It was a good matchup for the Southern Conference to display to a national viewing audience on CBS Sports Network as well, especially over the final 10 minutes when Samford threatened to take over the game with its pressure. For the first 30 minutes of the game, it was something that Furman attacked well and made the Bulldogs pay more often than not. It was clear to see that Samford was the favorite for a reason, as the Bulldogs had without question the most talent from 1-11 the Paladins have played since it faced off against Princeton
However, over the final 10 minutes, Samford started to find its rhythm with the press, and it ignited the Bulldogs offensively and their energy changed from a team that looked tentative to one hunting some roadkill.
The Paladins played a 'pretty' sound defensive effort that resembled its play in much of the non-conference slate, and was able to weather the Samford's furious rally with its relentless press in the late-going to hold on for the win, despite Trey Fort getting an excellent look at a left wing three as time expired, but the ball caromed out and the Paladins matched their win total for the 2023-24 season before the month flipped to February. The win sees Furman improve to 17-5 overall and 5-4 in league action, while Samford falls to 17-5 and 7-2 in SoCon play.
Furman's win came despite the fact that leading scorer PJay Smith Jr. had an off night offensively, credit goes to Samford's tenacious defense, and in particular, Rylan Jones, who battled Smith all night to try and limit his looks and effectiveness, holding him to 10 points under his 16.6 PPG average coming into the matchup. Smith finished just 3-of-14 from the field and was 0-of-7 from long range, but contributed by making winning plays in other areas, including posting three rebounds, two steals and two assists in 34 minutes of floor action.
It's a good thing that both Cooper Bowser and Nick Anderson picked the same night to have their best game in a Furman uniform. Following Furman's loss to Chattanooga a couple of weeks ago, head coach Bob Richey smiled when thinking about his star senior guard, telling the media that Anderson was kind of the team's comic relief at times, and that Anderson has a great positive personality. Coach Richey said that Anderson was in his office one day and piped up and said--and I paraphrase--"I'm not here for a long time, but I am here for a good time."
One of those "good times" was had by Furman's team in its entirety, but it was a particularly memorable meeting for both Anderson and Bowser. Anderson, who was coached up pretty well by former Paladin head coach Butch Estes (1986-94) in his four years at Barry University, and according to Anderson in the postgame presser, he had some pretty good experience facing a team like Samford during his time as a Barry Buccaneer, facing off against Division II 2023 national champion Nova Southeastern, which like Bucky Ball, suffocates with full-court pressure the entire game like sharks with blood in the water.
"Actually at my old school [Barry University] ...we had a team in our conference [Nova Southeastern/Sunshine State Conference] that did the same thing and won the national championship D2 doing that and so I kind had experience with that pressing the whole time and like pressing right after defensive rebounds and I think you know if they press like that you have to be able to attack them," Nick Anderson said of Samford's relentless pressure known as "Bucky Ball".
Samford and Nova Southeastern have some connections, and it's a part of Florida that coach McMillan has recruited well over the years. West Florida and Florida in general is a state that is routinely known for having some of the best high school talent anywhere at places like Monteverde Academy, Columbus and St. Thomas Acquinas, and with a program that instills the same type of pressure as that of "Bucky Ball", it should be as no surprise that the Bulldogs would look to the highly-successful NCAA Division II program like Nova Southeastern to find talent, and were able to lure Dallas Graziani away from the Sea Lions for one season. Graziani would help supplement Rylan Jones at point guard en route to the Bulldogs winning their first Southern Conference title since joining the SoCon in 2008-09. Following the 2023-24 season, Graziani transferred back to Nova Southestern
The two were particularly key in the second half when Furman started to struggle against Samford's relentless pressure, as the over the final nine minutes, both Bowser and Anderson scored every point from the field for Furman.
Bowser scored a career-high 21 points, while Anderson scored a Furman career-high 24 points, as the two connected on a combined to go 17-of-21 from the field, with Bowser a perfect 8-for-8 from the field, while Anderson finished the contest going 9-of-13,
Anderson, a senior native of Schereville, IN, finished the contest by connecting on 5-of-8 shots from three-point range, while also adding three rebounds, two assists and two steals. The senior sharp-shooter did most of his damage in the first half, scoring 17 in the opening frame, as the Paladins carried a 33-25 lead into the break.
In addition to Bowser's career-high scoring effort, he was 5-for-7 from the free throw line, added five rebounds, three blocks, a steal and an assist.
Ben VanderWal turned in another outstanding performance on both ends of the floor, adding five points, six assists, and nine rebounds, as he led Furman on the backboards in the win. The junior forward ended the nine with a +9 on the stats sheet, seeing 30 minutes of floor action.
Davis Molnar and Garrett Hien both ended the night playing key minutes off the bench for Furman, with both adding four assists apiece, while Hien added four rebounds and Molnar three. The duo also had two steals apiece on the defensive end of the floor.
Samford ended up placing three in double figures, led by Rylan Jones, who finished with 19 points on a 7-of-13 shooting performance, which included a 3-for-6 shooting effort from three-point range. Jones also added four steals, two assists and three rebounds.
Trey Fort, a transfer guard from Mississippi State, finished the contest with 12 points, four rebounds and a pair of assists, while Lukas Walls added 10 points, two assists, two steals and a rebound off the bench for the Bulldogs.
For the game, the Paladins ended up shooting it at a 49.1% (27-of-55) from the field, including a 29.2% (7-of-24) from three-point range. The Paladins once again struggled from the free throw line, finishing the night connecting on just 52.4% (11-of-21) from the charity stripe. Despite shooting 12 more foul shots than Samford (21-9), the Paladins only held a four-point edge in charity shots made (11-7), which is pretty alarming, as this has been one of Furman's worst foul shooting teams under head coach Bob Richey.
The good news for Furman is that it was the aggressor offensively much of the night, and that is indicated in its 21 free throws shot in the contest against the Bulldogs. In losses to Chattanooga and VMI, not only was Furman outscored at the line, but those two teams combined to connect on 49-of-55 from the line in those contests, showing the Paladins are doing a better job of defending without fouling.
Samford meanwhile finished the game by connecting on 41.5% (27-of-65) from the field and shot it at a 36.0% (9-of-25) from three-point range and were 77.8% (7-of-9) from the free throw line in the contest. The Bulldogs' 25 attempted threes were four below the
Furman finished the night holding advantages in points from turnovers (21-20), points in the paint (38-34), total assists (19-11) and total rebounds (38-34).
Samford claimed advantages in bench scoring (28-14), fast-break scoring (20-16) and second-chance points (14-13).
How It Happened:
Furman built as much as a 12-point lead in both halves vs. Samford, however, it likely was not lost on many that the Bulldogs could make a double-digit lead disappear in a matter of moments with their relentless pressure and various forms of presses that evolve as the game moves forward, with in-game adjustments made by the astute McMillan and staff to how the pressure is attacked by the opposition. As the game wore on, they began to shut down some of the ways Furman was exploiting Bucky Ball and making it look more like a liability than strength in the opening 20 minutes.
It was just last week on CBS Sports Network that the Bulldogs had overturned an 11-point (42-31) halftime lead at Chattanooga in the second half to come away with a 73-69 road win. No matter how much Furman was able to cushion its lead, they could never feel completely comfortable.
Samford's pressure began to take effect towards the end of the opening 20 minutes, as Furman held what was a 33-21 lead with 3:19 remaining in the opening frame.
The Bulldogs would slice Furman's lead to eight by scoring the final four points of the half, including its final two of the frame by using "Bucky Ball" force a Davis Molnar turnover and Rylan Jones would end up drawing a foul to go to the line for two shots, connecting on both and the Bulldogs carried the momentum into the half, trailing by only eight.
The Paladins played arguably their best defense of the season in the opening 20 minutes of basketball, holding the Bulldogs to just 25 points on 33.3% shooting from the field in the opening half. It was similar to the type of defense played in last season's 78-68 win over the Bulldogs at Timmons Arena, holding Samford to 25 points on 37.5% shooting from the field, as Furman took a 34-25 lead into the locker room in 2024.
After Furman assumed a 51-39 lead in the second half, following a Charles Johnston layup and a foul by Samford's Trey Fort, as the Paladins had a chance to increase the lead to 13 with 12:13 remaining, however, his foul shot was no good.
With just under 11 minutes left, Davis Molnar intercepted a errant pass from Josh Holloway to increase Furman's lead back to 12, at 56-44, but that's where things would get interesting. A 19-7 Samford run over the next five minutes would see the Bulldogs tie the game, 63-63, following a three-pointer from the left wing connected on a triple with 5:53 left.
Furman had hit a lull, and it was about the same time in the game it had seen Chattanooga begin to overtake the Paladins, however, unlike that game, which resulted in a four-point home loss for the 'Dins, the Paladins were more patient offensively in the final five minutes this time around.
Following a PJay Smith Jr. miss in the paint for Furman and a three-pointer that went awry for Samford's Rylan Jones, Cooper Bowser would make one of the bigger shots of the night for the Paladins, connecting on a half-hook in the lane with 4:22 left to give the Paladins the 65-63 lead.
Samford's Lukas Walls then converted a layup in the lane following a Bowser block after the Bulldogs came up with the ball and converted a layup and was fouled by Smith with 3:38 left. With the game tied, 65-65, and a chance to give the Bulldogs their first lead of the game, he missed the free throw off the front of the rim, and on the other end, it was Furman's man in the clutch of late--Ben VanderWal that came up with another important winning play for the Paladins, as he rebounded a missed jumper in the lane by Smith and went back up immediately where he was fouled by Samford's Larry Olayinka and would go to the line for a two-shot foul with 3:09 remaining.
VanderWal would convert his first charity shot but missed the second, leaving the Paladins clinging to a 66-65 lead, but nonetheless, restoring the advantage and the Paladins would never led the Bulldogs even the score again.
Anderson would make back-to-back shots in the paint, with one of them being an acrobatic layup and the other a mid-range jumper from about 12 feet out with 1:49 left, as the Paladins went ahead by five, 70-65.
Walls converted a layup and was fouled by Molnar, and this time he would convert a three-point play the old fashioned way to get the Bulldogs back within two, at 70-68, with 29 seconds remaining.
The Bulldogs then tied up Tom House in the corner off following a quick inbounds play for Furman trying to get up the floor before Samford could set up its press, however, the possession arrow favored the Bulldogs. Jaden Brownell missed a left wing three following the inbounds pass.
Samford's pressure would force Furman to burn its final two timeouts, and with no timeouts left and Furman's Molnar having trouble finding an open Paladin to pass to, he avoided a five-second violation by heaving the ball down the floor and provided a jump-ball opportunity for Bowser, who went up and high-pointed the ball and came down with it before being fouled by Collin Holloway, who committed his fifth personal foul to foul out of the game with 11.9 seconds remaining. Bowser connected on both foul shots to give Furman a two-possession lead once again, at 72-68.
Following the made foul shots, Josh Holloway drove the down and converted a layup with 5.9 seconds left, making it 72-70.
After Smith was fouled before the Paladins got the ball inbounds, the senior from LaVergne, TN went to the line where he missed both shots, leaving the door open for the Bulldogs to win the game, however, despite getting an excellent look from the left wing at the buzzer, Trey Fort's three-point attempt clanged off the right side of the rim as the buzzer sounded and Furman held on for a two-point win.
The Paladins will return to action on Sunday when they play a second-straight nationally televised SoCon game on CBS Sports Network, with a 2 p.m. contest at East Tennessee State (12-10, 5-4 SoCon). The Paladins claimed a 73-70 win over the Bucs a couple of weeks ago in Greenville.
Samford returns to the floor on Saturday, as the Bulldogs will be in Charleston to battle The Citadel in a 12 p.m. EST tip-off time slated for McAlister Field House.
Notes:
--Furman improved to 16-11 in games play at "The Well" (Bon Secours Wellness Arena) all-time.
--The Paladins remained perfect (5-0) against "Bucky Ball" in Greenville.
--Head coach Bob Richey improved to 7-3 in his career against Bucky McMillan.
--Furman's 17 regular-season wins eclipses its 16 from the 2023-24 season and evened the win total from the 2023-24 campaign, as the Paladins finished 17-16 overall.
--Furman senior center Garrett Hien notched his 100th-career win in a Paladin uniform.
--The Paladins won their 215th (1st in SoCon) game overall and 118th (2nd in SoCon) since the start of the 2015-16 season.
--Furman improved to 12-1 this season when leading at halftime (33-25 FU at the half) and 3-2 this season when connecting on less three-pointers than the opposition (Samford-9, Furman-7).
--Furman improved to 16-1 when dishing out more assists than the opposition (Furman-19, Samford-11). The Bulldogs entered the matchup ranking 14th in the nation in team assists-per-game (17.5 APG).
--Furman improved to 4-0 this season in games decided by 1-3 points.
--Furman held Samford below its averages of three-point field goal attempts (29.3) and three-pointers made (10.6) per game entering the contest, as the Paladins limited the Bulldogs to 25 attempts and nine made threes.
--Samford fell to 13-3 when forcing more turnovers than its opposition and 12-4 when hitting more threes than its opposition.
--Samford fell to 17-3 when scoring 70 or more points in a game this season, with losses coming against Cornell (L, 86-88) and Michigan State (L, 75-83) prior to Wednesday's loss to Furman.
Postgame Press Conference:
Head Coach: Bob Richey
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