Foster’s return comes as Furman begins to hit its stride
Furman was feeling good about itself after racking up a pair of home wins against East Tennessee State and The Citadel when it headed for VMI Tuesday. Adding to that excitement was having top scorer Marcus Foster back in the fold and in the starting five against the Keydets. Foster responded by making quite the splash in his return, scoring all 18 of his points in the second half, while adding 10 rebounds and was one of four Paladins in double figures in what was a 100-60 road rout of VMI Wednesday night at Cameron Hall.
With the win, Furman established its longest winning streak of the season, notching a third-straight win to improve to 9-9 overall and 3-2 in SoCon play, while the Keydets dropped to 3-15 overall and 0-5 in league play.
The 100 points marked the third time this season the Paladins have registered triple digits and also the 16th time the Paladins have reached the century mark in seven seasons under head coach Bob Richey. The Paladins have only lost once when reaching the century mark under Richey. That came earlier this season, as the Paladins dropped a 117-110 contest at Tulane in double overtime.
The Paladins were hot in the second half especially, canning 12 of their 18 triples in the latter 20 minutes of play. The 18 triples by the Paladins matched a season-high, which the Paladins also accomplished against Bob Jones in a 100-58 win earlier this season.
After connecting on just 16.2% (18-of-111) from long range in a recent four-game stretch, which included losses to Anderson, UNCG and Chattanooga, the Paladins are connecting at a 43.1% (38-of-88) from long-range in the past three wins. Furman has also registered 65 assists on 105 made baskets in the past three outings, and that means that 62% of Furman's made field goals over the past three games have come from via an assist. That means Furman's offense is functioning to an optimal level.
Furman was led in the contest by Alex Williams, who continued his streak of 20-point performances since returning to the lineup, as he posted his third-straight since returning to the lineup four games ago against Chattanooga.
Williams scored 14 of his points in the opening half and continued his hot shooting from long range, as he came in 10 for his last 13 from three-point range in the past two games, and he was able to bang in 5-of-8 from downtown in the road win over the Keydets. He is now 15-of-21 from three-point range over the past three games. All told, Williams finished connecting on 9-of-14 from the field. He also finished with six rebounds and a steal.
Whitt finished by posting 15 of his 21 points in the opening half of play, and the sophomore from Raleigh also finished the contest connecting on 8-of-15 from the field and 5-for-8 from long range. In addition to his 21 points, Whitt also grabbed four rebounds, dished out a pair of assists, a pair of steals and blocked a shot.
Foster scored his 18 second-half points by going 6-for-7 from the field and he also finished with 10 rebounds to complete his double-double performance. His 10 boards led the team, and his double-double was his third in his career, going along with his 15-point, 14-rebound effort against High Point back in the 2021-22 season, as well as his 21-point, 11-rebound performance in Furman's win at ETSU last season.
PJay Smith Jr. had a good night shooting the ball from beyond the arc, finishing with 13 points on a 4-for-5 effort from long-range, which included the rare four-point play in the early stages of the second half.
JP Pegues and Tyrese Hughey led the Paladins with five assists apiece.
As a team, Furman finished the night connecting on 48.0% (36-of-75) from the field, including an impressive 48.6% (18-of-37) performance from three-point range. The Paladins also finished the night connecting on 66.7% (10-of-15) from the charity stripe.
In its defense, it wasn't just Furman's outstanding shooting and it functioning now at nearly a level we all expected at the start of the season that led to VMI's lopsided loss, as the Keydets also had their own issues to deal with--and in particular illness-- as VMI dressed only eight players due to several players being under-the-weather with the flu.
VMI fought the entire night, however, after hanging around early, the Keydets couldn't keep pace and after the opening five minutes of the second half, the Paladins blew open the game and the contest was never really in doubt after that.
The Keydets finished the night with finished the night with a trio of players finishing in double figures, as freshman guard Tyran Cook finished the night with a team-hight tying 14 points 6-of-14 shooting from the field, however, went 0-for-5 from three-point range. Cook also added two assists, a rebound and a steal.
The other Keydet to finish the night in double figures was Stephen Olowoniyi finished the contest by posting his second-straight double-figure effort off the bench for the Keydets, as he posted 14 points to tie for team-high honors and flirted with a second-straight double-double, as he posted eight rebounds to go along with his solid scoring night.
In the 134-96 loss at Samford last time out, the freshman from Melbourne, Australia posted 16 points and 10 rebounds. He finished his evening against the Paladins by connecting on 7-of-8 shots from the field.
Rounding out the Keydets In double figures in the contest was Devin Butler, who posted 11 points in 34 minutes of floor time.
After connecting at better than a 50% from both the field and from long range en route to posting a season-high point total (96 pts) in a road loss at Samford Saturday afternoon, the Keydets struggled to find that same shooting groove against an improving defensive Furman team, as the Paladins would limit the Keydets to just a 38.7% (24-of-62) from the field, which included just a 20% (5-of-20) shooting effort from long range. VMI also finished the night with a shooting at a 63.6% (7-of-11) clip from the free throw line.
Taeshaud Jackson II showed why he is one of the premier rebounders in all of mid-major basketball, as he finished by collecting 13 of the team's 29 rebounds, and finished with eight points.
The Paladins finished the night holding advantages in points in the paint (36-34), second-chance points (19-8), total rebounds (32-29), total assists (22-11), points off turnovers (13-12), and bench points (26-19). VMI held its only advantage in the contest in fast-break points (17-4).
How It Happened:
In the opening half of play, Furman would take a 41-26 lead into the locker room on the strength of a combined 29 points from Carter Whitt (15 pts) and Alex Williams (14 pts), as the duo combined to connect on five of Furman's first six downtown efforts and Furman finished the opening half connecting on a solid 6-of-16 (37.5%) from long-range, which helped lead to that 15-point halftime lead.
By contrast, the Keydets, which held their lone lead of the contest at 6-5 following a Devin Butler layup in the paint with 17:08 remaining in the opening half, struggled shooting the ball connecting on just 35.5% (11-of-31) on the opening half, including going just 1-for-10 from downtown.
Furman would increase their lead to as much as 19 points prior to the first media timeout of the second half, as Whitt and Williams picked right up where they left off in the opening half with a pair of threes, while Pegues added a layup to run out to the 49-30 lead in the early portions moments of the second half.
VMI would cut it back to 15 just prior to the first media timeout on a one-handed slam from Stephen Olowoniyi dunk in transition, however, as the Paladins went to the first media timeout of the second half up by 51-36. Shortly thereafter, the Keydets would get to within 13 after Taeshaud Jackson II connected on one of VMI's four second half triples, making it a 52-39 with just under 14 minutes remaining in the frame following his corner triple.
However, the Paladins would assume full control of the game over the next seven minutes, fashioning a 29-8 run, which started with Marcus Foster's first points of the game on a jumper in the lane with 13:43 remaining, restoring Furman's 15-point advantage it enjoyed at the half, and fittingly, it would be a Foster triple with 6:58 remaining to cap the run, helping the Paladins fatten its lead to 34 points, at 81-47. His jumper to start the run and triple to end it were part of 11 points that Foster would score during that seven-minute stretch in the second half, which ultimately ended up deciding the result.
Top Two Coming to Timmons:
Furman is getting ready to face a pair of its toughest challenges of the 2023-24 season, as the top two teams in the SoCon are set to make a trip to Timmons Arena over the next two games.
The Western Carolina Catamounts and the Samford Bulldogs met just this week in a SoCon blockbuster before a crowd of better than 5,000 on-hand at WCU's Ramsey Center Tuesday night, and it was the Bulldogs that came away with a thrilling 75-71 win on the road, notching a 16th-straight win (nation’s longest winning streak) of the season and ascended to the SoCon's top spot as the league's lone unbeaten (5-0).
The loss was just WCU's third of the season, snapping WCU's nine-game winning streak and 10-game home court winning streak. The Catamounts were one of three teams in the SoCon to defeat Furman last season, as the Catamounts downed the Paladins 79-67 in Cullowhee early in league play.
The Paladins and Catamounts are set for a 2 p.m. EST tip-off Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena. The Paladins are 104-17 at Timmons Arena since the start of the 2015-16 season, including posting a 58-8 mark against SoCon foes.
Samford will be in Timmons Arena next Wednesday night for 7 p.m. EST tip-off time.
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