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| Furman redshirt sophomore wing Tre' Clark |
Furman 58, Chattanooga 53:
Furman continues to find different ways to win basketball games this season, and on Saturday night, it found yet another. On a night Furman went just 3-for-18 from three-point range, got a combined 11 points on 3-of-12 shooting from the field from senior guard Jordan Lyons and redshirt junior forward Clay Mounce, it would have been hard seeing the Paladins topping Chattanooga Saturday Night at Timmons Arena, however, that’s exactly what happened using a defensive effort headlined by Tre Clark that limited the Mocs to 30.4% shooting from the field en route to a 58-53 win over the Mocs.
With its seventh-straight win, Furman improved to 22-5 overall and remained tied with East Tennessee State atop the SoCon at 12-2 after the Bucs held off VMI, 72-67, in Lexington. Furman and East Tennessee State will meet in a monumental Southern Conference clash on Wednesday night that could very well could a long way in deciding the regular-season Southern Conference champion. The win also marked the seventh-straight win by the Paladins over Chattanooga in the 14 out of the last 17 at Timmons Arena. Chattanooga dropped to 16-11 overall and 7-7 in league action.
Furman remained a perfect 11-0 at Timmons Arena this season, and moved to 12-1 in games played in Greenville. Since the start of the 2015-16 season, Furman moved to 62-11 in games played inside its friendly on-campus facility and improved to 63-12 in games played in Greenville.
Clark turned in one of his best all-around efforts of his Paladin career in 24 minutes of action before fouling out with a little over six minutes left, contributing six points, nine rebounds, three steals and two assists. His presence on the floor Saturday was a clear difference maker.
As a team, the Paladins finished the night connecting on 40.4% (19-of-47), including an ice cold 16.7% (3-of-18) from three-point range, however, held Chattanooga to just 30.4% (17-of-56) shooting from the field and just 20.7% (6-for-29) shooting from three-point range.
For the first in 11 games, Furman won the battle of the boards, posting a slight 36-35 rebounding margin. Prior to Saturday night’s win, Furman had not won the battle of the boards since its early January win over East Tennessee State, when the Paladins out-rebounding the top rebounding in the SoCon, 41-28, en route to a 65-56 win inside the friendly confines.
The Paladins also held advantages in points in the paint (28-16), bench scoring (18-13), assists (12-11), and fast-break points (4-2). The Mocs managed to hold advantages in points off turnovers (8-4) and second-chance points (4-3). Furman committed 11 turnovers, while Chattanooga finished with 10. Furman finished the game connecting on 68.0% (17-of-25) of its foul shots, while the Mocs connected at a 92.9% (13-of-14) clip from the charity stripe.
While Clark was the clear difference-maker for the Paladins in a tough defensive battle in a major part of the 22nd win of the season off the bench, the Paladins placed also had some notable offensive performances, led by a solid all-around performance from Noah Gurley, who led three Paladins in double figures with 14 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field and 4-of-5 shooting from the charity stripe. The redshirt sophomore from Fayetteville, GA, also added six rebounds, a block and a steal in 30 minutes of action.
Jalen Slawson (13 pts) and Mike Bothwell (12 pts) rounded out the Paladins in double figures in the win. Slawson matched Gurley’s 5-for-10 shooting performance from the field and was 1-of-2 from three-point land and 2-for-4 from the stripe. Slawson added two rebounds a block to his overall totals.
Bothwell, who scored a career-high 27 points in Furman’s 73-66 win in the Scenic City back in early January, put in another strong effort against the Mocs in round two, helping the Paladins complete the season sweep. The sophomore guard from Cleveland Heights, OH, finished the game going 3-of-9 from the field and 1-of-4 beyond the arc. He connected on 5-of-6 free throws, and tied junior point guard with a team-leading four assists. Mounce was one off Clark’s game-high rebounding total, securing eight boards.
Chattanooga got a game-high 20 points from Vanderbilt graduate transfer Matt Ryan, as he did most of his damage from the line, knocking 10-of-11 from the line. Ryan was 4-of-13 from the field and finished going 2-for-9 from three-point range. His 14 rebounds helped him to his first double-double of the season.
Ryan was the only Mocs player in double figures on a day when points were at a premium for both teams. Ryan’s front court mate, Ramon Vila, who came into the game with 10-straight double-figure scoring performances, was held to eight points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field.
The Turning Point:
Much like Furman’s recent home win against VMI, the Paladins got off to a slow start inside the friendly confines when Chattanooga’s Matt Ryan swished home a triple with 13:25 remaining in the opening half to give the Mocs a 13-4 lead and prompt a Furman timeout.
With shots not falling, the Paladins settled into the game with strong defense, holding the Mocs to just two field goals for the remainder of the frame and ran off a 20-5 run to finish the half and take a 24-18 lead into the halftime locker room. The Paladins would take their first of the game with just under two minutes remaining in the half on a layup by Jordan Lyons, giving the Paladins a 19-18 lead with 1:54 left in the opening frame. It would be a lead the Paladins would never relinquish.
In the second half, Chattanooga would play tough down stretch, making things interesting and cut Furman’s lead to as few as four points on three occasions, with the last coming following a Matt Ryan layup with nine seconds remaining, as the grad transfer trimmed Furman’s lead to 57-53. Mounce was fouled immediately with eight seconds left. He hit 1-of-2 from the line to help the Paladins close out the five-point win.
Link to Post-game Press Conference:
Up Next:
Furman will travel to East Tennessee State Wednesday night in a game that will feature the two top teams in the Southern Conference when the two tip things off at Freedom Hall at 7 p.m.
Chattanooga will be in action Wednesday night when it heads to The Citadel for a 7 p.m. contest with The Citadel at McAlister Field House.
Stay tuned to news and notes from around the league coming up later this afternoon.
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