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| Fuman redshirt senior guard Marcus Foster |
Mercer uses second-highest shooting percentage of season to spoil Furman's final game in the current Timmons Arena
Furman closed out the modern era of Timmons Arena much like they did Memorial Audtiorium before moving into its current facility, which was a loss to the top team in the conference, Davidson, (L, 79-88) in 1996.
Some 28 years later, Furman closed out the modern of Timmons Arena against Mercer, and the Bears are trending in the right direction at precisely the right time, as for the third time in their last five games, the Bears connected at 50% or better from the field en route to an 82-75 Southern Conference win to close out the 2023-24 regular season.
The win helps Mercer complete its first season sweep of Furman since the 2014-15 season, and the Bears will head into the 2024 Southern Conference Tournament red-hot, as they have won four of their last five games.
With the win, Mercer (15-16, 8-10 SoCon) will be the No. 8 seed in next week's Southern Conference Tournament in Asheville and will face No. 9 The Citadel (11-20, 3-15 SoCon) in the opening game of the 2024 and 104th edition of college basketball's oldest conference tournament, with tip-off slated for 5 p.m. EST. The winner of that contest will face top seed Samford (26-5, 15-3 SoCon) in the first quarterfinal game of the 2024 SoCon Tournament, which is slated for noon on Saturday, March 9.
Furman (16-15, 10-8 SoCon) will enter the 2024 Southern Conference Tournament as the No. 5 seed and will face No. 4 Western Carolina (22-9, 11-7 SoCon) in the last quarterfinal matchup of the evening, with tip-off slated for approximately 8:30 p.m. EST.
Furman, which is the defending Southern Conference champion, will head into the tournament having lost three of its last four games, including two-straight, with one of those coming against its quarterfinal opponent last week, dropping an 85-77 contest at Western Carolina.
The past five SoCon defending tournament champions have entered the postseason with no more than 17 wins, with two of those defending champions--Wofford in 2020 and Chattanooga in 2023--able to reach the championship game before eventually losing. Both of those runners-up also started the tournament as the No. 8 seed.
The eight-point loss closes one chapter of Furman basketball, while opening another. Saturday afternoon's game marked the final game in the current configuration of Timmons Arena, which will now get a 49 million dollar facelift. Furman ends a remarkable run of success over 27 seasons inside its home facility that though odd at first, would grow on both Paladin fans and team alike as the years wore on, while becoming one of the tougher venues to garner a win over the past nine season for the opposition.
Furman ended its nine-year run of success inside the facility with a 109-19 record, which includes a 63-10 mark against league foes. Against non-conference opponents over the past nine seasons, the Paladins ended its run in the current Timmons Arena with a 46-9 record. Furman has 197 wins overall over the past nine seasons, which ranks second among SoCon members over that same span by one game, as UNC Greensboro has 198 victories, which is the most among league members over the past nine seasons. Furman also has 113 league wins over that same span, which is also second only to UNCG, which has 115 conference victories over the past nine seasons.
All told, the Paladins have posted a 246-110 record in its 27th season of operation. Furman will begin play in the new Timmons Arena in 2025.
As has been the case in most of Furman's eight league losses this season, the Paladins have either struggled shooting the ball or struggled defensively, with some being a combination of both.
For much of the 2023-24 regular-season, Furman's men's basketball team has lacked something. Outside the obvious of having graduated two of the best players in school history--Jalen Slawson and Mike Bothwell--the Paladins have just haven't been able to find sustained success other than one five-game winning streak in the middle of the season.
The reality is, we know Furman is one of the most talented teams in the Southern Conference from 1-10, and may actually may even be a tad deeper than the team that won it a year ago. However, the failures on the defensive end of the floor at times this season have led to offensive inconsistencies, and those were the two primary ingredients Mercer used to to exploit the Paladins Saturday afternoon in the final game in Timmons Arena as we know it.
In the final two regular-season games of the 2023-24 season against Western Carolina and Mercer, the Paladins gave up a total of 103 points (Western Carolina 55 pts and Mercer 48 pts) and saw those two teams teams combine to connect on 61.6% (37-of-60) from the field and 50% (13-of-26) from three-point range in a pair of second halves.
One area that has been consistently strong for Furman this season has been the work they have done throughout the season on the glass on both ends, however, it has been a particularly good season on the offensive glass for the 'Dins.
Furman corralled 19 offensive rebounds, which led to an 18-4 advantage in second-chance points in the game against Mercer. Heading into the 2024 Southern Conference Tournament in Asheville, the Paladins rank second in total team rebounds (38.2 RPG), second in team offensive rebounds (11.4), and are fourth in both rebounding margin (+2.4) and fourth in team defensive rebounds (26.7 RPG).
Offensively, the Paladins played pretty well offensively in the second half, and other than perimeter defense--a stat which the Paladins led the SoCon in league only games just last week--the Paladins were decent on the defensive end of the floor in the opening half of play.
Furman's 46 second half points in a game at Timmons Arena should have been more than enough to ensure a win with just an adequate performance on the defensive end of the floor. The problem was simple, as head coach Bob Richey pointed out in succinct fashion in the postgame presser, defending or lack thereof, especially in the second half, which was a half that the Paladins played decent on the offensive end of the floor.
The Bears were led in scoring the contest by Jayln McCreary, who was simply sensational for a second time this season against the Paladins, and he looked nearly unstoppable for much of the game. It's clear after his performances against the Paladins in two games this season, which account for two of his now seven 20+ scoring performances this season, he is a major matchup problem for Furman.
After posting a game-high 28 points in the first game against Furman in Macon last month, which saw the Bears snap an 18-game series skid against the Paladins, McCreary posted a game-high 21 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field and 1-of-2 from the charity stripe. McCreary also added five boards, three assists and a pair of blocks to his overall statistical totals.
However, while McCreary's performance was notable, it was the supporting cast that had the most impact for the Bears in the win.
SoCon Freshman of the Year candidate David Thomas was sensational yet again, as he has been so many times during the final month of the regular-season, which includes career-high scoring performances of 22 points in games vs Samford and at Chattanooga this season. He was one of the primary reasons the Bears were able to hand the Bulldogs their second Southern Conference loss a couple of weeks ago. He finished as the Bears' second-leading scorer against the Paladins, posting 18 points, six assists and four rebounds to round out another strong performance.
He finished the contest connecting on 6-of-13 shots from the field, which included going 2-of-5 from three-point land. Thomas also was a perfect 2-for-2 from the line.
Rounding out the Bears in double figures in the contest were Mississippi Valley State transfer Caleb Hunter, who added 14 points and three assists, while Jalen Cobb, who sat out almost the entire 2022-23 season with a knee injury after transferring in from Fordham, added a crucial 11 points off the bench for the Bears.
As a team, Mercer finished shooting 55.8% (32-of-58) from the field, including scorching the nets at a 60% (9-of-15) from long range, which included a 5-for-7 effort in the second half alone. The Bears also connected at a solid 75.0% of its shots from the charity stripe (9-for-12).
Furman finished the contest with three players in double figures, led by junior guard JP Pegues, who added 19 points on a 7-of-14 shooting performance, which included a 1-of-7 effort from three-point range and a 4-of-5 effort from the charity stripe. In addition to his scoring effort, Pegues also added eight assists, four rebounds and a steal. In the first meeting with Mercer earlier this season, Pegues scored just four points. It remains his lowest scoring total of the season.
PJay Smith Jr. finished with 17 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the field, which included a 5-for-13 effort from three-point range.
Marcus Foster, who struggled for his second-straight game from three-point range, however, was good driving the basketball and scoring at the rim, finished with his fifth double-double of the season, as he posted 13 points and 10 rebounds. The redshirt senior from Atlanta finished 6-of-14 from the field, however, was just 1-of-8 from long-range.
Foster is 1-of-15 from three-point land over the past two games, while both he and Pegues struggled shooting the long ball in the loss to Mercer, finishing a combined 1-for-15 from long range.
As a team, the Paladins finished the game connecting on 41.2% (28-of-68) from the field, including just 31.6% (6-of-19) from three-point land.
All told, Mercer owned advantages in points from turnovers (14-5), points in the paint (40-38), total assists (16-13), tand fast-break points (12-3). The Paladins held advantages in total rebounds (40-29), second-chance points (18-4) and bench scoring (20-15).
How It Happened:
Despite connecting on just 32.4% (11-of-34) of its shots from the field, which included an 18.8% (3-for-16) effort from three-point range, the Paladins found themselves trailing by only five at the half, as Mercer took a 34-29 lead into the halftime locker room.
Both teams would find their shooting touch in the second half, and in particular the visiting Bears, who shot the ball at 63.3% (19-of-30) from the field and scorched the nets at a 71.4% (5-of-7) from long-range, which was a seasonal high for second half field goal percentage and second half three-point field goal percentage this season, while the 55.2% shooting clip for the game accounted for Mercer's second-highest field goal percentage in a game this season, with only the 63.2% shooting effort in an 87-78 win at Hawkins Arena last Saturday.
In the second half, the Bears would build as much as a 13-point lead (70-57) five minutes left following a three-pointer by Caleb Hunter. The Paladins and Bears would trade buckets once more, as Marcus Foster converted a layup and McCreary a press-breaking dunk in transition, leaving the margin still at 13 (72-59) with 4:29 left.
From there, the Paladins would make things interesting down the stretch in the final 270 seconds left in Timmons Arena in its current configuration, as a 16-6 run would see the Paladins trim the Mercer lead to a single possession, at 78-75, following a PJay Smith Jr. three-point field goal off an offensive rebound with just 33 seconds remaining.
That would be as close as the Paladins would get, however, as the Bears closed the game scoring their final four points from the charity stripe on a perfect 4-for-4 performance by Caleb Hunter and Jalen Cobb from the charity stripe en route to the seven-point, 82-75 road win.
Postgame Press Conference (Head coach Bob Richey)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nabxh4tbKbo
Southern Conference Tournament Bracket https://s3.amazonaws.com/soconsports.com/documents/2024/3/2/24MBK.pdf
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