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| Furman senior guard Jordan Lyons scores 33 points to help Furman to 20th win |
Furman 82, Western Carolina 73
The Particulars:
CULLOWHEE, N.C.--Jordan Lyons scored 33 points, while Alex Hunter added a career-high 21 points, as Furman held off feisty Western Carolina, 82-73, at the in Southern Conference basketball action Saturday afternoon at the Ramsey Center.
With the win, Lyons became the winningest player in Furman basketball history, with 91 victories now in his career, as the Paladins posted their fourth-straight 20- win season in the win, improving to 20-5 overall and 10-2 in SoCon play. The loss saw Western Carolina drop to 15-8 overall and 7-5 in Southern Conference play. Furman has now won 110 games since the start of the 2015-16 season, and this was Furman’s fifth-straight win. It was Furman’s ninth-straight win over the Catamounts.
The Paladins and Catamounts played another classic. Furman finished the night connecting on 50.9% (27-of-53) from the field, while the Catamounts finished the night posting a 46.3% (25-of-54) shooting clip. The Catamounts were exceptional from three-point range in the contest, as the Catamounts were 14-of-29 (48.3%) from three-point range in the contest. Furman finished the afternoon connecting on 12 three-pointers, going 12-for-25 (48.0%) from downtown.
The Paladins held advantages in points in the paint (26-20), second-chance points (10-6), fast-break points (13-5), and bench scoring (6-5). The Catamounts won the battle of the boards (33-29) and had dished out more assists (15-12). Furman finished the afternoon going 16-of-25 (64.0%) from the charity stripe, while the Catamounts finished the contest 9-for-12 from the line. The 14 three-pointers surrendered by Furman are the most it has allowed this season.
Lyons’ 33 points came on 10-of-14 shooting from the field and 4-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc. Lyons was also an impressive 9-of-12 from the charity stripe. Hunter finished the night connecting on 7-of-11 the field and 5-of-7 from three-point land. He also connected on 2-of-2 from the line and had two assists and a steal. Noah Gurley rounded out the Paladins in double-figure scorers with 11.
The Catamounts finished the contest with two in double figures, led by senior forward Onno Steger’s 24 points, as he connected on 8-of-15 shots from the field, including 7-for-12 from three-point land. Steger also added four rebounds, m an assist and a steal.
Junior point guard Mason Faulkner rounded out the Catamounts in double figures, posting 22 points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal.
Western Carolina’s all-conference big man Carlos Dotson, who came into the game averaging 14.6 PPG and a league-leading 9.7 RPG, was held to just nine points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field and 3-for-4 from the charity stripe. He led the Catamounts with 12 boards and also had four assists.
Turning Point:
After two made foul shots by Mason Faulkner cut Furman’s lead to two, 73-71, with 2:16 left, the Paladins embarked on arguably their most important possession of the game. Jordan Lyons drew a foul cutting baseline to the basket and knocked down both free throws to push Furman’s lead back to four eight seconds later.
Following an Onno Steger missed three-pointer, Lyons would make what might have been the play of the game on the following possession, as his layup falling down spun in the basket while being fouled by Western Carolina’s Travion McCray made it a 78-71 after completing the three-point play the old fashioned way.
Furman’s defense was outstanding down the stretch in the basketball game, and the Paladins didn’t allow a made field goal by the Catamounts for the final 3:13 of the contest. Furman made four of its final six foul shots down the stretch to close out the season sweep of the Catamounts.
Quotable:
Jordan Lyons on becoming Furman’s all-time winningest player
“Becoming the winningest player in Furman history is more special than any honor, achievement, award or accomplishment that I could have. This program prides itself on winning and we pride ourselves on getting better every year and I have been really, really blessed to play with some great teammates in the past and currently and have had some really good coaches in the past and currently and that’s a big reason why this program is able to build. It will be a really fun record to hold for a year, and then watch Clay [Mounce], Tre [Clark] and Alex [Hunter] break it next season. I haven’t won a single one of these 91 wins by myself.”
Alex Hunter on his career-high 21-point effort vs. Western Carolina
“I would say during warmups I was really feeling good and I felt loose. I did my usual shooting routine and my shot felt good and then I saw the first two go in and my coaches and my teammates were telling me to keep being aggressive so I just kept at it.”
Alex Hunter on Colin Kenney seeing more playing time of late
“It’s helped us a lot having him in there. This past week coach kind of set in stone that Colin [Kenney] was going to be that eighth man and we also have Jaylon Pugh who is also capable of being that. He [Colin Kenney} just came in and gave some really good minutes on defense, and he also gives us another handler out there and like in presses and stuff like that he can bring it up. We see it everyday in practice. He’s got it so he’s helped us a lot and he’s helping us keep our legs fresh.”
Furman head coach Bob Richey on defending Carlos Dotson and Western Carolina’s offense as a whole
“They’re a lot to guard. It’s no accident that they are averaging 77 or 78 points a game and for us to hold them to five below their average on their home floor…I couldn’t be more proud of our team. You’ve got to make decisions in scouting and at the end of the day we felt like from what [Carlos] Dotson did to us in Greenville we figured they’d try to establish him early and we had to shrink the floor and we had to play through multiple efforts. We got burned a few times and [Mason] Faulkner hit the huge three late where we kind of went in there to get the ball out and we didn’t rotate over and he got an open three, but for the most part it’s Furman basketball. We’re going to fight for fronts and we’re going to shrink the floor and try and keep it out of the paint.”
Bob Richey on Jordan Lyons becoming the winningest player in Furman basketball history
“I’ll be honest sometimes we probably as a fanbase and as coaches we take it for granted because being around him everyday you just come to expect it, but Jordan [Lyons] is a special player but he’s also a special person. To see how his leadership has through his career, but also even through this season…since the last time we lost his leadership has gone to a whole different level and today during practice…during huddles…he’s just saying the right stuff and he just had that look about him tonight that said he just wasn’t going to lose and was going to the team on his back and I think guys jumped on his back. They have been playing ball around here for 101 years and he’s got the most wins in school history…I think that’s pretty big-time.”
Up Next:
Furman will stay on the road Wednesday night when it travels to Birmingham to face Samford for a 7 p.m. tip-off against the Bulldogs at the Pete Hanna Center. Furman won the earlier meeting between the two earlier this season, 101-78, back in late January.
Western Carolina returns to the floor Wednesday night, as the Catamounts will be on the road to face UNC Greensboro in a 7 p.m. game at the Greensboro Coliseum. The Spartans claimed a 72-58 win in Cullowhee a couple of weeks ago.
Stay tuned for my takeaways from Southern Conference basketball over the weekend coming up later this afternoon.
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