Upstart sixth-seeded VMI moves past No. 3 Furman in upset-minded side of SoCon bracket

 In a season of weirdness, the media’s SoCon preseason favorite and tournament No. 3 seed Furman saw its season come to a weird end with a 91-90 overtime loss to No. 6 VMI in the final Southern Conference quarterfinal Saturday night at the  Harrah’s Cherokee Center.

The Keydets were led by a stellar night from junior forward Jake Stephens, who led five Keydets in double figures with 25 points, nine rebounds and three blocks, as VMI moved on to the Southern Conference semifinals for the first time since 2003.

The Keydets haven’t gone dancing since 1977. Furman’s drought continues at least one more season, dating back to 1980.

Furman ends its 2020-21 season with a 16-9 overall, while VMI improved to 13-11 and will meet No. 7 Mercer in the second semifinal game on Sunday evening, slated to tip at approximately 7:30 p.m.

The Paladins held a 71-56 lead over the Keydets following a Noah Gurley jumper in the lane, which accounted for two of his game-high and career-high 30 points in the contest, and it seemed as if Furman was coasting into a semifinal date with Mercer on Sunday night.

However, VMI, which had seen two games with Furman, which were canceled due to positive tests within the Keydets program and claimed the lone meeting between the two during the regular-season, with a 74-73 win in Lexington back in early January to hand Furman its first SoCon loss of the pandemic-shortened season, would also hand Furman its final loss of the campaign in an even more heartbreaking fashion.

Following Gurley’s bucket, which had matched the  Paladins its largest lead of the night at 15 points, the Keydets would close out the game on a 24-9 run to force overtime, with the game tied, 80-80. A Jake Stephens three-pointer with 33 seconds remaining, which tied the contest, 80-80.

Following a Gurley miss in the paint, the Keydets had a chance to win it at the buzzer, but senior guard Greg Parham, who was a first-team all-conference selection, scored 17 of his 21 points in the second half and in overtime to lead the Keydets to the memorable come-from-behind win.

In overtime, VMI’s Myles Lewis and Furman’s Mike Bothwell traded baskets, tying the game, 82-82, and then back-to-back buckets from Lewis, including one of a steal and breakaway layup gave VMI an 86-82 lead with 2:43 left.

 Following a Jaylon Pugh missed jumper, the Keydets extended their lead back to six, at 88-82, following a Parham short jumper in the paint with 1:46 left.

The Paladins answered with an Alex Hunter three-pointer, cutting the VMI lead to 88-85 with 1:34 left. On VMI’s ensuing possession, Gurley picked up his first foul of the night, sending Parham to the line for a 1-and-1 with 1:10 left. Parham calmly made both free throws, extending VMI’s lead back to five, at 90-85.

With just under a minute remaining, Clay Mounce connected on a three from the right elbow, bringing the Paladins back to within a bucket, at 90-88.

Parham missed a shot on the other end, however, the ball wedged in-between the rim and glass, forcing a jump ball with 31 seconds remaining, and the alternating possession arrow gave the ball back to the Keydets following the dead ball rebound.

After Parham missed another shot in the paint, Lewis came up with a huge offensive rebound but also missed, and Jalen Slawson cleared the rebound for the Paladins and with nine seconds left, Furman called a 30-second timeout to set up a play.

Following the timeout, Bothwell dribbled strong to the basket, but stumbled as he cut down the lane, losing control of the ball prior to getting a comfortable shot in the air, and the ball went out of bounds to VMI, as bodies tumbled to the floor with 3.3 seconds left, and Furman’s Mounce picked up his fifth foul with 1.2 seconds remaining, sending Stephens to the line. Stephens knocked down the second of two free throws to make it a 91-88 game.

On the ensuing inbounds pass, Pugh heaved a long pass to the other end of the floor to Gurley, whose 17-foot jumper from just right of the line was good as time expired, leaving the Paladins a point short, with a 91-90 loss. It was strangely similar to how Furman dropped its one-point decision to UNC Greensboro in the 2010 SoCon Tournament to UNC Greensboro, which saw Amu Saaka slam one home as time expired, as Furman dropped a one-point contest, 66-65, at Bojangles Arena in Charlotte.

Gurley’s career night comes in a flurry to end the season for the redshirt junior forward, as he posted his fourth-straight game of 20 or more points to close the season for the Paladins. The Fayetteville, GA., product finished the night connecting on 11-of-21 from the field, including 3-of-6 from three-point range and was a perfect 5-for-5 from the line.

 Additionally, Gurley added seven rebounds, seven steals and an assists to his career night as a Paladin. It was Gurley’s fifth-straight game in double figures to close the regular-season. Gurley’s seven assists in the loss were a career-high.

Over the final two games of the season, Gurley connected on 22-of-43 shots from the field (51.1%), including 7-of-14 from three-point range (50%), averaging 29.5 PPG over the final two games.

 In his final six games, Gurley averaged 22.6 PPG, 7.3 RPG, 2.5 APG and shot a blistering 63.0% (53-of-84) from the field, including 51.8% from three-point range (14-of-27).

Mounce finished out his stellar Furman career with 17 points, six rebounds and three assists, while Hunter matched Mounce with 17, to go along with four boards and three assists. Bothwell rounded out the Paladins in double figures with 12 points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists.

Stephens and Parham were joined in double figures by Sean Conway, who posted an impressive double-double, with 12 points, 12 rebounds, and had a pair of assists and a pair of steals. All 12 of Conway’s points came on a 4-of-7 performance from three-point land. Impressive freshman point guard Trey Bonham added 14 points, while senior forward Myles Lewis added 13.

The Paladins finished the night connecting on 50.7% (34-of-67) from the field, while shooting 44.4% (12-of-27) from three-point range in the loss. The Paladins connected on 53.6% (15-of-28) from the field in the opening half to take a 42-35 lead into the break.

The Keydets overcame that deficit by shooting 55.2% (16-of-29) in the second half, while holding the Paladins to 46.9% (15-of-32) from the field.

It was the 14^th all-time meeting between the Paladins and Keydets in the SoCon Tournament, with the Keydets tying the postseason series, 7-7. The Paladins also to 52-62 all-time in SoCon action, and 14-21 in Asheville.