JP Pegues' three-pointer with 0.8 seconds left silences Western Carolina

Pegues' flurry to end the game sinks Western Carolina

Furman junior point guard JP Pegues drives the lane in the first half vs Western Carolina in Saturday's SoCon clash

Furman 65, Western 62

It's a rare thing in sports, but sometimes a sport gives back. It giveth and taketh away. Perhaps nowhere is that more evident than in the sport of basketball. 

Furman's 65-62 win over Western Carolina had all the drama of a classic Southern Conference game, and when JP Pegues connected on a big shot to give Furman the lead inside a second, an almost identical situation played out for Furman as one that did earlier in the season at Tulane, although this time, the Paladins didn't make the same mistake they did in that loss.

JP Pegues has become a known commodity to those that follow Southern Conference basketball after his shot sunk Virginia last March, allowing Furman to escape with a 68-67 win in an NCAA Tournament first round match and its first NCAA Tournament win in 49 years. He's become Furman's last-second sniper and silencer. If he gets the ball last, it's now become an expectation for him to win the game. Pegues scored Furman's final seven points of regulation to lead the Paladins to their 10th win of the season, putting the Paladins over .500 for the first time since mid-November.

Earlier this season, Pegues appeared to hit a buzzer-beating effort for a walk-off win in New Orleans, however, when eight-tenths of a second were put back on the clock, and that was enough time for Tulane to get fouled on a three-pointer, eventually sending the game to overtime tied, 92-92, after all three foul shots were made. Furman would lose 117-110 in double-overtime. 

On Saturday, DJ Campbell's three-pointer for Western Carolina would tie the game, 62-62, with 17 seconds remaining, and Furman took a 30-second timeout. Pegues had another last shot opportunity.  Once again, he didn't miss, giving the Paladins the 65-62 lead with 0.6 left. 

Two-tenths of a second were put back on the clock to make eight-tenths of a second remaining, only this time, the Paladins just knocked down the long pass and Carter Whitt collected the loose basketball and the Paladins could finally celebrate a thrilling Southern Conference win over a talented Western Carolina basketball team. 

The win saw the Paladins improve to 8-1 at Timmons Arena this season and 105-17 overall since the start of the 2015-16 season. The thrilling win also saw the Paladins improve to 59-8 against SoCon opposition in that same span. 

The win, which is Furman's fourth in succession, sees the Paladins Improve to 10-9 overall and 4-2 in league play, while the Catamounts fell to 15-4 overall and 4-2 in league play and have now lost consecutive games for the second time this season. In non-conference play, the Catamounts dropped back-to-back games at both Gardner-Webb (L, 77-82) and at High Point (L, 71-97). Prior to Saturday's loss to Furman, the Catamounts dropped a 75-71 contest to league-leading Samford before a crowd of 5,018 fans this past Tuesday night at the Ramsey Center. 

Pegues led three Paladin players in double figures, with a team-leading 17 points, while Marcus Foster added 14 points and Alex Williams had his first-career double-double, posting 13 points and 11 rebounds. His 11 rebounds were also a career-high. 

Pegues, a native of Nashville, Tenn, finished his afternoon by connecting on 6-of-12 shots from the field, including going 3-for-5 from three-point range and was a perfect 2-for-2 from the line. He added four assists, three rebounds and a steal.

Vonterius Woolbright, who has led the SoCon all season in scoring and rebounding, recorded his 16th double-double in 19 games this season, as he posted 27 points, 16 rebounds and dished out six assists, continuing his outstanding season. Woolbright continues to show why he was the preseason pick for Southern Conference Player of the Year, as he has scored in double figures in all 19 games for the Catamounts this season, and with his 27 points Saturday, has now totaled exactly 400 points this season.

He finished the contest by connecting on 10-of-17 shots from the field and was 1-for-2 from three-point land. Woolbright also connected on 6-of-9 shots from the charity stripe. It also marked his 57th-career game in double figures with the Catamounts. 

Woolbright was one of two Catamount players in double figures, as he was joined by DJ Campbell, who added 11 points and four boards.

The Paladins finished the game connecting on 41.3% (26-of-63) from the field, which included connecting on 36.8% (7-of-19) from three-point land. The Paladins shot the ball at just a 50% (6-of-12) clip from the charity stripe.

Western Carolina finished the game by connecting 40% (24-of-60) of its shots from the field, and connected on 27.3% (6-of-22) and the Catamounts were 72.7% (8-of-11) from the free throw line. 

Both teams were even in total rebounds (40-40), bench points (13-13), assists (11-11) and points in the paint (36-36).  Western Carolina held advantages in points off turnovers (13-10) and fast-break points (4-3). Furman held its only advantage in second-chance points (14-8), as the Paladins once again posted 12 offensive rebounds, marking the 10th time in the last 11 games they have been able to accomplish that feat.

How It Happened:

Despite falling behind 5-0 on a three-pointer from Russell Jones Jr. and a Vonterius Woolbright, the Paladins would fight back to tie the game three times inside the opening 11:46 of the game before Alex Williams made a shot in the lane to give Furman its first lead of the game, at 18-17, with 8:14 left in the half. 

The Paladins finished the half on an 18-9 run, and it was a JP Pegues three with just eight seconds remaining in the half, which allowed Furman a double-digit, 36-26, halftime lead. Pegues' shot to end the half would foreshadowing of his shot to come later, which would be the final points of the game. The Paladins had led by as many as 11 in the opening half of play. 

While Furman had a 10-point lead at the half, most who follow Southern Conference basketball, know just how good and gritty Justin Gray's Western Carolina Catamounts are, and that the no lead Furman could have had in the game would have provided comfort. Just last season in Furman's 83-80 Southern Conference Tournament semifinal win in overtime against the Catamounts last March, Western Carolina had battled back from a 20-point deficit in the second half to take a late lead before Furman tied the game to send it into overtime.

The Catamounts came out of the locker room and were the aggressor, taking the game to the Paladins and used a 13-2 run to assume what was a 39-38 on a Vonterius Woolbright layup with 14:26 left in the game. In a scoring drought similar to the one near the end of the first half at VMI, which saw the Paladins go for more than five minutes without a basket in what would eventually wind up being a 40-point win (100-60), the Paladins would miss nine consecutive shots following Carter Whitt's second-chance layup inside the first minute of the second half.

All told, Furman ended up making only 2-of-16 shots from the field to open the second half, which almost spanned an entire 10 minutes, stretching from the 19:12 mark-9:40 mark of the second half, as Western Carolina eventually built a five-point, 53-48 lead following a Woolbright layup in the paint with 7:32 left. 

Despite its struggles, Furman's defense kept it alive, as the Paladins had been outscored 27-12 to start the second half and found themselves on the brink of letting the game get away. 

On the ensuing possession following Woolbright's layup, which gave the Catamounts a five-point lead, the Paladins faced maybe their most important possession of the game, and following a Marcus Foster missed shot, Alex Williams grabbed the rebound and put the layup back in and was fouled in the process, however, his missed foul shot opportunity left the Paladins still facing a three-point deficit, at 53-50. 

After a miss by Western Carolina on the other end, the Paladins had a chance to get closer, however, Carter Whitt drew a two-shot foul and made the first, but Alex Williams was whistled for a lane violation on Whitt's second attempt, leaving Furman's deficit at two, 53-51, with 6:12 remaining. 

A pair of Woolbright free throws put the Catamounts back up by four with 5:45 remaining, however, the Paladins weren't going anywhere. Williams again made a layup on Furman's next trip down the floor, getting Furman back to within two, at 55-53, with just under five minutes remaining. 

Following missed threes by Tre Jackson for Western Carolina, and for Furman by Alex Williams and Marcus Foster, it was an offensive rebound by Williams off Foster's miss three-pointer and subsequent layup to follow that tied the contest, 55-55, with 3:22 left. That would be the score as the two teams headed to their respective benches for the final media timeout of the game, with just 2:56 left to play. 

Just before the final media timeout, Woolbright drove the lane hard, however, it appeared Foster had forced a jump ball, but he was instead whistled for his first personal foul, sending Woolbright to the line for two shots. He knocked down both, restoring the Catamount lead, 57-55.

On Furman's next possession, Foster had his layup attempt blocked by Woolbright, however, he got his own rebound and passed to Pegues before Pegues gave the ball back to Foster, and then he knocked down Furman's first three of the second half to give the Paladins the 58-57 lead with 2:23 left. 

Western Carolina would again put its fate in the hands of Woolbright, and after missing his first layup attempt, came up with his own rebound and put-back to help the Catamounts retake the lead, at 59-58, with 1:57 left. 

Pegues answered by bursting past Russell Jones Jr. for a layup to give the Paladins at 60-59 lead with 1:38 remaining. When Woolbright drove the lane the next time down the floor, Foster got some help side defense from Carter Whitt, and allowed Foster to come up with the steal and the ball, putting Furman in excellent position with just over a minute remaining.

Furman head coach Bob Richey called a timeout with 51 seconds remaining. With the shot-clock winding down, Pegues drove hard down the lane guarded hard by Woolbright, flicking a layup high off the left glass before it spun around the front rim and down through the hoop to give Furman a 62-59 lead in acrobatic fashion with just 39 seconds left. 

Catamount head coach Justin Gray then called a timeout of his own with 34 seconds left to set up a play to get an open look at a three, which he did successfully, and it would be DJ Campbell who would knock down the triple from the right elbow, tying the game, 62-62, and sending the WCU fans into a frenzy who made the short, two-hour and 15-minute trip from Cullowhee-to-Greenville. 

Furman head coach Bob Richey quickly called timeout with 17 seconds remaining, and had a play drawn up that Furman has yet to run this season, as he detailed in the postgame press conference, however, he scrapped the idea and decided to let JP Pegues do his thing. Pegues crossed the timeline and then patiently waited. He stepped back once, and then twice, and then with just under four seconds left decided it was go time, stepping back one final time, as Bernard Pelote could only watch Pegues' high-arching shot ring true with 0.6 left to the sound of Furman fans going crazy. 

After a discussion, 0.2 seconds were put back on the clock to make it 0.8 when WCU inbounded the ball again. The downtown effort by Pegues had given the Paladins their final lead of the day, 65-62, and after a WCU timeout, Furman intercepted the ensuing pass and celebrated one of its biggest wins of the season to firmly put themselves back in the Southern Conference regular-season title race.

The Paladins will have a chance to even put themselves in better standing for league title chase Wednesday night, welcoming SoCon unbeaten and winner of 17-straight games Samford (17-2, 6-0 SoCon) into Timmons Arena for a 7 p.m. EST tip-off. 

The 17-game winning streak by Bucky McMillan's Bulldogs is the longest winning streak in NCAA Division I college basketball. The Bulldogs defeated Mercer, 87-80, at the Pete Hanna Center on Saturday night to run their streak to a whopping 17 games after opening the season with losses at No. 2 Purdue (L, 45-98) and VCU (L, 65-75). Furman won both meetings against Samford last season, including a 92-85 overtime win in Greenville, ending Samford's eight-game winning streak to open SoCon play. 

Western Carolina returns to action Wednesday night hosting UNC Greensboro (14-5, 5-1 SoCon) in Cullowhee, with tip-off for that contest set for 7 p.m. EST at the Liston B. Ramsey Activity Center.

Postgame Press Conference:

Head coach Bob Richey-- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJKPzAywvj4

Players JP Pegues and Marcus Foster--https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4I7ifzfzPk