Different Breed of Dog...Same Result!
Paladins have been outscored 59-23 down the stretch in last two games
CHARLESTON, S.C.--Lately, it has seemed "Man's Best Friend" has been Furman's worst enemy, but it's not the fight in the dog across the court that is most worrisome, it's the fight of dog that exists within each Paladin player that must be questioned after consecutive losses to the Wofford "Terriers" and The Citadel "Bulldogs" by a combined six points over their past two league outings.
Furman has now blown leads of 19 and 13 points over the final 10 minutes and change of its consecutive league losses vs. Wofford and at The Citadel.
Furman had the good fortune of returning Tom House and Collin O'Neal to the fold, but it, however, wouldn't prevent a little Deja vu for the Paladins, who blew another huge lead against a Palmetto State SoCon rival, as The Citadel overcame a 19-point deficit in the final 10:30 to secure a memorable 77-75 overtime SoCon win in a midweek tilt before 1,433 fans on-hand at McAlister Field House.
The Bulldogs outscored the Paladins 31-12 over the final 10:30 of regulation to force overtime and eventually posted a 10-8 edge in the extra session to do capture the gutsy home win and continue their momentum in league play of late.
Remember in Furman's three-straight wins when it had outscored the competition a combined 60-12 in the middle eight minutes at the end of the first half and start of the second half during three-straight wins at Chattanooga, vs. VMI and at Samford?
Well, the Paladins have been outscored 59-23 over the final ten-and-a-half minutes of regulation in consecutive league losses to Wofford and The Citadel, as the Paladins have proven to be an equal opportunity streak facilitator.
Wofford put together a 17-0 run in Saturday's 74-70 win at Timmons Arena, while the Bulldogs put together a 31-12 run over the final 10 minutes to force overtime in Wednesday night's home win over the Paladins.
The win sees the Bulldogs improve to 6-14 overall and 3-4 in Southern Conference action, while Furman's second-straight come-from-ahead loss sees it fall to 13-7 overall and 4-3 in league action.
With the threat of a major winter storm expected to hit the Southeast on Saturday, Furman and The Citadel will have a quicker turnaround time than normal for their next league tests, with the Paladins traveling to UNC Greensboro (8-12, 4-3 SoCon) to face off against the Spartans in a 3 p.m. EST game at Bodford Arena on Friday afternoon. Meanwhile, The Citadel will take on league leading East Tennessee State (14-6, 6-1 SoCon) Friday evening in a 7 p.m. EST contest at Freedom Hall.
The Bulldogs were led by Sola Adebisi's game-high 22 points, as he was nearly perfect from the field in the game, finishing the contest by connecting on 9-of-10 shots from the field, including going 4-for-5 from the charity stripe, while also adding eight rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal to round out his stellar all-around evening.
Braxton Williams, who came in scoring 20 or more points in four of his last five games, just missed that benchmark of recent success in the Bulldogs win, chipping in with 18 points, five assists, and three rebounds, while veteran Christian Moore added 14 points, five rebounds and a steal off the bench for the Bulldogs.
Logan Applegate, who was only in the starting lineup with the Bulldogs playing without one of the key performers, in Carter Kingsbury, who missed the game with an injury, finished out the double-figure scorers with 10 points.
Freshman point guard Marco Gonzales was especially key off the bench, as he just missed double figures with nine points and added five assists and two rebounds in 29 minutes of work.
Like the Bulldogs, Furman matched with four players of its own in double figures for the game, as senior center Charles Johnston and freshman guard Alex Wilkins led the way with 15 points apiece for the Paladins. Both Johnston and Wilkins were in foul trouble down the stretch in regulation and in overtime, as the Paladins' leading scoring duo had to play for much of that duration saddled with four fouls apiece.
The Paladins, which have done a good job of defending without fouling for a majority of the season, failed miserably in that category on the road on Wednesday night, surrendering 30 foul shots to the Bulldogs in the contest.
Johnston notched his eighth double-double of the season by posting 15 points, 12 rebounds and one assist, while also providing a lift on the defensive end of the floor by swatting away three Bulldog shots and added an additional steal. The native of Syndey, Australia finished his evening by knocking down 7-of-13 shots from the field, including going 1-for-5 from three-point range.
Wilkins finished the game connecting on 4-of-17 shots from the field, including a 2-for-10 from three-point range and was 5-for-6 from the line to finish with his 15 points. He tied a career-high with nine assists. The past two games have seen the talented freshman point guard struggle overall, connecting on just 11-of-37 shots from the field, with a majority of those struggles coming from beyond the arc, as he is just 3-for-30 from beyond the arc over the past two games for the 'Dins.
Senior glue guy Ben Vander Wal had another solid evening for Furman, finishing with 12 points, six rebounds, one assist and one steal in 34 minutes of work, while Abijah Franklin provided a double figure scoring output off the bench for a second-straight game, as the true freshman guard posted 11 points and two assists off the bench. Eddrin Bronson just missed double figures with eight points.
Both O'Neal and House returned from injury for the Paladins Wednesday evening, with O'Neal on a minute restriction, playing his first game after getting back from a knee injury, which required surgery, and the talented freshman guard added five points in 10 minutes of floor time. House, who returned for the following a concussion he suffered 10 days ago against VMI, completed his evening with four points in 27 minutes of floor time.
The Bulldogs finished the contest by connecting on 42.1% (24-of-57) from the field, while knocking down just 21.4% (6-of-28) from three-point range, but were a solid 76.7% (23-of-30) from the free throw line in the win. The Bulldogs are now 50-of-62 from the charity stripe over the past couple of games.
The Paladins finished knocking down 43.1% (28-of-65) shots from the field, including just a 20.7% effort (6-of-29) from three-point range. One of the major positives for Furman was its performance from the charity stripe, as the team finished a collective 13-of-16 from the charity stripe, which equates to an impressive 81.3% clip from the line in the contest.
Over the course of the game, The Citadel held the advantage on the boards, however, Furman would end up pulling even in overtime, as both teams finished with 39 rebounds in the game. For the second-straight game, Furman once again did a nice job of limiting turnovers to a minimum, committing only 10 miscues, however, like its 12 against Wofford in last Saturday's 74-70 home loss, the fewer mistakes by the Paladins didn't matter when it came to how costly they were, as a combined 22 turnovers in the past two outings led directly to 32 points for the opposition.
All told, Furman has forced a total of 18 miscues in the past two games, but have managed just 23 points, getting outscored a combined 32-23 in the points from turnovers stat in the past two games.
For the game, The Citadel finished holding advantages in points from turnovers (14-12), bench points (25-24), fast-break points (11-2), and second-chance points (15-7). Furman and The Citadel both had 12 offensive rebounds in the game, however, the Bulldogs made their second-chance opportunities prove more costly with an eight-point advantage in that particular category. The Bulldogs also shot 14 more free throws (30-16), which led to a 10-point advantage (23-13) from the charity stripe. Furman was able to carve out advantages in points in the paint (42-36) and total assists (16-15).
How It Happened:
The Citadel took the early lead to the first media timeout, getting five made free throws and layups by Sola Adebisi and Simeon German, as the Bulldogs carried the 9-7 lead to the first media timeout of the game. The Paladins got four points on a pair of layups from Ben Vander Wal and a three by Alex Wilkins.
A 9-3 spurt by the Bulldogs, highlighted a Logan Applegate three and fade-a-way would extend the Bulldogs lead to 18-12 before Charles Johnston converted a powerful two-handed dunk going down the lane after his defender over-committed himself on a steal attempt, cutting it to 18-14 as the two teams headed to their respective benches for the second media timeout with 11:30 left in the opening half.
A Tom House layup with just over nine minutes remaining in the half gave the Paladins the lead back and then a steal and a 3-on-1 break saw Wilkins find a streaking Vander Wal for a one-handed tomahawk stuff on a no-look bounce feed to increase the Paladin lead to three, at 23-20, with 8:46 remaining in the half.
Freshman guard Marcos Gonzales had a chance for a three-point play after converting a layup and being fouled in the process by and after a missed free throw on the three-point play opportunity cut Furman's lead to one, at 23-22, the Paladins then got a similar play from House on the other end with a runner in the lane, but missed at the line just like Gonzales missed the free throw to leave the Paladins up three, at 25-22.
A 9-2 run by the Paladins extended the lead to double digits for the first time in the game, as a Wilkins layup high off the glass with just under five minutes remaining in the opening frame extended Furman's lead out to 10, at 34-24.
The Bulldogs cut it to eight briefly on a steal and dunk from Dante Kearse, cutting Furman's lead to eight, however, the Paladins closed the half by outscoring the Bulldogs 6-2 the rest of the way, with Abijah Franklin's uncontested three capping the scoring in the half for both teams, as Furman took a 40-28 lead into the halftime locker room.
The Paladins maintained that 12-point lead into the first media timeout, as the Paladins held a 44-32 lead on a pair of Charles Johnston buckets, while the Bulldogs got four early points from Sola Adebisi, which included a powerful one-handed dunk off a quick feed underneath, keeping the margin at 12 as the two teams headed to their respective benches for the first media timeout.
Off the media timeout, the Paladins ran a nice ball-screen action for Eddrin Bronson, who knocked down a wide-open elbow three, extending the Paladin lead to 15, at 47-32.
Following a stop by the Paladins, Franklin continued to creep towards double figures, as his driving layup in the paint gave Furman a 17-point lead. For Franklin, who scored a career-high 14 against Wofford in the previous matchup, it gave him nine points on the evening.
Four-straight points on a layup and alley-oop catch for a slam would extend Furman's lead to 19 with just under 13 minutes left, at 53-34.
With 9:58 remaining, Christian Moore connected on a three, which was the second in succession for the Bulldogs, cutting Furman's once 19-point lead to 13, at 55-42, prompting a Paladin timeout. Furman maintained a 12-point lead heading into the under eight media timeout, with the Bulldogs briefly cutting it to 11 on an alley-oop from Gonzales-to-Adebisi to make it a 55-44 game, however, Wilkins answered with a top of the key three on the next trip down to extend the lead back to 14 before Braxton Williams finished a layup on the other end to slice the lead back to 12.
After Franklin connected on a pair of free throws to get the Furman lead to 14, the Bulldogs hit back with five-straight to get within double digits, as Williams connected on a triple to make it a 60-51 game with 6:21 remaining. Following a bail out foul on Johnston against Gonzales going to the basket, the Paladin lead dwindled to seven with five-and-a-half minutes remaining, at 60-53, with the true freshman guard out of Chicago knocking down both charity shots.
Johnston then turned it over and then picked up his fourth foul with 5:16 left. With just under five minutes left, the Bulldogs continued to chip away, and a three-point play the old-fashioned way, following a rebound and putback by Williams with 4:50 remaining got the Bulldogs to within two possessions, at 60-56, which was as close as the Bulldogs had been on the scoreboard since the 8:03 mark of the opening half, trailing just 25-22 at that particular point in the contest. Williams' three-point play completed what had been a 10-0 spurt for the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs were able to trim Furman's lead to one over three times over the next 7:53 of the game before eventually pulling even. The points that allowed the Bulldogs to finally pull even and force overtime came, fittingly, on an effort play, which saw the Bulldogs out-work the Paladins by coming up with an offensive rebound and then converting it into points and were rewarded for their hard work by a Furman foul, which allowed for the completion of a three-point play the old-fashioned way with 10 seconds remaining.
It appeared Furman might survive when Cole Bowser converted a layup in the paint to give the Paladins a 67-64 lead with 1:14 remaining. However, a costly offensive rebound allowed by the Paladins would lead to a three-point play from The Citadel's Sola Adebisi with 10 seconds remaining, which tied the game 67-67, with Wilkins missing a jumper at the buzzer as the two teams headed for an extra five minutes of basketball for a third-straight season in Charleston.
In overtime, a foul by Cole Bowser as Williams drove to the basket put the Valdosta State grad transfer at the line for a pair of free throws. He would connect on a pair of charity shots 30 seconds into the extra five minutes of basketball to give The Citadel a 69-67 lead, which was its first lead since a 20-19 advantage at the 9:51 mark of the opening half.
After a Charles Johnston dunk tied it off a hook-pass alley-oop from Wilkins, the Bulldogs answered with a Moore triple to take a 72-69 lead with 3:11 remaining. Furman got within one when Wilkins was fouled and then proceeded to knock down both one-and-one free throws to trim The Citadel's lead to one, at 72-71.
Williams and Vander Wal traded layups to leave the margin at one, and after Gonzales missed a three for the Bulldogs, Wilkins would be fouled going to the basket once again, and this time the freshman from Mattapan, MA., knocked down both of the two-shot bonus free throws to give Furman a 75-74 lead with 1:21 left.
Furman couldn't defend without fouling the rest of the way, and the Bulldogs were able to convert 3-of-4 foul shots over the final minute, with Adebisi and Williams combining for the final three points of the game from the line, giving the Bulldogs a 77-75 lead and ultimately the win. Furman had one last chance with 3.3 seconds remaining, but Wilkins' desperation mid-court heave at the buzzer was too strong and off the backboard, as the Bulldogs held on for a thrilling win in overtime.
Furman has only suffered two three-game losing streaks in league play over the past 11 seasons, with those coming in the 2021-22 and 2015-16 campaigns, respectively.
The Paladins last lost three-straight SoCon games in February of 2022, when the Paladins dropped consecutive league tilts to UNCG (L, 56-58), at ETSU (L, 71-75) and vs. Chattanooga (L, 58-64). The other three-game skid came during the 2015-16 season under then head coach Niko Medved, as Furman lost three-straight in February of 2016 in setbacks at Wofford (L, 73-77), at ETSU (L, 75-80) and at Western Carolina (L, 62-73).
Furman will face off against a UNCG team that has swept Furman each of the past two seasons and have won six of the past eight meetings against the Paladins. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. EST at Bodford Arena.
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