SPARTANBURG, S.C.—PJay Smith Jr.’s three-pointer with 1.1 seconds left allowed Furman to escape the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium with a 78-75 win over Wofford, gaining a season series split and ruining Senior Day for the Terriers.
While it was a day to celebrate four seniors that stayed and allowed
Wofford to retain most of its scoring and rebounding production from a year
ago, it was the Furman seniors that returned from a team that won —Smith Jr.
and Garrett Hien—that would ultimately make the final two shots of the night
for the Paladins, which would be decisive ones for the Paladins.
With the win, Furman finishes the regular-season with a 23-8 overall record, which includes an 11-7 record in the Southern Conference, securing the No. 5 seed for the upcoming Southern Conference Tournament in Asheville, having won four-straight heading into the postseason. The Paladins will play Saturday night in the final quarterfinal matchup of the evening, facing off against No.4 seed Samford Bulldogs (22-9, 12-6 SoCon). Samford ended Furman's season last March, defeating the Paladins 84-77 in the semifinals of the 2024 Southern Conference Tournament.
Wofford, meanwhile, falls to 16-15 on the season, finishing 10-8 in league play and will play as the No. 6 seed in the 2025 Southern Conference Tournament, facing off against No. 3 seed East Tennessee State (19-12, 12-6 SoCon) in the 6 p.m. EST matchup on Saturday night at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville.
The Terriers faced Chattanooga as the No. 6 seed last season, dropping what was a 75-57 contest at the Harrah's Cherokee Center. It will mark the third-straight SoCon Tournament the Terriers have entered as the No. 6 seed, while Furman will head to Asheville as the No. 5 seed for a second-straight season.
The Paladins won both regular-season meetings between the two, knocking
off Samford 72-70 on Jan. 29 in Greenville and posted an 80-72 win over the Bulldogs
at the Pete Hanna Center on Feb. 19 in Birmingham. The Bulldogs, who are the
defending SoCon Tournament Champions, fell 108-100 Saturday afternoon in battle
with UNC Greensboro, will enter the tournament looking to become the first team
to repeat as SoCon champions since Wofford did so in both the 2014 and 15
seasons, respectively.
Smith and fellow backcourt mate Nick Anderson finished by combining for 47 of Furman's 78 points. Smith, a senior from LaVergne, TN., finished the contest with a game-high 26 points on 5-of-15 shooting from the field and was 5-for-12 from three-point range and finished a perfect 11-for-11 from the charity stripe in the game. He also recorded four steals and dished out three assists in the contest.
Anderson finished the afternoon with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field, including a 2-for-5 effort from three-point range and was a perfect 3-for-3 from the free throw line in the game.
Garrett Hien, who delivered a pair of important threes for the Paladins inside the final five minutes, finished the game with eight points, five rebounds, and had three assists with no turnovers in 31 minutes of floor time. Tom House added seven points, two rebounds and an assist off the bench.
Wofford ended the afternoon with three players in double-figures, including senior Kyler Filewich and Corey Tripp, who added 16 points apiece in their final home game for the Terriers.
Filewich completed his 11th double-double of the season by adding 11 rebounds to Wofford's cause. Filewich finished an impressive 8-of-10 from the field and seven of his 11 rebounds were on the offensive end. The only other Terrier to tally double figures in the contest was Jackson Sivills, who also was playing his final home contest for Wofford, posted 11 points and five boards. Justin Bailey and Dillon Bailey just missed double figures, adding nine points apiece.
For the game, Furman shot the ball at a 45.1% clip (23-of-51), while connecting on 40% (10-of-25) from three-point range.
Wofford finished the afternoon by connecting on 44.1% (26-of-59) and 26.7% (8-for-30) from three-point range.
The Paladins won the game, despite getting out-rebounded, 39-24, in the contest. The Terriers owned huge advantages in points in the paint (36-18) and second-chance points (18-5), while also owning a narrow advantages in total assists (14-12) and fast-break scoring (7-4). Furman owned a narrow 15-11 advantage in points from turnovers and the two teams finished even in bench scoring (14-14).
In contrast to the first matchup between the two this season, which saw the Terriers hand the Paladins their worst home SoCon defeat since 2014, the Paladins were the aggressors this time around running out to as much as a 19-point lead (28-9) in the opening half before the Terriers eventually closed to within eight twice, with the last time with just under a minute remaining after a Kyler Filewich layup cut the Furman lead to 37-29. However, a Nick Anderson three-point play the old-fashioned way gave the Paladins an 11-point, 40-29, lead at the break.
Much like it did against The Citadel, the Paladins came out in a 1-3-1 zone for much of the half, keeping the Terriers off-balance for much of the opening half, allowing Furman to build a double-digit lead for much of the opening 20 minutes. However, it was always an expectation that at some point, on Senior Day and playing in front of its best home crowds of the season, that the Terriers were eventually going to make a run.
Five-and-a-half minutes into the second half, Wofford cut Furman’s lead
to seven on a Corey Tripp steal and layup with 14:28 remaining, getting the
Terriers within 49-42 with 14:28 remaining. Wofford eventually got to within
three on a Corey Tripp fade-a-way jumper in the lane with ten-and-a-half
minutes remaining in the game.
The Paladins pushed the lead back to seven on three free throws by PJay
Smith Jr. to take Furman’s lead back to seven but a a three-pointer by Justin
Bailey from the corner got the Terriers back to within 58-54 with 8:16 remaining.
Wofford closed to within four at 60-56, when Filewich converted a layup with 7:35 left, however, an 8-4 spurt, capped by a Garrett Hien three-pointer with just under five minutes left appeared to have seen the Paladins to have weathered the worst of Wofford's storm. However, that wouldn't be the case, as the Terriers hit back with an impressive 14-2 lead to take their first lead of the afternoon, sending the crowd into a frenzy in the process.
With 2:41 remaining, Corey Tripp gave Wofford its first lead, finishing off a one-handed tomahawk dunk and was fouled by Garrett Hien in the process, raising the decibel level of Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. Tripp then made the free throw to give the Terriers with a 71-70 lead with 2:36 remaining. Jackson Sivills connected on a three from the corner with 1:13 remaining gave the Terriers a two-possession lead, at 74-70.
It didn't look good for the Paladins, however, Furman, as it has so many times during the regular season, found a way to respond to the adversity on the road and in a tough environment against a bitter rival. With just 53 seconds remaining, Hien nailed a left wing three to get the Paladins to within a point, at 74-73.
After Furman got a stop on the defensive end, PJay Smith Jr. was fouled and knocked down a pair of free throws with 15 seconds remaining, allowing Furman to regain the lead, 75-74.
On Wofford's ensuing possession, Tripp drew Smith's fourth personal foul of the game, sending the senior from Medina, OH, to the line for two double-bonus free throws. Tripp, who came into the game an 81.8% free throw shooter, missed the first to leave the Paladins ahead one. He made the second to tie the game, 75-75.
That set the stage for Smith's heroics. In similar fashion to his game-winning shot to give Furman a 76-74 win over Belmont in the Paladins' first road game of the season, Smith came down and was guarded by freshman Kahmre Holmes, and dribbled right then left and then pulled up from NBA range and launched a dagger that hit nothing but net with 1.1 seconds remaining, giving the Paladins a 78-75 lead. Jeremy Lorenz's potential game-tying three at the buzzer hit the front of the rim, and the Paladins held on for a fourth-straight win heading into the 2025 SoCon Tournament in Asheville.
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