HOMEWOOD, AL--It was one of the best Southern Conference games of the 2023-24 season, and despite Furman taking a late five-point lead inside the final minute, Samford was able to rally inside the final 45 seconds of the game, with Jermaine Marshall scoring the final four points of the game, including getting the game-winning layup in the paint with 2.9 seconds remaining, as Samford moved a step closer to the Southern Conference title with a 74-72 triumph over the Paladins Wednesday night at the Pete Hanna Center.
With the win, the Bulldogs improve on their already record-setting regular-season, moving to 24-4 overall and 13-2 in the Southern Conference, while Furman dropped to 15-13 overall and 9-6 in league action. The win by the Bulldogs snaps a four-game skid in the series by Samford, as the Bulldogs Improved to 11-24 against joining the Southern Conference in 2008-09 and 11-26 against the Paladins in the overall series. The win also saw Samford remain perfect at 16-0 on its home floor this season. Furman won the earlier meeting this season, 78-68, in Greenville back on Jan. 24.
The Bulldogs now need just one more win to clinch the No. 1 overall seed and outright regular-season Southern Conference title for the first time since joining the league prior to the 2008-09 season, as Samford will host East Tennessee State Saturday afternoon at the Pete Hanna Center, with tip-off for that contest set for 3 p.m. EST. The past six No. 1 seeds have claimed the Southern Conference Tournament title.
Should the Bulldogs claim the top overall seed with a win Saturday over the Bucs, it would mark the first time since their days as a member of the Trans-America Athletic Conference (TAAC) in 1999 that the Bulldogs have claimed the top overall seed in a conference tournament.
Furman, which shared the Southern Conference regular-season title with Samford last season and was the No. 1 seed in the SoCon Tournament at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, would finish with the No. 4 overall seed if the season ended today. Should that happen, it would mark the first time in the past eight seasons that the Paladins have finished lower than third in the final regular-season Southern Conference standings.
Furman and Samford both played the game with a physical edge, and both defended hard and well over the course of 40 minutes, in what was a physical clash between two of the SoCon's two best teams over the past couple of seasons, it was a game that would ultimately be decided by a player, in Jermaine Marshall, who missed the first clash between the two this season, as he was out with a torn meniscus knee injury.
For the game, Marshall had one of his better performances on both ends of the floor since returning, as it was his sixth game back in the rotation for the Bulldogs. Marshall, a native of Brighton, AL, finished as one of four Samford players in double figures, finishing with 15 points on a 6-of-11 shooting performance from the field and a 3-for-4 effort from the free throw line. His 15-point performance saw Marshall eclipse the 1,000-point mark for his career, and his game winning bucket gives him 1,002 career points.
Marshall also added eight rebounds, an assist, a block, and a steal to round out his performance. After a three-pointer by Jaden Campbell got the Bulldogs to within two, at 72-70, with 39 seconds remaining, it would set the stage for Marshall's late-game heroics.
Perhaps even better than his game-winning layup was Marshall's steal of a PJay Smith Jr. inbounds pass, in which he caught the low, swiftly thrown pass by Smith in attempt to knock the ball off of Marshall's leg back out of bounds and in most cases probably should have worked, however, the quick reaction of Marshall saw him catch the Smith inbounds pass at point-blank range and in-turn, forced Smith to commit the immediate foul. Marshall would have to earn the points from the charity stripe, which he would.
Marshall calmly made both foul shots to tie the game. After Furman got the ball quickly down the floor, Furman's JP Pegues, who finished with a career-high 33 points, launched a three out of a double-team from the right corner, which was rebounded by Marshall, and he went coast-to-coast for what proved to be the game-winning points with 2.9 seconds remaining.
Marshall's performance was particularly key without the services of AJ Staton-McCray, who didn't dress out due to a minor injury, and forward Achor Achor--Samford's leading scorer--who missed most of the game with an injury suffered early in the contest and the status of his injury is unknown.
Samford would actually be led in the contest by Rylan Jones, who was seemingly clutch all night for the Bulldogs, as he posted 17 points, five rebounds, four assists, three steals and turned the ball over only once. Jones, a transfer from Mountain West-leading Utah State, finished with his 17 on a 5-of-14 shooting effort from the field, which included a 4-for-9 effort from three-point land. He also finished 3-of-4 at the charity stripe.
Rounding out the Bulldogs in double figures in the contest were Nathan Johnson, who added 13 points off the bench, while Jaden Campbell finished with 12 points and four boards. Johnson also posted double figures in the first matchup between the two this season, as he finished that contest with 10 points in the Bulldogs' 10-point loss at Timmons Arena back on Jan. 24.
Marshall's flurry of heroics at the end of the game overshadowed a career night from Furman's junior guard JP Pegues, who finished the contest with a career-best 33 points, finished the game by scoring the Paladins' final 22 points, which was reminiscent of the 18-straight points scored to start the game for Furman last time the Paladins visited the Pete Hanna Center, with Mike Bothwell doing the honors on that occasion, as it turned out to be a 93-79 win by the Paladins on that occasion.
The junior from Nashville finished the night connecting on 9-of-15 shots from the field, which included a 6-for-11 performance from three-point range and was a perfect 9-for-9 from the charity stripe. Pegues scored 28 of his game-high 33 points in the second half, including 22 over the final 6:56 of game action. All told, Pegues accounted for 28 of Furman's 46 second-half points in the loss.
In addition to what the junior did as a scorer, he also added six rebounds, two assists, a steal and had only two turnovers against Samford's relentless pressure. The performance by Pegues marked the 11th time this season in which he has scored 20 or more points in a game, and his effort in the loss eclipsed his previous career-high of 29 points, which he established in the loss to Belmont earlier this season.
Pegues became the third Paladin to score 30 or more points in a game this season, and the fourth occurrence of that particular feat. His 33-point effort was a season-high for a Paladin player, and he joins Marcus Foster (2) and Alex Williams (1) who have also recorded 30-point scoring efforts this season. The last time Furman played in Homewood, which was in the regular-season finale last season, Mike Bothwell went for 35 points in the Paladins' 14-point road win to clinch the No. 1 seed in Asheville.
The only other Paladin to finish the contest in double figures in the loss was Garrett Hien, who put together one of his most complete performances of the season, as he finished the contest with 10 points, six rebounds and dished out five assists.
Furman's leading scorer Marcus Foster was held to just five points, marking the first time since he returned to the lineup 10 games ago that he has been held out of double figures, and just the second time he has been held out of double figures this season.
The Bulldogs finished the contest connecting on 48.1% of their shots from the field (25-of-52), which included a 36.0% (9-for-32) effort from three-point range. The Bulldogs, who get to the free throw line more than any other team in the Southern Conference, finished connecting on 15-of-19 charity shots for a 78.9% shooting clip from the line. The Bulldogs shot a blistering 60.0% (15-of-25) from the field in the second half, and were 50% (4-of-8) from three-point land.
The Paladins finished the night shooting the basketball at a 43.6% (24-of-55) from the field, including 28.1% (9-for-32) from three-point land, and finished 75.0% (15-of-20) at the charity stripe.
Samford ended the night with advantages in total assists (18-14), points off turnovers (23-10), bench points (30-12), points in the paint (32-28) and fast-break points (19-11). Furman held the edge in second-chance points (9-8) and the two teams tied with 32 rebounds apiece.
How it Happened:
Furman and Samford engaged in a classic Southern Conference Wednesday night at the Pete Hanna Center, and when it was finished, the Bulldogs had taken a giant step towards an outright Southern Conference crown.
The first half saw a physical, defensive battle break out, and Samford had to also a bit of adversity in terms overall team health, as the Bulldogs were without Achor Achor, who picked up two early injuries and then suffered a foot injury from which he didn't return from. AJ Staton-McCray, who is Samford's second-leading scorer, did not play all night after suffering an injury earlier in the week in practice.
The Paladins struggled throughout the opening half to connect with any sort of efficiency from the field, especially from three-point range, as the Paladins missed on their first nine three-point attempts.
Samford and Furman played a low-scoring opening 20 minutes of basketball before the Bulldogs looked poised to take a seven-point lead into the half before JP Pegues gave the Paladins a morsel of momentum heading into the break, as his right-wing three at the buzzer was a harbinger of things to happen in the second half for the junior guard and the Paladins.
Furman would find itself behind by double digits for the third time of the night, and after having trailed 14-4 and 16-6 in the first half, the Paladins saw Bulldogs go up by 10, 1t 56-46, with Rylan Jones converting a three-point play the old fashioned way with 8:23 remaining. That's when Furman and Pegues started to cook. Pegues hit a jumper, and then PJay Smith zipped a pass to Garrett Hien and he went up for the strong tomahawk one-handed flush, making it a 56-50 contest with 7:35 left.
Pegues would reel off a streak of three-straight triples as part of an 18-6 Furman run, allowed the Paladins to take their first lead of the night, and his three from the left corner gave the Paladins a 64-62 lead with just under four minutes remaining.
On the other end, Jermaine Marshall would convert a layup and went 1-of-2 from the line to put the Bulldogs ahead 65-64 with 2:38 remaining. Thirteen seconds later, Pegues was fouled on a three, which almost went in, however, he was fouled in the act of shooting and converted all three free throws to give the Paladins a 67-65 lead.
With a little under 90 seconds remaining, Rylan Jones was fouled going to the basket and he would knock down a pair of foul shots to tie the game, 67-67, with 1:29 left.
On the ensuing possession and with the shot clock down to one second, JP Pegues launched a 30-foot three-pointer from the top of the key which splashed through the basket with just 56 seconds remaining, and it looked as if the Paladins might be able to steal a key road SoCon win.
Following a Jones missed layup on the other end, Pegues ripped down the rebound and was immediately fouled. Pegues knocked down a pair of foul shots with 45 seconds remaining. Just six seconds later, the Bulldogs got the ball quickly down the floor and into the hands of Jaden Campbell, who stroked home a left elbow three-pointer to get Samford within two.
On the ensuing inbounds pass, Furman called timeout to try and combat the Samford full-court pressure and get the ball into the hands of JP Pegues, however, instead of Pegues inbounding the pass, it would be PJay Smith Jr. to pass in the ball, however, with the threat of a five seconds call from the referee, Smith Jr. opted to try and throw the ball off of Jermaine Marshall, however, he caught the point-blank pass and was immediately fouled by Smith. Marshall would connect on both free throws to tie the game, 72-72, with 38 seconds remaining.
On Furman's next possession, the ball was inbounded to Pegues, who then opted to dribble to the near corner in front of the Furman bench where he would be double-teamed, with Marshall being the primary defender. From there, Pegues forced up a double-clutch three-pointer, and somehow Marshall got the rebound and then raced up the far side of the floor for what proved to be the game-winning layup with 2.9 seconds remaining.
Instead of using its final timeout, Furman quickly inbounded the ball to Pegues, whose desperation effort from beyond half court was no good as time expired, and the Pete Hanna Center erupted in jubilation to celebrate its 16th home win of the season and 24th overall.
Furman will look to regroup Saturday when it returns to Timmons Arena to take on I-85 rival Wofford (15-13, 8-7 SoCon), as the Paladins continue to fight for a higher seed line for the upcoming Southern Conference Tournament. The Bulldogs will be at home against Saturday, taking on East Tennessee State (14-14, 6-9 SoCon) with a 3 p.m. EST tip-off time slated at the Pete Hanna Center. The Bulldogs could clinch Southern Conference regular-season title with a win. The Bulldogs are 28-5 against SoCon foes over the past two seasons.
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