s just how he is...He is obsessed with being the best.”

Bob Richey on Rett Lister’s Special Moment playing against his father for the first time:

"That whole thing was neat. I played for Chad and now Rett's playing for us. I played at North Greenville and Chad went to school here. There was a lot of commonalities out there tonight. That wasn't by the book to let him go [ drive to the basket] with the shot clock off, but I thought Chad would be alright with that as long as it was Rett.”

"Those guys [the walk-ons] don't get a lot of credit and their job is hard. ... There's no glory in it. ... Rett and Rob [Rett Lister and Robert Swanson] both played four minutes tonight and both scored. As a coach, that's pretty rewarding."

Bob Richey on Clay Mounce’s all-around to this point in the regular-season and him being ranked highly statistically in the SoCon’s overall individual stats:

“Clay right now and you look at the analytics right now and he’s producing in a lot of different ways and Clay, as I talked about many times during the off-season, really made an increased commitment to trying to complete his game and as a coach there’s a fine line right now as in terms of yes we all see progress...but for me sometimes I look out and I see what could he be...I still think there’s more and I know I can be a little crazy with that sometimes, but he’s 6-7 and he shoots it as well as anybody...He can put the ball in the net...He can post...He’s got a great ability to cut and to make decisions.” 

“I think that he can continue to be a dominant player in this league and I think there’s still strides for him to improve and I don’t want that to take away from what he’s done and I don’t want him to feel my push in terms of hey this guy’s always going to expect more, but he wants it and for him right now offensively...I mean yeah he’s scoring the ball and he’s doing what he’s got to do on the glass and we’re playing him at the three and that puts him positions to where he’s got to guard the bounce and he’s got to be able to guard penetration and once he decides that hey I am going to be a deflections guy and I am going to get my length out and use my athleticism a guy defensively...I mean you’re going to be talking about a player. He’s a great player now don’t get me wrong...He’s going to be an all-conference guy and he’s somebody I think...There’s no ceiling of where he can take his game.”

Next Up

Dec. 14, 2019–Winthrop (Bon Secours Wellness Arena/6 p.m.)

—Winthrop (4-6) is the last non-conference team to defeat Furman on its home floor/in Greenville during the regular-season, pulling off a 93-74 win on Nov. 29, 2017. Winthrop raised more than a few eyebrows earlier this season when it knocked off No. 18 St. Mary’s (61-59/Nov. 11, 2019) in Moraga, CA.

—Furman and Winthrop will be meeting for the 11th time, with the series all tied at five apiece. The Paladins have not claimed a win over the Eagles since the Butch Estes era, claiming a 74-68 overtime win at the Memorial Auditorium on Dec. 20, 1988.

Furman’s History at the Well (Artist formerly known as the BI-LO Center)

—Furman has lost its last four games at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena and are 5-6 all-time in the facility. Furman hasn’t won a regular-season game in the facility in two decades, and the last win came against Georgia Southern in the quarterfinal round of the Southern Conference Tournament in 2000, as a part of Furman’s magical run to the semifinals that season.

—Furman will be playing its first game at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena since it was known by its previous distinction—the BI-LO Center in of January of 2007, as the Paladins dropped a pair of games to College of Charleston (L,77-80/Feb. 28, 2007) and Davidson (L, 63-71) in former Furman head coach Jeff Jackson’s first season at the helm. Prior to that, you have to go all the way back to the 2001 Southern Conference Tournament. In the ‘01 SoCon Tournament, the Paladins lost on a Donald Payne layup at the buzzer, as the Houston Fancher-led Appalachian State Mountaineers claimed a 58-56 win over the Paladins in an opening round clash.

Furman's last regular season non-conference game at the downtown arena, was a 68-55 victory over Old Dominion took place on November 28, 1999, in the Southern Conference-Holiday Hoops Tournament. It was the last of three games in that tournament.

—In 2000, led by the likes of forward Karim Souchu and and star guards Anthony Thomas and Guillherme Da Luz, the Paladins made an unlikely run in the postseason tournament semifinals
before losing to eventual tournament champions Appalachian State. As the No. 6 seed (last place) in the SoCon’s South Division, Furman took down a Fran McCaffery-led No.  3 seed UNC Greensboro from SoCon’s North Division, 77-61, and then pulled off a shocking 68-64 victory the following day over the No. 2 seed out of the South Division—Georgia Southern. Furman’s luck would run out in the semifinals, however, against jet-quick point guard Tyson Patterson and North Division champion Appalachian State. Patterson helped the Mountaineers overcome a six-point deficit in the closing minutes to lift ASU to a 60-56 victory over the Paladins in the SoCon semifinals. The 5’7 point guard scored 12 of the final 14 Mountaineer points, and finished with a total of 28 to complete one of the most amazing individual performances in Southern Conference Tournament history. Appalachian State went on to a 68-56 win a day later against the College of Charleston in the SoCon Tournament title clash.

Furman all-time at Bon Secours Wellness Arena/BI-LO Center (5-6)

Dec. 12, 1998        vs. Duquesne                W, 83-78 (OT)

Dec. 26, 1998        vs. Clemson                L, 54-67

Nov. 26. 1999        vs. Ole Miss                L, 75-61*

Nov. 27, 1999        vs. South Carolina St            W, 77-58*

Nov. 28, 1999        vs. Old Dominion            W, 68-55*

Mar. 2, 2000        vs. UNC Greensboro            W, 77-61

Mar. 3, 2000        vs. Georgia Southern            W, 68-54

Mar. 4, 2000        vs. Appalachian State            L, 56-60

Mar. 1, 2001        vs. Appalachian State            L, 56-58

Jan. 7, 2007        vs. Davidson                L, 63-71

Feb. 28, 2007        vs. College of Charleston        L, 77-80

Italicized denotes Southern Conference Tournament games.

*-denotes Southern Conference Holiday Hoops Tournament