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| Furman redshirt junior forward Noah Gurley and VMI sophomore center Jake Stephens |
The Particulars:
Furman’s 60th home win since the start of the 2015-16 season might have been its toughest to come by, however, when the final buzzer sounded following overtime Wednesday night, somehow it read FURMAN 74,VMI 72 in the centennial meeting between the two old Southern Conference rivals.
Furman’s 60th home win since the start of the 2015-16 season might have been its toughest to come by, however, when the final buzzer sounded following overtime Wednesday night, somehow it read FURMAN 74,VMI 72 in the centennial meeting between the two old Southern Conference rivals.
The Paladins are now 60-11 at Timmons Arena since the start of the 2015-16 campaign. The win also improved Furman to 9-0 at Timmons Arena this season. The Paladins improved to 66-34 in the all-time series. It was also Furman’s 10th-straight win in the series over VMI.
The Paladins, which held the lead for just 3:58 of the game and overtime, improved to 18-5 overall and 8-2 in Southern Conference play, while VMI fell to 6-17 overall and 1-9 in league play.
Furman’s win coupled with Mercer’s 71-55 win at East Tennessee State saw the Paladins finish the night a half-game ahead of both ETSU and UNC Greensboro in the loss column, who are tied at 7-2 in league play. The Bucs will host the Spartans in a 4 p.m contest Saturday at Freedom Hall in Johnson City.
The Paladins had one of their more difficult night’s shooting the basketball, especially from three-point land, knocking down just 3-of-25 from three-point range (12.0%) and managed a 44.3% (27-of-61) shooting clip for the game, while turning it over 14 times, which led to 13 VMI points. Furman shot the ball particularly well at the charity stripe in the win, connecting on 17-of-23 attempts (73.9%) for the game, including going 14-for-17 (82.3%) in the second half and in overtime.
The Keydets, which dropped their 10th game in their last 11 outings, also finished the game with a 44.3% (27-of-61) shooting clip, while connecting on 25.0% (7-of-28) from three-point land. The Keydets turned it over 17 times, which led to eight Furman points.
VMI finished the night with advantages in points off turnovers (13-8), total rebounds (39-36), second chance points (14-7), and bench scoring (30-11). Furman boasted advantages in assists (13-12), free throw attempts (23-16), points at the charity stripe (17-11), and points in the paint (44-30). Both teams registered seven steals.
Individually, Furman was led by Jordan Lyons, who was one of four Paladins in double figures, scoring 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and 2-for-8 shooting from the field. For the season, Lyons has totaled 66 points in two games against the Keydets this season on 19-of-30 shooting from the field and 12-of-20 shooting from three-point range. Additionally, Lyons added three steals, two blocks, two rebounds and two assists. Lyons also shot the ball well at the charity stripe, going 8-for-10 from the stripe.
Lyons was joined in double figures by Clay Mounce (14 pts), Noah Gurley (13 pts), and Mike Bothwell (10 pts). Jalen Slawson paced the Paladins on the boards and in assists, pulling down eight rebounds and dishing out three assists. Slawson also had a solid night offensively with seven points on 3-of-6 shooting from the field.
VMI had a pair of players finish the night with double-figure scoring efforts, led by Greg Parham’s 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and 3-for-8 shooting performance from beyond the arc. Parham also contributed two assists and a steal. The only other VMI player in double figures was Jake Stephens, who finished with 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field, including 4-of-9 shooting from the field and 1-of-3 shooting from long range and 3-of-4 from the charity stripe.
The Turning Point:
It looked like Furman was headed for its first loss of the season at Timmons Arena, and first loss since to VMI since Feb. 12, 2015, as guard Kamdyn Curfman headed to the line for two shots following a Tre Clark foul with 18 seconds left and VMI leading 61-59.
Curfman, a freshman guard from North Bethesda, MD, entered the contest as a 78% free throw shooter, which included an 81% shooter from the stripe in Southern Conference play, could get the Keydets a step closer to a win over Furman for the first time in nearly five years.
However, after stroking home the first foul shot with relative ease, he front-rimmed the second offering, leaving the Paladins a three-pointer away from tying the game, as Noah Gurley corralled the rebound and gave the ball to point guard Mike Bothwell who raced into the forecourt.
Stout defending nearly saw the Paladins turn the ball over, however, the ball found its way into the hands of Alex Hunter and then Jordan Lyons, who muscled through a VMI double-team at the top of the key and proceeded to double-clutch a three-pointer from the top of the key and it hit nothing but with 7.4 seconds remaining on a night when the Paladins had hit only two of its previous 22 attempts in the contest.
VMI called timeout, while the referees headed to the monitor to check the position of Lyons’ feet when he let go of the shot that had apparently tied the game, 62-62, and sent the 1,512 fans on-hand on Military Appreciation night into a frenzy. Moments later, the refs confirmed it was indeed a three-pointer, and VMI would hold for the final shot.
However, Furman’s defense was excellent when it needed to seemingly every time in the mid-week SoCon clash, as Gurley’s quick hands forced a deflection into the backcourt, and as precious seconds ticked away, it was the Furman defense that ultimately forced overtime.
In the extra session, VMI’s Jake Stephens made sure the Keydets got off to a fast start with a three-pointer from the right elbow. Furman was forced to respond to another big shot by the Keydets, as it seemed Bob Richey’s club was having to do the entire night.
Once again, Furman’s mental toughness, maturity and sheer “want to” shined through in a key moment. After Jalen Slawson missed a three from the top of the key, Noah Gurley went up strong and pulled down the offensive rebound, creating an immediate mismatch against VMI point guard Garrett Gilkeson.
The double team that VMI head coach Dan Earl had yelled for much of the night when Gurley got it deep in the post didn’t have time arrive, and the redshirt sophomore from Fayetteville, GA used one head-fake, went up strong, scored the layup and was fouled to bring the Paladins level once again after converting the three-point play the old-fashioned way with 3:24 left.
Furman then finally got a little luck on its side, as Stephens missed seemingly first big shot of the night on a missed three from the right corner, and Clay Mounce grabbed the rebound. His floater in the lane moments later gave Furman just its third lead of the night at 67-65 with 2:45 remaining.
After the Slawson’s defense in the post forced Keydets senior forward Tyler Creammer into a travel, it set the stage for the biggest moment in the game. Following missed shots ob both ends, Furman got the ball under the VMI basket. Just before the ball was inbounded Mounce came in and took the ball from Gurley to throw the pass and Gurley in-turn quickly tapped the ball back to Mounce like a give-and-go pass and Mounce converted the easy lay-up to give Furman its largest lead of the night, at 69-65, with 1:21 remaining.
The inbounds pass by Mounce had been a designed play the Paladins had worked on in practice, and it was called by Furman assistant Jeremy Growe, who came to Furman from Xavier this past summer.
“We're up two in overtime and (assistant) Coach (Jeremy) Growe looks at me and says, 'Do you trust me?,' and I said, 'Absolutely. Call whatever you want.' We've been working on that play with the little tip back. It can be a feast or famine play. If the tip doesn't go well, you can turn it over and they've got the ball in a two-point margin but Jeremy (Growe) was confident. I love the courageousness to make the call right there. It was a heck of a call and we executed it great. I get too much credit in this. We've got a big-time staff and they're a big reason why we're 18-5,” head coach Bob Richey said.
VMI kept fighting, however, and responded quickly on the other end with a layup by Greg Parham layup to trim Furman’s lead to, 69-67, with 50 seconds remaining.
Furman would trim nearly half that 50 seconds off the clock on the next possession before a Lyons jumper in the lane put the Paladins back up four with 27 seconds to play.
It took only seven seconds for the Keydets to trim the Paladin lead back to a bucket, at 71-69, following another Parham floating tear-drop jumper in transition with 16 seconds remaining. Gurley was immediately fouled by VMI freshman guard Travis Evee on the ensuing inbounds pass. Gurley went to the line and calmly knocked down both free throws to make it a 73-69 game with 11 seconds left.
Just a couple of seconds later Curfman knocked down a three as he was falling out of bounds to trim Furman’s lead to just a point, at 73-72, with nine seconds remaining. Four seconds later, Slawson was fouled by Curfman. He stepped to the line and missed the first and made the second to give the Paladins a 74-72 lead.
VMI would have one final attempt to tie or win the basketball game, however, the Paladins trapped Evee near the VMI sideline, which costs the Keydets precious seconds and the opportunity to tie or when the game without even getting a shot up. Furman held on for the dramatic 74-72 Southern Conference win.
Up Next:
Furman will have a week off before returning to the Timmons Arena hardwood when it will host red-hot Mercer in a mid-week test next Wednesday with tip-off slated for 7 p.m. VMI returns to action Saturday when it hosts Wofford at Cameron Hall, with tip-off set for 1 p.m.
Link to Bob Richey/Jordan Lyons Post-game Press Conference:
Wild Night of SoCon Hoops:
All 10 teams were in action in Wednesday night in the Southern Conference, with Furman being the only team to survive the final day of play in league play for the first month of 2020, which gives you an idea of how crazy the night actually was in the SoCon.
The events start in Johnson City and Cullowhee—two SoCon cities separated by about two hours—and both played hosts to wild basketball games on Jan. 29. In an absolutely huge game in Cullowhee, Western Carolina was looking to build off a big 81-72 win over Wofford last Saturday night when the Catamounts welcomed one of the league title favorites, in UNC Greensboro, to the Liston B. Ramsey Center for a mid-week test.
The Catamounts came out and played well in the opening half and dictated the pace of the game, taking a 40-39 lead on the strength of 53.8% shooting from the field. The up-tempo pace saw Western’s star big man Carlos Dotson score 12 of his 15 points in the opening half. Though Dotson picked up his league-leading 11th double-double of the season (15 pts, 10 rebs), the story was the adjustments the UNCG coaching staff, led by head coach Wes Miller, made at the half.
Spartan big man and all-conference center James Dickey led everyone on the glass, taking down 12 boards in the contest, as UNCG won the battle of the boards, 40-36. After getting out-rebounded 20-13 in the opening half of play, the Spartans owned the glass in the second half, forging a 27-16 advantage on the glass.
The Spartans played their game in the half, slowing the pace and getting the Catamounts into some uncomfortable situations with their defensive pressure. The Spartans forced 17 Catamount turnovers on 11 steals, and turned that into a 21-4 advantage in the points off turnovers category. Meanwhile, the Spartans turned the ball over just seven times in the contest, including just three times in the second half.
UNCG held the Catamounts to just 18 points in the second half, closing the game out on a 31-6 run over the final 13 minutes of the contest to close out the month in strong fashion with a fifth-straight win.
The Spartans got a combined 48 points from junior guard Isaiah Miller (23 pts) and senior forward Kyrin Galloway (15 pts), as the Spartans improved to 17-5 overall and 7-2 in league play. All told, the Spartans held the Catamounts to just 26.9% shooting and only six field goals in the second half. For the game, it averaged out to a 40.9% shooting clip for the night for the Catamounts.
Matt Halvorsen narrowly missed double figures in the contest, finishing with nine points, five rebounds and an assist, as the Catamounts fell to 13-7 overall and 5-4 in SoCon play.
Both teams will return to action Saturday with a couple of big league clashes. The Spartans will continue on the road, as they will be in Johnson City to take on East Tennessee State, with a winner gaining a share of the league lead alongside Furman, who has the afternoon off. ETSU claimed the first meeting in Greensboro, posting a 64-57 win in the Gate City. Tip-off is slated for 4 p.m. at Freedom Hall.
Western Carolina will be on the road at Chattanooga for a key clash against Chattanooga between a pair of teams tied at fifth in the league standings, with identical 5-4 league records. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. Saturday night in the Scenic City.
While the come-from-behind was quite impressive from Wes Miller’s UNCG Spartans, if you were to give a team-of-the-night award, it would probably most certainly have to give that award to Mercer for what they were able to pull off in Johnson City against league-leading East Tennessee State.
Since the start of the 2015-16 season, ETSU came into the clash with a 63-11 record at home, which included a 12-0 mark this season. Mercer had lost 10-straight to ETSU dating back to late February 2015, however, while Furman came back in overtime to top VMI, 74-72, Wednesday night, the Bucs weren’t so lucky, dropping a 71-55 contest.
It was the fifth-straight win for the Bears, who improved to 11-11 overall and 5-4 in league play under first-year head coach Greg Gary. ETSU saw its five-game winning streak snapped to fall to 18-4 overall and 7-2 in league action.
The Bears turned the tables on the Bucs, using a stout defensive performance to hold its second-lowest point total of the season and easily its worst shooting performance from long range, as the Bucs knocked down just three of 22 shots from three-point range (13.6%) and finished converting on just 36.7% (22-of-60) from the field.
While he didn’t record at least 22 points for a sixth-straight game, Djordje Dimitrijevic did once again lead the Bears in scoring, posting 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field and was 2-for-3 shooting from long range. Dimitrijevic was one of four players in double figures for the Bears.
Mercer, meanwhile, connected on 64.3% (27-of-42) from the field and 36.4% (4-of-11) from three-point land.
It ended up being a historically bad shooting night from long around the SoCon. Only Chattanooga, which hit 14 three-pointers in its 92-84 road win at Samford. The date Jan. 29, 2020 will be remembered for four of five road teams getting wins, and it showed the overall improvement of the SoCon as Furman head coach Bob Richey mentioned in his post-game press conference following the win over VMI. All told, teams shot 25.3% (65-of-257) from three-point range in Wednesday night's league action.
Team(s) of the Month: Furman (7-2), UNCG (6-2) and ETSU (6-2)
Player(s) of the Month: Djordje Dimitrijevic (Mercer) and Isaiah Miller (UNCG)
Performance of the Month: Jordan Lyons' 40 pts on 11-of-15 shooting from the field vs. VMI (Jan. 1, 2020)
Records in the Month of January:
1. Furman 7-2 (Losses vs UNCG and at Wofford)
2. UNCG 6-2 (Losses vs. ETSU and at Wofford)
3. ETSU 6-2 (Losses at Furman and vs. Mercer)
4. Wofford 6-3 (Losses at ETSU, at Western Carolina and at Chattanooga)
5. Chattanooga 5-3 (Losses vs. Furman, at ETSU, at UNCG)
T-5. Mercer 5-3 (Losses at UNCG, at Western Carolina and at Chattanooga)
7. Western Carolina 4-4 (Losses vs. UNCG, at Furman, vs UNCG and at Mercer)
8. Samford 2-7 (Losses at Chattanooga, vs Chattanooga, at Furman, vs. UNCG, at ETSU, vs. Mercer, vs. Wofford)
9. VMI 1-8 (Losses vs. Furman, at Furman, vs. Samford, at Mercer, vs. Mercer, at Wofford, at ETSU, vs Western Carolina)
10. The Citadel 0-8 (Losses at Samford, vs Western Carolina, vs. Furman, at Wofford, vs UNCG, at VMI, at Chattanooga, vs. Wofford)
Home Records in 2019-20:
1. East Tennessee State 12-1
2. Furman 10-1/9-0 at Timmons Arena and 1-1 at Bon Secours Wellness Arena
3. Wofford 9-1
4. Chattanooga 8-1
5. Western Carolina 8-2
6. UNCG 10-3
7. Mercer 6-4
8. Samford 6-5
9. VMI 5-6
10. The Citadel 3-7
Home Record For SoCon Elite Since Start of 2015-16 Season:
1. UNCG 66-14
2. ETSU 63-12
2. Furman 61-12 in Greenville and 60-11 at Timmons Arena
3. Wofford 58-11
The SoCon Power Rankings for January:
1. UNCG
2. Furman
T-2. ETSU
4. Wofford
5. Western Carolina
T-5. Chattanooga
T-5. Mercer
8. VMI
9. Samford
10. The Citadel
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