Furman got a career-high 23 points from senior point guard Alex Hunter, as three Paladins finished in double figures, allowing Furman to capture a 78-64 Southern Conference win over Samford Wednesday night at Timmons Arena.
With the win, Furman improved its overall record to 14-7 overall and 8-4 in Southern Conference play, while the Bulldogs, who dropped their fourth-straight, fell to 6-12 overall and 2-9 in league action. Wednesday night’s clash between the Paladins and Bulldogs will mark the only matchup of the season between the two SoCon foes.
Wednesday night was a wild night in the Southern Conference, and with Furman’s win, coupled with UNC Greensboro’s 88-77 loss at VMI, means the Paladins and Spartans are both now tied in the loss column of the Southern Conference standings. It was decided just last week that since an uneven amount of games will be played due to the COVID-19 pandemic that the SoCon champion being decided on winning percentage, with preferential treatment given to school’s that were able to complete their full 18-game league slate.
Hunter’s night was certainly indicative of the type of season he is having as a senior. The Raleigh, N.C., product scored 23 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field, which included a 7-for-9 shooting performance from beyond the arc. His 23 points eclipsed his career-best performance of 22 points established early in the season in a win over USC Upstate, while his seven three-pointers were enough to also set a new career standard, eclipsing his previous mark of five, which he had done three previous times, with the most recent coming in a loss to Wofford back on Feb. 6. Hunter had already tied that mark for a fourth time by halftime, as he went 5-for-6 from three-point land in the opening half of play.
Hunter’s 23-point performance in the win saw his strong shooting from beyond the arc continue during the month, as he has hit 46.1% (18-of-39) from three-point range in the month of February, which is slightly higher than his 39% shooting clip from beyond the arc for the season. In addition to his 23-point performance, he also posted six rebounds.
Following Wednesday night’s performance, Hunter sits at 197 three pointers and 918-career points, surpassing the 900-point plateau in the opening half on Wednesday night. With three more three pointers this season, Hunter would become the third player in the past four seasons to knock down 200 three-pointers in a career, joining both Devin Sibley (2017-18) and Jordan Lyons (2019-20). Hunter also added six rebounds and dished out a pair of assists in the win.
Also finishing with double-figure scoring efforts for the Paladins were Mike Bothwell (19 pts) and Noah Gurley (16 pts), who became the 47th player and the second this season, to eclipse the 1,000-point plateau for his career. Gurley, a junior, now has 1,014 points in his standout career for the Paladins. Bothwell added six assists, two steals and a block to an overall impressive stat line. Clay Mounce led the Paladins on the boards with eight boards.
Furman had an 11-8 lead at the first media timeout, however, were a bit sluggish in the middle portions of the opening half and saw the Bulldogs assume a 28-25 lead with a three-pointer from Logan Dye with 3:59 remaining in the opening half. However, Furman would finish the half on a flurry, using an 9-2 run, using three of Hunter’s seven three-pointers to take a 36-30 lead into the halftime break.
The Paladins would see that lead grow to 13 points early in the second half, at 45-32, following five-straight points from Bothwell and Hunter’s sixth three-pointer of the night, and a Garrett Hien free throw with 17:36 to play in the game, as the Paladins completed a 18-4 run, spanning two halves to open up a sizable, double-digit advantage, which it would maintain most of the remainder of the game.
Samford was only able to cut Furman’s lead inside double figures twice the rest of the way, with the latest being 59-50 on a Dye layup with just 9:09 remaining. But Furman would finish strong, extending its lead to as many as 18 points on a pair of free throws from Gurley with 3:06 remaining, as the Paladins assumed a 76-58 lead.
Furman finished the contest connecting on 51.7% (30-of-58) from the field, while holding the Bulldogs to just 43.9% (25-of-57) for the game. The Paladins knocked down 37.1% (13-of-35) from three-point range, while the Bulldogs were 33.3% (7-of-21) from beyond the arc in the loss.
The Paladins held advantages in points off turnovers (17-4), fast-break points (4-3) and assists (20-10), while the Bulldogs owned advantages in total rebounds (35-29), bench points (20-19), and second-chance points (13-8).
Samford ended the night with two players in double figures, with Dye scoring 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting from the field, including 1-of-2 from three-point range and 3-of-5 from the free throw line. Jaron Rille added 13 points for the Bulldogs to round out the double-figure scorers for Samford.
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