Furman Continues Strong Start with Total Lockdown of Charleston Southern

 

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C.--Nick Anderson led three Furman players in double figures with 14 points and the Paladins held Charleston Southern to just 31.5% shooting, as the Paladins claimed their sixth-straight win to open the season, posting a 67-46 win over the Buccaneers Saturday afternoon at CSU Fieldhouse.

With the win, Furman remains perfect and improves to 6-0, while the loss sees the Bucs fall to 1-6. The 46 points scored by Charleston Southern marks the fewest by a Paladin foe since Feb. 7, 2019, when the Paladins surrendered just 45 points to Western Carolina in a 64-45 win. The win also marked the third time this season that the Paladins have led from tip-off to buzzer.  The six-straight wins to open the season eclipses Furman’s longest winning streak of five games during the 2023-24 season.

Anderson was able to finish off a strong afternoon by connecting on 6-of-9 shots from the field and the Barry University grad transfer also finished the afternoon by knocking down 2-of-4 shots from long range. The native of Schereville, IN., also added two rebounds and an assist.

Two-time reigning SoCon Player of the Week—PJay Smith Jr.—finished the contest with 13 points, five assists, two rebounds and a steal, connecting on 6-of-12 from the field and 1-of-5 from three-point land. Smith made it 5-for-5 in games in double figures this season, and he entered Saturday’s game against the Bucs having strung together back-to-back 29-point scoring efforts.

Graduate senior forward Garrett Hien continued his strong start to the 2024-25 campaign, as he finished the contest with 10 points on 5-for-9 shooting from the field, while adding six rebounds, four assists and a steal.

Not to be overlooked was the performance by sophomore center Cooper Bowser, who was on the verge of double figures, finishing with nine points, while adding three blocks, three assists, two rebounds and two steals in 24 minutes of court action.

Charleston Southern ended the night with only one player in double figures, as Daylen Berry led all scorers with a game-high 16 points, while also adding three rebounds, two assists, one block and a steal.

The defensive performance by the Paladins was comprehensive, as the Paladins limited the Bucs to just 5-of-22 from the field and were able to build a double-digit lead as a result. The Paladins held the Bucs to just 17 made field goals and 31.5% (17-of-54) shooting from the field for the game. Furman’s defense also limited the Bucs to just 17.4% (4-for-23) from three-point range for the night. The Bucs finished connecting on 57.1% (8-of-14) shooting from the free throw line.

Furman, meanwhile, finished the afternoon connecting on 49.1% (28-of-57) from the field and finished 36.8% (7-of-19) from three-point land. The Paladins were shockingly bad at the charity stripe in the game, finishing just 4-of-14 from the line, which computes to just 28.6%.

The Paladins finished by holding advantages in points in the paint (28-26), bench points (16-13), points off turnovers (13-6), fast-break points (6-3), and total assists (18-7). Charleston Southern held advantages in total rebounds (35-33) and second-chance points (14-12). Furman’s offensive efficiency was outstanding once again, using 18 assists on 28 made baskets.

How It Happened:

The Paladins came out and continued their strong shooting from the perimeter, connecting on three of their first five shots from long range to assume and connected on eight of their first 12 shots from the field, taking a 21-10 lead following a run-out dunk by Cooper Bowser midway through the opening 20 minutes of basketball. Bowser then slammed an alley-oop from Garrett Hien to stake the Paladins to 23-10 first-half lead a little over a minute later.

Three minutes later, Furman would increase its lead to 28-13 when Charles Johnston connected on a top of the key three. The Paladins would eventually head into the halftime locker room with what was a 34-22 lead.

In the second half, the Paladins pushed the lead out to 16 early on a steal and layup by PJay Smith Jr., as the Paladins assumed an early 40-24 lead just sixty seconds into the second half. With 9:35 left, an Anderson triple pushed the Furman lead to 20 (53-33) for the first time in the game, and the Bucs could never closer than 19 points the rest of the game. A Charles Johnston three-pointer, which was also Furman’s final points of the day, gave the Paladins their largest lead of the game, at 67-44, with just 1:03 remaining.

Furman now heads to Las Vegas for the Terry’s Chocolate Vegas Showcase, where it will face off against Seattle (2-3) in what will be the first meeting ever between the two programs on Tuesday night. Tip-off for that contest is set for 11:30 p.m. EST and will play to a national television audience on ESPNU.