Furman Outlasts Gritty Jacksonville

Furman senior forward Garrett Hien vs. Jacksonville

GREENVILLE, S.C.--Sophomore center Charles Johnston scored 25 points, and Garrett Hien added his second-career double-double, with 11 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, as Furman held off Jacksonville, 78-69, Monday night at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. 

With the win, Furman improved to 3-0 on the young season, while the Dolphins fell to 1-2 on the season with their second-straight loss. As a result of Monday night's win, the Paladins evened the all-time series with Jacksonville, 8-8.

Johnston, a 6-11 sophomore native of Sydney, Australia, was near-flawless in the game, as he finished the night connecting on 8-of-9 shots from the field and was 4-for-5 from three-point range. The junior forward was also a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line and also added three rebounds.

Hien, who posted 15 points and six rebounds in the 76-74 win at Belmont last time out, posted 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting from the field and 1-for-4 from three-point land. The senior forward also finished 2-for-4 from the free throw line. In addition to his career-high 14 rebounds, the graduate senior from Charlotte, N.C., dished out three helpers. 

Rounding out the Paladins in double figures in the contest were reigning SoCon Player of the Week PJay Smith Jr., who finished with 14 points, six assists, six rebounds, and four steals, while teammate and backcourt mate Tom House added 13 points off the bench. 

The Dolphins were paced by preseason Atlantic Sun Player of the Year Robert McCray V, who scored a game-high 26 points and was one of two Jacksonville players to finish the contest in double figures, finishing the contest by connecting on 8-of-15 and finished 2-for-6 from three-point range. The scoring star, who began his career at Wake Forest, was also 8-for-10 from the charity stripe and finished with five rebounds, four assists, one steal and one block. 

The only other player in double figures for the Dolphins was guard Zach Bell, who finished the night with 11 points on 5-of-15 shooting from the field, which included just a 1-of-11 shooting effort from long range. 

Furman finished the game connecting on 45.6% (26-of-57) for the game, while shooting 34.6% (9-of-26) from long range. The Paladins also connected on 70.8% (17-of-24) from the charity stripe in the win.

Jacksonville finished the night connecting on just 36.9% (24-of-65) from the field, which included a 24.0% (6-of-24) from three-point range. The Dolphins shot a solid 75.0% (15-of-20) from the charity stripe in the game. 

Furman owned a huge 40-15 edge in bench scoring, and after being outscored 10-0 on eight offensive rebounds by the Dolphins in the opening half of play, the Paladins would close the gap in second-chance points to 14-7 by the end of the game, using five offensive rebounds in the second half to score seven points. 

Meanwhile, after the Dolphins recorded eight of their 15 offensive boards in the first half, which led to 10 points, the Paladins would allow one less offensive carom for the Dolphins in the second and just four second-chance points. The Dolphins posted 18 offensive rebounds in their previous outing against No. 20 Florida (L, 60-81).

Furman held a narrow 14-13 edge in points from turnovers, while Jacksonville owned a slight 34-30 edge in points in the paint. Jacksonville owned a 12-10 advantage in fast-break scoring, while Furman posted a 16-11 advantage in total assists. Both teams ended even on total rebounds (39-39) and turnovers (14-14).

The Furman-JU game, which is a part of the SoCon-ASUN alliance, would end up giving the SoCon a brief 4-3 lead in the series following the Paladins' nine-point home triumph. Simultaneous to Furman's win, The Citadel was completing a 74-52 demolition of ASUN defending champion Stetson at McAlister Field House. 

However, as a result of Austin Peay's 67-61 win over SoCon rival Chattanooga at F&M Bank Arena in the first meeting between the Volunteer State schools since 2011, the Alliance ended the night all tied, 4-4. 

Furman's win was its 201st since the start of the 2015-16 season, which is most among SoCon members. UNCG's 199 wins is next closest over that same span. The Paladins improved to 201-98 over the past 10 seasons, and also ran their all-time record to 10-8 at Bon Secours Arena.

How It Happened

Furman faced a different type of challenge Monday night when it played its first of two games in the Southern Conference-Atlantic Sun Alliance, and it would take a complete team effort before the Paladins were finally able to find their way to a win over a gritty, athletic Jacksonville Dolphins team.  

Jacksonville is a team, which last season, reached the Atlantic Sun Championship game as the No. 12 seed last March before eventually falling to Stetson in the championship game, and carried plenty of momentum and confidence into its first mid-major test of the 2024-25 season against the Paladins.

The Dolphins also had within their ranks the preseason Atlantic Sun Player of the Year, in Robert McCray V, who came into the season as one of two starters returning for a Dolphins team, as Jacksonville was picked to finish fifth overall in the 12-team Atlantic Sun coming into the season. In McCray V, the Dolphins have certified scoring star, as he posted a 36-point effort in the 88-87 championship game loss to the Stetson Hatters last March. 

Jacksonville and Furman started the proceedings at a rapid pace, and the Dolphins jumped out to a 14-12 and eventually extended its lead to as much as six points (29-23) on a Robert McCray V driving layup in the lane, prompting timeout from Bob Richey with 5:10 remaining in the half.

Then head coach Bob Richey inserted Tyrese Hughey into the lineup, and according to the head coach himself in the postgame press conference, that's when the game would begin to change. 

The Paladins were getting blitzed on the boards for the first 15 minutes of the game, however, Hughey's presence in the game and presence on the backboards would ultimately change the trajectory and energy for the Paladins. Hughey would grab four of his total five rebounds in the final five minutes, including two on the offensive glass, as he would affect the game in a positive manner and the Paladins would close the deficit to within three, following one of Johnston's four triples, at 36-33, with just under a minute remaining and Furman headed to the half trailing 36-33.

A Jakari Spence layup in the lane increased the Dolphins lead back to five (38-33) in the opening minute of the second half, however, the Paladins would charge back to get within one following a dunk by Garrett Hien and a layup by PJay Smith Jr., which made it a 38-37 game with 17:42 remaining. 

The Dolphins eventually pushed the lead back to four, at 41-37, on a Stephen Payne III three-point play the old-fashioned way after he was fouled by Hien driving to the basket. Payne converted the foul shot at the 16:03 mark to stake the Dolphins to the four-point lead. It would turn out to be the final points for the next 6:49 of the game, as the Paladins used an important 14-0 run to take control of the basketball game, with Tom House starting the run with a left elbow three with 15:16 remaining to cut Jacksonville's lead to one (40-41).

Following a turnover by Hien and a missed layup by Jacksonville junior guard Simon Wheeler, the Paladins would end up stealing a play out of two-time defending champion UConn and head coach Dan Hurley's playbook, according to head coach Bob Richey in the postgame press conference, and the well-devised ball-action allowed House to get free of a tenacious Jacksonville man-to-man defense for a three off, and while he wouldn't connect on the three, the junior guard from Dayton, OH, did manage to draw the three-shot foul from Payne. 

House would connect on the first two charity shots before missing the third, as the Paladins assumed a 42-41 lead with 13:58 left. It would be a lead the Paladins wouldn't relinquish the rest of the game. 

Seizing upon that offensive momentum established by House's five-straight points in quick succession, the Paladins turned up the heat and the physicality on the defensive end of the floor, contesting nearly every shot and also using four of the 10 team steals it totaled for the entirety of 40 minutes to help push the lead to 10, with Smith's layup off one of the14 Dolphins turnovers allowing the Paladins push their lead 51-41 cushion with 10:54 remaining. 

Jacksonville would finally end its long scoring drought with Zach Bell layup in the lane with 9:18 remaining, trimming Furman's lead back to eight, at 51-43. However, Furman would lead by double digits for most of the remainder of the game, taking as much as a 16-point lead when Johnston connected on a three-pointer following rebounding his only missed shot of the night--which was also a three--as his second attempt splashed through the net and Furman increased its advantage to 64-48 with 3:50 left.

The Dolphins would use their athleticism and quickness with a heavy full-court press for the remainder of the contest capitalizing on some Furman miscues, getting as close as seven with 26 seconds remaining when McCray converted one of Furman's 14 turnovers into a layup, as the Dolphins trimmed Furman's lead to 76-69. Nick Anderson would immediately be fouled on the following a 30-second timeout by the Paladins to set up a play to get him the ball on the inbounds. He connected on both double bonus free throws to set the final margin at nine. 

Furman returns to the floor Friday night with a huge test against American Athletic Conference member Tulane (3-0), who handed the Paladins a 117-110 double-overtime setback last season in the unlikeliest of fashions, as well as one result that was one of the most controversial of the season for the 2023-24 Paladins at Devlin Fieldhouse. 

The Paladins trailed by as many as 16 points in the second half to take a late, 92-89, lead on an apparent buzzer-beating three-pointer, however, eighth-tenths of a second were put back on the clock, which allowed the Green Wave enough time to convert a long pass on the inbounds pass to Kevin Cross, who caught the ball, turned, and was fouled by Furman's Davis Molnar while shooting a desperation three, double-clutch three in five-tenths of a second. It even somehow left the Paladins three-tenths of a second remaining after Cross converted all three charity shots.

The Paladins will have an opportunity to avenge that loss Friday night, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. EST at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena. The Green Wave, which was picked in a tie for 11th in the 14-team American Athletic Conference in the preseason, has wins over Louisiana Christian (76-42), Louisiana Monroe (W, 80-64) and Alcorn State (W, 84-51), with all three victories coming inside the friendly confines of Devlin Fieldhouse.

Jacksonville, which will take on a couple of more SoCon foes in the non-conference, in Mercer (Nov. 24/neutral floor) and will host East Tennessee State (Dec. 14/SoCon-ASUN Alliance), returns to the floor to host South Carolina State on Thursday night. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. EST at Swisher Gym.

Postgame Press Conference (Head Coach Bob Richey)