 |
| Senior point guard Alex Hunter led Furman with a game-high 19 pts |
Senior guard Alex Hunter posted a game-high 19 points and dished out a team-high five assists, while junior forward Jalen Slawson added 14 points, six rebounds, a career-high five blocks and dished out three assists, as Furman posted a 68-49 win over UNC Greensboro Monday evening at Timmons Arena.
With the win, Furman bounced back from a loss to Wofford on Saturday evening, as the Paladins improved to 12-6 overall and 6-3 in Southern Conference play, while UNCG saw its seven-game winning streak snapped, as the Spartans fell to 13-6 overall and 8-3 in Southern Conference play.
Hunter finished the contest by connecting on 8-of-15 shots from the field, including going 3-for-8 from three-point range. Slawson finished the contest by making good on 5-of-6 shots from the field, and was a perfect 2-for-2 from three-point range.
The only other Paladin in double figures was junior guard Mike Bothwell, who finished with 12 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field and 2-for-2 from the charity stripe. The native of Cleveland Heights, OH, also posted four rebounds and a steal. Noah Gurley ended up leading the Paladins on the backboards, snagging 11 rebounds to go with his four points. It marked Gurley’s second-straight game with a double-figure rebound total.
These two teams will do battle once again on Wednesday, as it will be a second-straight nationally-televised game for both teams, as the two teams will do battle on ESPNU in a game slated for 5 p.m. EST at the Greensboro Coliseum, as the two teams picked to win the Southern Conference by both the coaches’ and media face off against each other for a second time in a 48-hour span.
The Paladins put together maybe their most complete performance of the season on both ends of the floor, holding the Spartans to just 29% (18-of-62) for the game, including just 11.1% (2-for-18) from three-point range in the contest. The 49 points scored by the Spartans match the lowest point total allowed against any opponent this season, which was also scored by Southern Wesleyan in an 89-49 Paladin victory.
The Spartans were able to get out to an early, 9-6, lead following a layup by reigning Southern Conference Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year Isaiah Miller. However, from that point forward, Furman took initiative and took the game to the Spartans. A 24-4 run by the Paladins, which was capped by a Hunter layup, gave the Paladins their largest lead of the opening half, at 30-13, and Furman would end up settling on a 36-24 halftime advantage.
Despite a pair of highlight reel plays from Miller—one of which came off a steal and slam—the Paladins were able to use a Bothwell layup and a three-pointer from Slawson to take a 41-30 lead into the first media timeout of the second half. That lead would grow to as much as 15, at 47-32, following a pair of Johnny Lawrence free throws, however, a Muhammad Abdulsalam layup on the other end and a travel whistled against Bothwell saw the margin 13, as the two teams headed for their respective sideline’s for the second media timeout of the second half with 11:41 remaining.
Furman increased its lead to its largest of the night, at 52-34, when Hunter canned a three from the left elbow with 9:16 remaining, prompting a Wes Miller timeout for the Spartans. A Hunter layup on the other end extended the lead to 20 with 8:51 remaining in the contest, giving the senior from Raleigh, N.C., 19 points in the contest. A pair of Jarrett Hensley foul shots got the Spartans to within 16, at 57-41, with just under five minutes remaining. However, that would be as close as the Spartans would get the rest of the contest.
The Paladins finished the contest holding advantages in points in the paint (34-30), total rebounds (46-31), second-chance points (11-6), bench points (26-12), points off turnovers (19-15), and assists (15-5). The Spartans held a slight edge in fast-break points (8-2).
UNCG finished with two players in double figures in the contest, as Miller led the way with 14 points on 7-of-18 shooting from the field, as well as posting a game-high six steals to increase his career total to 286-career thefts, as he continues to move up the SoCon ladder on that career ledger, as he now ranks third in league history in that career stat behind only former Appalachian State standout guard D.J. Thompson (293), and Keith “Mister” Jennings (334) of East Tennessee State.
The only other Spartan player in double figures in the contest was point guard and reigning SoCon co-Freshman of the Year Keyshaun Langley going 4-of-11 from the field and went 1-of-4 from three-point range.
Notes
--Furman improved to 71-12 at Timmons Arena since the start of the 2015-16 season...The Paladins also improved to 41-6 in SoCon games in the friendly confines over that same span
--The Paladins captured their second-straight win in the series over UNCG, as the Paladins were also 80-67 winners at the Greensboro Coliseum late last February
--The 49 points scored by UNCG was the second-lowest output of the season, with only Wofford, which held the Spartans to 45 points in a 48-45 win earlier this season being lower
--Senior point guard Alex Hunter registered his third-straight game in double figures, posting 16 points in a win at Western Carolina, 15 points in a loss to Wofford and 19 points vs. UNCG
--The win marked Furman's first of the season when being held under 70 pts.
--Furman held UNCG to its lowest field goal percentage (29.0%) of the season
--Over the past three games, Alex Hunter is shooting 51.4% (18-of-35) from the field, and is shooting 50% (12-of-24) from three-point range. He also has 16 assists/five turnovers in the last three games
--Jalen Slawson has posted eight of his 25 blocked shots this season in the past three outings.
--Noah Gurley has put together back-to-back double-figure rebounding games this season, posting 11 boards in each of the past two games
No comments:
Post a Comment