Thomas and Wilkins Power Furman Past Charleston Southern in Final Non-Conference Game

Furman freshman point guard Alex Wilkins

GREENVILLE, S.C.--Asa Thomas posted a career-high 25 points, while Alex Wilkins added 24 points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals, as Furman held off Charleston Southern, 84-76, in the non-conference finale Sunday afternoon before 1,857 fans on-hand at Timmons Arena.

With its fifth-straight win and eighth win in its last nine outings, the Paladins finish out non-conference play with a 9-4 record, while the Bucs finish out their non-conference portion of the slate with an 8-6 overall mark. The win was especially impressive being that Furman was without the services of Cooper Bowser, who is day-to-day. Bowser is set to be re-evaluated before the start of SoCon play on Dec. 31 against Mercer. 

Thomas finished the game with his 25 points coming on an 8-of-14 shooting performance from the field, which included a 6-for-10 shooting effort from three-point range. In addition to what he provided in the way of scoring, he also added seven rebounds and four assists in the winning effort. 

True freshman point guard Alex Wilkins capped his first non-conference season with the Paladins in style, as he posted 24 points on 8-of-17 shooting from the field and 2-of-4 from long-range, while also going 6-for-9 from the charity stripe. 

The only other Paladin to reach double figures in the contest was senior forward Ben Vander Wal, who finished with 13 points, six rebounds and two assists. Vander Wal completed his afternoon by connecting on 4-of-8 shots from the field and was 5-of-7 from the free throw line.

Charleston Southern also placed three players in double figures, with A'lahn Sumler leading all scorers in the game with 26 points, as he knocked 11-of-20 shots from the field and was 3-for-8 from three-point range. Sumler also contributed five assists and posted a pair of rebounds. 

Joining Sumler in double figures for the Bucs was Jesse Hafemeister, who finished with 14 points and five rebounds, while Jacob Taylor finished with 12. Leading scorer Brycen Blaine, who came into the game averaging 19.2 PPG, was held to just three points, with Furman true freshman guard Abijah Franklin drawing the assignment of guarding Blaine for most of the evening and did a stellar job of holding him in check for much of the afternoon.

The Paladins also did a nice job of limiting the looks the Bucs were able to get from three-point range in the game, holding the Bucs to just nine made threes in the game, marking just the fourth time in 14 non-conference games that the Bucs had been held below double digits in made threes in the game. Charleston Southern entered the contest leading the nation in made threes per game (14), however, the Paladins ended up outscoring the Bucs, 30-27, from three-point range. 

The Bucs ended up connecting on 26.5% from three-point range (9-of-34), while the Paladins finished the contest connecting on 43.1% (31-of-72). The Bucs were also 5-of-9 from the charity stripe (62.5%).

Furman finished the game connecting on 44.3% (27-of-61) from the field and 40% (10-of-25) and concluded the game making 76.9% (20-of-26) from the charity stripe. 

For the game, the two teams finished tied on both assists (17-17) and total rebounds (42-42). The Bucs held advantages on points in the paint (44-28), bench points (44-7) and points from turnovers (14-12). The Paladins held advantages in second chance points (14-10) and fast-break points (21-15).

After starting 1-3 overall, Furman won eight of its final nine non-conference games to finish with a 9-4 non-conference record, which matches the non-conference mark the Paladins had three years ago when the Paladins won the SoCon regular-season and tournament titles in 2022-23. 

The win marked Furman's 232nd (232-112) win since the start of the 2015-16 season, and it also marked the Paladins' 115th win at Timmons Arena over that same span, as the Paladins have posted a 115-20 record inside the friendly confines in 10 seasons of competition inside the facility. The Paladins improved to 6-1 on the home hardwood with Sunday's win.  The Paladins have now won 43 of their last 47 games against non-conference foes inside Timmons Arena.  Furman's 232 wins over the past 11 seasons are the most among 10 current league members.

How It Happened:

Furman opened the game a bit smaller than it has all season, being without the injured Cooper Bowser, and though it might have seemed that would be a disadvantage, the Paladins played some strong defense early and that enabled Furman to get out on the break, with the first five points from Alex Wilkins and then buckets from Asa Thomas, Tom House and Ben Vander Wal saw the Paladins take an early 11-2 lead with 15:34 to play in the opening half. The fast start ultimately forced a Charleston Southern timeout.

Furman maintained a nine point lead for much of the opening nine minutes of the game, however, the Bucs put together an 18-7 run over an 8:20 span to assume a 27-25 lead on a three in transition by Jesse Hafemeister with four minutes remaining in the half. 

Charleston Southern would eventually take a 35-34 lead into the half courtesy of an A’lahn Sumler jumper in the lane with two seconds remaining, giving the Bucs a 35-34 lead at the break. Without Bowser in the paint, the Paladins were outscored 26-16 in the opening half of play and out-rebounded 26-19.

Both teams opened the second half moving at a fast pace, and it was again a quick 11 points that paced the Paladins to an 11-7 run to open the frame, with four-straight from Furman’s freshman phenom point guard Wilkins, which restored Furman’s lead at 45-42 with 16:11 to play. The Paladins would eventually build a 65-46 lead on a floater in the lane by Wilkins with 10:47 remaining. Furman outscored the Bucs 31-11 over roughly the opening 10 minutes of the second half.

Charleston Southern wouldn't go away, however, and would regain the lead after utilizing a big run of its own, as the Bucs used a 27-6 run over a seven-minute span to assume a 73-71 lead on a jumper Sumler driving layup with 3:46 remaining, and the Bucs would only score one more field goal the rest of the game, which also came from Sumler with just three seconds left.  The Paladins had one last spurt, however, to close the game, coming up with a huge 8-0 run, which began with a pair of Asa Thomas free throws and ended with an Thomas three-pointer with 1:32 left, giving the Paladins a 79-73 lead, bringing the noise level to a crescendo it hadn't enjoyed to this point all afternoon. 

Eddrin Bronson, Wilkins and Thomas combined to go 5-for-6 at the line down the stretch, closing out an impressive eight-point win. 

Postgame Press Conference:

Asa Thomas and Alex Wilkins

Head Coach Bob Richey