Mike Both-'well' helped Furman save the best for last in its return to downtown basketball
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| Furman sophomore guard Mike Bothwell |
Furman 67, Wofford 66
Furman and Wofford went to the downtown facility affectionately referred to as The Well, and when the two teams emerged, the Paladins ended one losing streak and continued another, as they handed Terriers their fifth-straight setback, while ending a three-game skid to Wofford, with a 67-66 win Saturday afternoon in front of a season-high home crowd of 6,096 fans on-hand at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
The Paladins have become known as the "Downtown 'Dins"' since returning to their basketball roots. On Saturday, Greenville showed up for them when head coach Bob Richey's team needed them to the most battling its I-85 rival and defending Southern Conference champion Wofford. For much of the day, it felt like the Furman was staring a third-straight loss to Wofford squarely in the face. However, down the stretch, the crowd of 6,100 was enough to inject the kind of palpable electricity into a team to allow it to overcome and take down the rival in front of them. On Saturday, that's exactly what happened. I have been told that a loud, boisterous home crowd is worth a good 3-5 points in a close game at home. I would say that was evident to everyone who witnessed Saturday's rivalry contest at the Well.
With the win, Furman improved to 23-6 overall and 13-3 in the Southern Conference, while Wofford falls to 16-13 overall and 8-8 in league action. The win improved Furman to 2-1 at The Well this season and 64-12 and 38-6 in SoCon action when playing in Greenville since the start of the 2015-16 season. Overall, Furman improved to 113-52 and 64-24 in Southern Conference play over the same duration. The five-game losing skid by Wofford marks its longest such streak in conference play since losing six-straight to league foes back in the 2007-08 season.
It was probably of little surprise the script included a player with the word "well" in his name, and that the said player would have a significant impact on Saturday's outcome. Sophomore guard Mike Bothwell, who started his first game because of a scorebook snafu, came up big in the second half for the Paladins, scoring 15 of his 18 points on the night in the second half. He was one of three Paladins in double figures. The Paladins were playing a bit short-handed, as Tre Clark was sidelined with an apparent upper body injury suffered in the first half of the loss to East Tennessee State Wednesday night, and as a result it forced others to step on both the defensive end as well as on the glass in his absence.
The Paladins finished the night with shooting the ball at just a 40.7% (24-of-59) clip, including just a 20.8% (5-of-24) clip from three-point land. Wofford finished the contest connecting on 43.1% (25-of-58) shots from the field, while hitting on 28.1% (9-of-32) from three-point land in the contest. Furman connected on 73.7% (14-of-19) from the stripe, while Wofford connected on 70.0% (7-for-10) for the contest.
Furman held advantages in points in the paint (36-26), points off turnovers (20-4) and fast-break points (6-2). Wofford countered with advantages in total rebounds (38-33), assists (14-9), second-chance points (16-10), and bench points (8-3).
The Paladins made up for their disadvantages on the boards and in second-chance points by using 11 steals to create 14 Wofford turnovers, which led directly to 20 points. Meanwhile, the Paladins took excellent care of the basketball, turning it over only five teams, yielding just four points to Wofford. Furman committed only one turnover over the the final 21 minutes of game action.
Individually, Furman was paced by Noah Gurley’s 22 points, as he connected on 7-of-16 shots from the field and was a perfect 3-for-3 from three-point range. The redshirt sophomore from Fayetteville, GA, also was an impressive 5-for-6 from the charity stripe on the day. In addition, Gurley posted a team-leading seven rebounds, while recording two steals, a block and an assist.
Bothwell’s 18 points came on 8-of-13 shooting from the field and 1-of-4 from three-point range. The sophomore from Cleveland Heights, OH, also had three assists, two steals and two rebounds.
Furman senior guard Jordan Lyons rounded out the Paladins in double figures in the win, posting 10 points on 3-for-12 shooting from the field and was 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. In two games vs. Wofford this season, Lyons is a combined 0-for-15 from beyond the arc.
Much like Tre Clark’s performance against Chattanooga last Saturday in a five-point win at Timmons Arena, Furman sophomore forward Jalen Slawson populated the stats sheet in several different categories, which included a pair of emphatic slams to whip the crowd into a frenzy and helped build Furman’s second-half momentum. The native of Summerville, S.C., finished with nine points, five rebounds and three steals.
Though Furman junior point guard Alex Hunter failed to score, the Raleigh, N.C., put together a solid effort in the Paladins narrow win over its I-85 rival, as he collected five rebounds, recorded three steals and dished out two assists and did not turn the ball over in a team-high tying 38 minutes of work.
Like Furman, Wofford placed three in double figures, led by Storm Murphy’s 17 points, while Nathan Hoover and Chevez Goodwin had 15 apiece. Goodwin added a game-high 11 rebounds to complete his fifth double-double of the season.
Murphy, a junior point guard from Middleton, WI, finished the day 7-of-11 from the field and was 2-for-3 from three-point land, while going 1-for-1 from the line. He also dished out five assists and corralled three rebounds. Hoover’s shooting woes continued, as he was went 5-of-16 from the field and connected on just 3-of-11 from three-point range. Hoover scored 10 of his 15 points in the opening half.
The Turning Point:
Wofford took an took its largest lead of the day, at 47-36, less than a minute into the second half following a layup by Chevez Goodwin with 19:03 left, however, Furman responded with a 17-6 run, which was capped by a dunk from Jalen Slawson, tying the game, 43-43, with 12:46 left.
From that point, neither of the I-85 rivals held more than a four-point lead the rest of the way, as the two teams battled the rest of the way. A little over a minute later, Furman’s Mike Bothwell gave the Paladins a 47-45 lead with a layup in the lane as part of his 15-point second-half effort. Wofford responded with a 9-3 spurt, to take a 54-50 lead following a Nathan Hoover with 8:13 remaining.
Two minutes later and Wofford up three, Furman sophomore guard Jaylon Pugh made one of the biggest shots of the game, knotting the score, at 54-54, from the left elbow with 6:13 left bringing the crowd to its feet once again and raising the decibel level inside of downtown Greenville’s primary downtown arena. Wofford’s Tray Hollowell, however, would answered with a three to give Wofford the lead back, at 57-54, with just under six to play.
The Paladins didn’t fold, however, and stayed within one possession the rest of the way. With the game tied, 61-61, Jalen Slawson tipped a Wofford pass away, caught up with the ball in the forecourt and spun past a defender and went in for a one-handed tomahawk slam that brought the crowd to its feet, and gave Furman a 63-61 lead with 2:59 remaining. On Wofford’s ensuing possession, Bothwell came up with a steal and converted a layup to give Furman a four-point lead, 65-61, with 1:46 left, and it was the biggest lead the Paladins enjoyed all afternoon.
Wofford responded with five-straight to re-take the lead with just under a minute to play, with Storm Murphy responsible for all of those points. His triple with 57 seconds left gave Wofford a 66-65 lead. Furman head coach Bob Richey called timeout with 49 ticks on the clock. Following a pair of missed shots by Furman, which were both out of bounds off of Wofford, the Paladins had the ball out-of-bounds with 20 seconds remaining. Eight seconds later, Mike Bothwell pivoting layup gave the Paladins a 67-66 lead.
On Wofford’s final possession, sharp-shooter Nathan Hoover had a good look, however, the from about 30-feet out, but the ball hit the back iron and the buzzer sounded, helping the Paladins become just the fifth team to win 23 or more games the past four seasons.
The opening half of play saw the Terriers take a 33-26 lead into the locker room with the momentum on a 13-6 run to close the half and take a seven-point to the break. The Terriers were powered by 10 first-half points from Nathan Hoover. Noah Gurley led the Paladins with 13 points in the opening frame.
Turning ‘The Well’ into an idea
Furman’s experiment playing games in downtown Greenville for the first time since the 2006-07 season turned out to be a huge success, and the experiment worked. Hats off to Furman Director of Athletics Jason Donnelly for having the vision and foresight to capitalize on a window of opportunity.
The best was saved for last, as the Paladins played in front of a home crowd of 6,096 which is believed to be one of the largest home crowds to ever witness a Furman home basketball game.
Crowds for each of Furman’s first two games in the downtown facility in games against Winthrop and UNC Greensboro have been outstanding for the city of Greenville, with a crowd of nearly 5,000 on-hand to witness UNCG’s 86-73 win over Furman back on Jan. 19, with 4,643 fans piling in the arena to watch the Paladins and Spartans. That averages out to 4,826 fans per game.
It was evident today that Furman gained some walk-up fans looking for something to do on an early Saturday afternoon. It also helps that Furman has played some exciting basketball inside the arena this season, with a number of athletic dunks on display.
In Furman’s 80-73 win over Winthrop, a crowd of 3,740 fans witnessed what are currently two of the top mid-major programs in the state of South Carolina, as well in the southeastern region of the United States. Despite the fact that
In terms of a broader vision, the precedent has already been set for a potential tournament at the facility with a local flavor, and it’s one of the great sporting traditions of the Northeastern United States. The Tournament known as the ‘Philly Big 5’ Tournament played at the famous arena on the campus of one of the great mid-major basketball programs—the Penn Quakers—who play their home games at the Palestra.
For those of you that might not be familiar with the Philly 5 Tournament, which is also known as the Philadelphia Big 5 Tournament, is a tournament that started in 1955 and features the five programs within the city of Philadelphia—La Salle, Villanova, Temple, Saint Joseph’s. Below I posted a screenshot of the tournament’s website.
The Philly 5 is a tournament that hosts games at the Palestra throughout the each season, and is tallied at the end of the season. It features conference and non-conference games from teams in the city of Philadelphia that play against each other, and at season’s end, while no trophy is formally awarded, it’s a sense of pride throughout the city to say that you won the tournament. The aforementioned five programs are five of the top 50 winningest programs in college basketball history.
The tournament was originally the brainchild of Penn Director of Athletics Jerry Ford. The Sports Information Director at the time—Bob Paul—and Penn’s business manager at the time John Rossiter. On Nov. 23, 1954, the tournament was brought into the existence by Penn president, Dr. Gaylord Harnwell.
You might think there is no link to have such a tournament in the Upstate region of a football-crazed state and region like South Carolina, however, there actually is. Enter Furman Director of Athletics Jason Donnelly. Donnelly came to Furman from Villanova, where he served both on Jay Wright’s basketball staff as the Director of Basketball Operations initially back in 2005 before eventually working him self as an associate director of athletics.
While the venue and the basketball craze are certainly on a different level in the northeast than Bon Secours Wellness Arena and mid-major programs like Furman and Wofford, the idea is something I think should be given some serious consideration. This isn’t Clemson football or South Carolina football.
Furman’s way to capture Greenville and truly once again become Greenville’s team is do it through its basketball culture it is creating under third-year head coach Bob Richey.
With the win over Wofford Saturday, Richey improved to 71-25 at the helm of the Furman basketball program. The more significant note is perhaps that Furman joined with only a handful of teams that have won 23 or more games each of the past five seasons, and with two more this season, will tie a school record for victories in a season. The Paladins are chasing down a goal—to make it back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in four decades. If that should happen this year, it could well create a frenzied atmosphere and basketball fever.
Clemson is never going to be able to enjoy the kind of success within its own league as Furman can in the Southern Conference. On the same hand, Furman isn’t going to be able to compete with Greenville to win Clemson fans over during football season, but basketball is fair game for sure. Especially if Donnelly and his administrative staff can persuade Clemson to pay a visit to the Well for a tournament to play not only Furman, but perhaps Wofford, too.
A window of opportunity might not come around for a long time for programs like Furman and Wofford, or even the Southern Conference, and capitalizing on this moment has the potential the pay off big-time for both programs during the future. Being that Bon Secours Wellness Arena is an NCAA Tournament venue in 2020 for women’s basketball and 2022 for the men, it makes the venue especially attractive for a game between Furman and a school from a power seven conference within the region.
My proposal would to be use teams as close to the Upstate region as possible, including Furman, Wofford, Clemson, Winthrop and alternate Clemson and South Carolina each year. The possibilities to take this idea to a new level are there, and it’s just a matter of putting the idea into action. This is just a commentary on what I think, but I think it deserves some serious consideration. Furman has enough creative thinkers to make this happen.
Furman Record at The Well (6-8):
Dec. 26, 1998 vs. Clemson L, 57-64 First basketball game ever played at The Well
Nov. 26, 1999 vs. Ole Miss L, 61-75 SoCon Holiday Hoops Tournament
Nov. 27, 1999 vs. SC State W, 77-58 SoCon Holiday Hoops Tournament
Nov. 28, 1999 vs. Old Dominion W, 68-55 SoCon Holiday Hoops Tournament
Dec. 29, 1999 vs. Clemson L, 70-74
Mar. 2, 2000. vs. UNCG W, 77-61 Southern Conference Tournament
Mar. 3, 2000 vs. Georgia Southern W, 68-45 Southern Conference Tournament
Mar. 4, 2000 vs. Appalachian State L, 56-60 Southern Conference Tournament
Mar. 1, 2001 vs. Appalachian State L, 56-58 Southern Conference Tournament
Jan. 10, 2007 vs. Davidson L, 63-71
Feb. 19, 2007 vs. Coll. Of Charleston L, 77-80
Dec. 14, 2019 vs. Winthrop W, 80-73
Jan. 11, 2020 vs. UNCG L, 73-86
Feb. 22, 2020 vs. Wofford W, 67-66
Post-game press conference below:
A Look Back at Furman vs. Winthrop at The Well
introductory Press Conference by Furman Director of Athletics Jason Donnelly
Up Next:
Furman returns to action in another crucial game near the top of the standings, traveling to face a UNC Greensboro (23-6, 13-3 SoCon) team that is red-hot, having won six-straight. The Spartans have won six of the past seven matchups with the Paladins, including each of the past two. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum.
Wofford will be at home to celebrate senior night Wednesday night against league-leading East Tennessee State. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. at the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.
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