UNCG downs short-handed Furman
Defending Southern Conference champion Furman has had its share of hardships\ to deal with throughout non-conference play, but it had yet to face any opponent without it’s top three scorers available…That is until Wednesday night’s Southern Conference road opener against perennial Southern Conference title contender UNC Greensboro, but despite missing right around 51 points per game of scoring production, the Paladins competed like a defending champion should in a 79-68 league-opening loss to UNCG.
The win for the Spartans sees them improve to 10-4 overall and 1-0 in league play, while the Paladins fall to 6-8 overall and 0-1 in league action.
One of the major deficiencies that can quickly be found without too much perusal of the final stats sheet is three-point shooting, which is normally a major strength for head coach Bob Richey-coached teams, has been a struggle over the past three games, the Paladins are 14-of-78 from three-point range.
In Wednesday night’s Southern Conference opener, the Paladins went just 7-of-31 from long range, while the Spartans were red-hot from long range the entire night, connecting on 11-of-22 shots from long range in the contest, including six of their first seven to open the second half to help create a bit of a comfortable cushion and go on to the 11-point league-opening win. The Spartans knocked down 7-of-10 shots from long-range in the second half alone following a 4-for-12 from deep in the opening 20 minutes of basketball.
For Furman, it was a stark contrast to how it performed in Saturday’s shocking home loss to Anderson, with both of its top two scorers—JP Pegues and Marcus Foster—in what was a shocking 79-74 home loss to the Trojans. Then just prior to leaving the hotel for the game, the Paladins found out they wouldn’t have Alex Williams for the league opener against the Spartans. That forced the Paladins to completely change up their game plan, and for once, with only seven players available and dressed out
The Spartans welcomed back leading scorer Mikeal Brown-Jones in a matchup between the league’s top two projected finishers, with both having been hit by the injury bug this season. The Spartans had lost three of their last four games without Brown-Jones in the lineup. With him on the floor this season, the Spartans are 8-1.
UNCG finished the contest with four players in double figures, led by guards Keyshaun Langley and Donovan Atwell, who posted 17points apiece, while Brown-Jones, who in his first game back this season, posted his third double-double of the season, including his second in a row, posting 16 points and 11 rebounds in the win.
Joryam Saizonou was key off the bench for the Spartans, adding 13 points, while Kobe Langley finished with a team-leading seven assists, and also recorded four of the team’s 10 steals.
Atwell and Langley powered UNCG’s strong effort from the perimeter, as both were on fire the entire night, finishing a combined 7-of-13 from three-point range (53.8%) and were on fire the entire night from long-range the entire night for the Spartans.
Atwell finished the night 6-of-12 from the field, including making 5-of-9 shots from three-point land. Langley sizzled the entire night from the field, connecting on7-of-10 from the field, including 5-of-6 inside the arc and 2-for-4 from beyond to equal Atwell’s team-high scoring total of 17 points.
As a team, the Spartans connected on 48.4% (31-of-64) from the field, including that 50% (11-of-22) effort from three-point land.
The Paladins finished the contest led by Carter Whitt and PJay Smith Jr, who posted 23 and 19 points, respectively and ended the night by hoisting up 40 of the team’s 65 shots, including 24 of the team’s 31 three-point attempts.
Whitt’s career-high 23-point effort saw him do most of his scoring by being aggressive and getting to the free throw line, where he knocked down 12-of-13 attempts. He finished going just 5-for-20 from the field, including just 1-of-9 from long range. Whitt added a team-high six assists, a steal and four rebounds, while turning it over only four times, leading the Paladins at the point guard spot in 37 minutes of action on the floor.
Smith posted his 19 points on a 6-of-20 effort from the field, which included a 5-for-13 effort from three-point land. He added six rebounds, three steals and an assist to the Paladin cause.
The Paladins, who out-rebounded the Spartans by a 42-37 on the backboards, were led on the glass by Tyrese Hughey’s eight rebounds.
While the effort against UNCG was to that of a reigning champion and in stark contrast to that of the effort put forth in the loss to Anderson last Saturday, the shooting for the Paladins continued to trend downward, as Furman recorded its lowest field goal percentage of the season, connecting on a season-low 32.3% (21-of-65) from the field, which was a season-low shooting percentage. Furman went 7-for-31 from long-range, which converts to 22.6%. The Paladins, howe
The Spartans, who have made somewhat of an art form of turning live-ball turnovers into points on the other end dating back to the Wes Miller era of coaching, utilized that outstanding defensive quickness again to convert 12 Paladin turnovers into 20 points, as the Spartans, who themselves turned it over 12 times, held a substantial 20-3 advantage in points from turnovers.
UNCG also held advantages in points in the paint (38-22), bench scoring (15-6), total assists (17-10), and fast-break scoring (11-0). Furman ended the night hitting the glass well, as its 42-37 margin on the backboards led to a 21-13 advantage in second chance points.
How It Happened:
The Paladins fought hard, playing with only seven scholarship players in the game, and without 52.8 PPG of scoring production, the Paladins would be forced to do something they weren't all that accustomed to doing, which is slowing the pace of the basketball game.
So the Paladins went about that by using some of that old UNCG voodoo the Spartans used under Wes Miller to limit possessions, which is a form of the 1-3-1 zone press to help take the Spartans out of their normal flow offensively, which worked for a little over a half, and then the Spartans started to find some space on the edges and used the corner three to their ultimate advantage in the second half to create some distance on the scoreboard.
The Spartans would take their largest lead of 16 points of the night when Dutch-born Joryam Saizonou scored on a layup to make a 66-50 game with 9:43 left. It would mark one of two occasions in which UNCG would hold that large of a lead in the contest, with the other coming at 71-55 following a driving layup by Donovan Atwell on his only basket inside the arc with 7:11 left.
The Spartans would finally begin to create some distance in the second half, as a result of a fresher bench and a seasoned maturity befitting of a league title contender.
The Spartans were able to connect on six of their first seven three-pointers in the second half of play, while using a 12-4 run and holding the Paladins scoreless for a five-minute stretch, as the Spartans built their first double-digit lead of the night, at 49-38 when Mikeal Brown-Jones connected on a pair of free throws just a little over three minutes into the second half of play.
The Spartans would increase their lead to 51-40 following a Keyshaun Langley tear-drop jumper with 16 minutes left. Over the final 15 minutes of the game, the Spartans never let the Paladins get closer than eight points.
Furman kept the game close in the first half, leading for a large part of on the strength of using the 1-3-1 zone press to keep the Spartans from getting out and being able to run with the basketball.
The Paladins were able to actually stay in the game with that defense, and a solid job on the offensive glass, using nine offensive rebounds to produce a 12-8 advantage in second-chance points. The Paladins turned it over just six times, but that led to an 11-0 advantage in points from turnovers, as the Spartans went to the half with a 37-33 lead.
Both teams return to action this Saturday, with Furman staying on the SoCon road to face off against Chattanooga in a rematch of the past two championship games, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. at McKenzie Arena, while UNCG will host East Tennessee State in a 4 p.m. clash at the Greensboro Coliseum.
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