Furman 107, Samford 67
The Individual and Team Particulars
For the second time in three games, Furman had six players in double figures, and for the first time this season, eclipsed the century mark on a season-high 30 assists and tied a school-record against a Division I opponent for three-point field goals made, with 17, as the Paladins coasted to a 101-78 win over Samford in a midweek Southern Conference clash at Timmons Arena.
With the win, Furman improved to 16-5 and 6-2 in Southern Conference action, while Samford dropped its fifth in a row, and its record fell to 8-13 overall and 2-5 in league action. Furman improved to 59-11 at Timmons Arena since the start of the 2015-16 season, including 34-5 in SoCon games.
It was also Furman’s 60th win in the city of Greenville over that same duration, as the Paladins improved to 60-12 overall and 34-6 against SoCon foes. Furman is 1-1 at Bon Secours Wellness Arena this season, and will return for the final of three outings at the Well on Feb. 22 when it faces upstate rival Wofford.
The Paladins recorded 30 assists for the first time since a couple of years ago, when it recorded a school-record 31 assists in a 107-67 home win over The Citadel on Jan. 4, 2018, and the 17 three-pointers matched a school-record for number of three pointers in a game against a Division I opponent, which was last accomplished earlier this season in a win over Elon. The 30 assists Wednesday night were the second-most in program history.
As a team, Furman finished the night connecting on 53.5% (38-of-71) shots from the field, including 17-of-39 from three-point land. Meanwhile, Samford finished the night connecting on 48.2% (27-of-56) from the field, which included shooting 34.8% (8-of-23) from three-point land in the setback.
Furman finished the night holding advantages in assists (30-21), points in the paint (42-36), points off turnovers (22-12), bench scoring (24-12), blocks (5-4) and steals (10-7). Samford finished out the contest holding holding advantages in second-chance points (18-15), fast-break points (21-18), and total rebounds (35-33). Samford connected on 16-of-20 free throw attempts in the contest, converting 80% from the line, while the Paladins connected on 8-of-13 shots from the charity stripe
Leading Furman’s six players in double figures was senior guard Jordan Lyons, who after going 0-for-8 from the field for just five points last time out against Wofford, finished with 21 points on 7-for-13 shooting from the field, including going 6-for-12 from three-point range and was 1-for-2 from the line on two potential four-point plays to round out his scoring efforts. The Peachtree City, GA, native also added four rebounds, three assists and a steal to his overall game totals to round out another solid performance. Lyons needs just eight more three-pointers to surpass Eric Webb’s school-record 273-career triples established from 2003-07.
Lyons was joined in double figures by Noah Gurley (19 pts), Mike Bothwell (16 pts), Jalen Slawson (15 pts),Clay Mounce (11 pts) and Alex Hunter (11 pts). For Gurley, it was his 16th double-figure scoring game this season, including his fourth in a row, after leading the Paladins with 15 points last time out in the loss to Wofford. In addition to his 19 points, Gurley also added three assists, three rebounds, two steals and a block.
Samford finished with three players in double figures, with star senior point guard Josh Sharkey leading all scorers with 24 points, and just missed the second triple-double in the SoCon this season, adding 10 rebounds, nine assists and three steals to his overall worksheet. The Philadelphia, Pa, native finished the night connecting 6-of-16 shots from the floor, including 3-for-6 from three-point land, and was 9-for-12 from the free throw stripe.
Sharkey was joined in double digits by forward Jalen Dupree (23 pts) and Brandon Austin (13 pts). Dupree also added seven rebounds, three blocks and one steal in the loss.
Jordan Lyons’ Fast Start:
Furman took control of the game from the outset, as the Paladins were quicks to shake off any cobwebs that might have lingered in the aftermath of Friday night’s 66-52 loss at arch-rival Wofford, as the Paladins ran out to a quick 20-6 lead in the opening half following a Jalen Slawson three-pointer with 14:27 remaining in the opening frame.
Furman, which fell behind 2-0 following a pair of Jalen Dupree free throws, proceeded to go on an 18-4 run, which was fueled in large part by Jordan Lyons. Lyons scored all 12 of his team-leading points total in less than five minutes to open the game, as he connected on 4-for-5 from three-point range in the opening 4:18 of the game to get Furman out to a fast start.
The Paladins would never look back the rest of the way, increasing their lead to as much as 22 points, at 49-27, following one of four three-pointers on the night. The Paladins would eventually settle for a 49-30 halftime lead.
In the second half, the Paladins would grow their lead to as much as 31 points with 2:44 to play on a Ben Beeker layup, as the Paladins took a 99-68 lead. The Paladins closed out the game on a Tre Clark layup, giving the Paladins their first 100-point performance of the season.
Quotable:
Noah Gurley on Furman’s improved defensive performance from Friday night:
“Like Jordan [Lyons] said after the game Friday we had a meeting in here and just talked about what it takes to be us and the offensive side of that was ball movement…but it was also the defensive side…like turning people over…we do takeaways not giveaways…We just had to flip that so our coach really challenged us today on how many deflections can we get and how many active plays and how many flow plays can we get and I think the whole team kind of took that personally and you could feel that throughout the whole game and there was never really any drop-off from that.”
Coach Bob Richey on how Furman shared the basketball and ball movement vs. Samford
“It’s just really hard to guard ball movement…it really is…the dribble is much easier to guard than the pass and you gotta know when guys are cutting and know where guys are going to be and the way we play that’s just how it’s always been and I think that’s the first time we have scored 100 all year I think and I don’t even know if we got to 100 in even some our Division II games but I think to memory this is the first time we have scored 100…this is the first time we had 30 assists and to be honest with you it’s probably our best ball movement of the year.”
Full Press Conference:
What’s Next:
Furman will be on the road Saturday afternoon in the Low Country of South Carolina, when it faces arch-rival The Citadel (6-12, 0-7 SoCon) in Charleston in a tip-off time set for 1 p.m. inside McAlister Field House.
The meeting will mark the midway point of the Southern Conference basketball season for the Paladins, who will be playing their ninth game in an 18-game league slate. It will also be the renewal of Furman’s oldest most played basketball rival, as it will mark the 212th meeting between the Paladins and The Citadel on Saturday.
Furman’s holds a commanding 124-87 lead in the all-time rivalry, including having won six of the last seven in the rivalry. The Bulldogs will be looking to put an end to a seven-game losing skid Saturday after coming off of a 92-69 loss at Chattanooga Wednesday night.
Take-aways and Wednesday Night Recaps:
While East Tennessee State and UNC Greensboro won’t take the floor again until Saturday, it looks as if four teams are starting to separate themselves from the pack again—at least at this point—save maybe Chattanooga. Of those top four, Furman and Wofford were in action Wednesday night, with both getting double-digit wins.
Although the league from top to bottom is overall improved, the top four have only either gotten better or at least maintained a level of excellence they established in the magical season the league enjoyed in 2018-19.
It was predictable we’d see at least some drop-off from Wofford with its losses to graduation, transfer, and having to replace a head coach, it was only natural to see the Terriers take a step down from that 30-5, nationally-ranked team of a year ago.
The question is, how much closer to the other three did Wofford come? Well, so far the Terriers have looked like a team that will be in the mix for a Southern Conference regular-season and tournament title again this season.
Jay McAuley’s Terriers have a one-point loss at East Tennessee State (L, 48-49), a lopsided win over Furman (W, 66-52), and a double-overtime win over UNCG (W, 98-92). Wofford’s only other league loss also came in the Volunteer State, The Terriers were in action Wednesday night, hosting the VMI Keydets in a key league battle Saturday.
The Terriers took care of business once again, winning their 23 game in their last 24 on the home hardwood, including the 13th-straight win at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium, with a 64-52 win over VMI.
The win saw the Terriers improve to 13-6 overall and 5-2 in league action, while VMI fell to 6-15 and 1-7 in league play. After scoring just two points in last Friday’s big win over Furman, Messiah Jones showed us why he is considered one of the SoCon’s top freshmen this season, posting his first career double-double as a Terrier, with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and was one of four Terriers in double figures in the contest.
Nathan Hoover (14 pts), Tray Hollowell (12 pts) and Chevez Goodwin (10 pts) rounded out the Terriers in double figures.
Wofford’s defense was once again stout on its home floor, picking up where it left off Friday night in the win over Furman, holding the Keydets to just 35.2% from the field. The Terriers will return to action Saturday night with a key contest against Western Carolina, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. in Cullowhee.
Western Carolina (12-6, 4-3 SoCon), meanwhile, will be looking to rebound from a third-straight loss when it hosts the Terriers Saturday night. The Catamounts faced suddenly red-hot Mercer (9-11, 3-4 SoCon) in Macon, and after picking up a 79-71 win over the Bears just a little over a week ago, the Bears posted a third-straight league win, downing Western 85-79 at Hawkins Arena.
Western Carolina, Mercer and Chattanooga are indicative of how much the middle-of-the-pack teams have improved this season. It’s been a disappointing week for the Catamounts, who headed to Greenville to face Furman as the SoCon’s lone unbeaten last week.
After battling hard in what was an outstanding basketball game against the Paladins, Western suffered its first Southern Conference loss, dropping an 83-79 contest. Then, facing a talented East Tennessee State team is hard enough at home and with one of the league’s premier big men, in Carlos Dotson, but without him due to a lower body injury, it proved to be too much to handle, as the Bucs and Isaiah Tisdale’s 26 points and 10 boards saw ETSU emerge with an 85-66 road win.
Even having him back didn’t matter on the road Wednesday night against a Mercer team, which is playing some of the best basketball in the league. Serbia has been the kind of country that has produced great athletes in two major sports—soccer and hoops.
I am guessing that Djordje Dimitrejevic probably knows who Peja Stojakovic or the other Kings talented guard in more recent years—Bogdan Bogdanovic—are. I also bet he probably is familiar with names like Dragan Stojkovic and Dejan Stankovic are—two former greats from the former country of Yugoslavia—are. I am betting he probably has posters in his room of all four, however, while that might be debatable, one thing that is not is the native of Belgrade, Serbia can play some hoops.
He has now scored 23 or more points in four-straight games, as the reigning SoCon Player of the week posted 24 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the field and 3-of-7 from three. He was also a perfect 7-for-7 from the line. Jeff Gary joined Dimitrijevic in double figures with 20. Ethan Stair rounded out another s
Mercer heads to VMI for the Nexstar SoCon game of the Week Saturday to face VMI in a 1 p.m. clash at Cameron Hall.
Western was led by Mason Faulkner’s 23 points, while Dotson chipped in with his league-leading ninth double-double of the season with 22 points and 10 boards.
Not to be outdone, Chattanooga (13-7, 4-3 SoCon) continued to show that it just might be the team that can break in the SoCon’s top four hierarchy, as the Mocs posted a resounding 92-69 win over The Citadel (6-12, 0-7 SoCon) Wednesday night. The Mocs have won their last three average of 24.6 PPG, with their only loss at home to this point being a 73-66 loss to Furman. The midweek win over The Citadel was a nice bounce back for the Mocs, who were coming off a 72-52 loss at UNCG over the weekend.
The Mocs hope to find their rhythm on the road, heading to East Tennessee State Saturday which suddenly looks like a more intriguing game with the Mocs play in the first seven league games.
In the Wednesday night win over the Bulldogs, the Mocs showed another balanced performance, with five finishing in double figures. After leading by 12 points at the break, the Mocs broke open the game with what has seemingly become one of those signature halves the Mocs have seemed to have had of late at McKenzie Arena, opening the second half on a 16-2 run to increase a 12-point halftime lead to 26, at 68-42 following an A.J. Caldwell three with 16:09 left.
Vila was joined in double figures by Matt Ryan (12 pts), David Jean-Baptiste (12 pts), Stefan Kenic (11 pts) and AJ Caldwell (11 pts). While the Mocs shot the ball at a decent 45.6% clip in the second half, it was the defensive effort that head coach Lamont Paris’ club put together against The Citadel that was most impressive, holding the Bulldogs to just 26% shooting and just 29 points in the second half. Duggar Baucom’s Bulldogs had only one player finish in double figures, as Kaiden Rice led the way with 11 points.
Check back here Saturday for more updates around the SoCon.
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