ETSU Garners First Regular Season Sweep of Furman in 32 Years
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| Furman point guard Alex Wilkins scored a game-high 21 points (photo courtesy of Furman athletics) |
GREENVILLE, S.C.—Two teams battled hard, but during one stretch in the middle of the second half, East Tennessee State caught fire, knocking down seven-straight shots in a 20-4 run, including going 5-for-5 from three-point range over a roughly a five-minute stretch, as the Bucs picked up their first regular-season sweep of Furman in 32 years, with a 78-69 Southern Conference road win Wednesday night before a crowd of 2,500 at Timmons Arena.
With the win, ETSU won its 20th game of the season for the first time in six years, improving to 20-8 overall and 12-3 in Southern Conference play, as the Bucs took one step closer to a regular-season Southern Conference title and the No. 1 overall seed at the Southern Conference Tournament coming up at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville in a couple of weeks.
The loss sees Furman drop its fourth game in its last five, including its second-straight home SoCon outing, as the Paladins fell to 17-11 overall and 8-7 in Southern Conference play. By virtue of its first season sweep of the Paladins since 1993-94 and its first win in Timmons Arena since 2018, the Bucs now only need to win at UNCG on Saturday to gain no worse than a share of the 2025-26 Southern Conference regular-season crown. ETSU improved to 2-9 in Timmons Arena since returning to the SoCon in 2014-15. The Bucs also improved to 2-10 in Greenville since returning to the league 12 years ago.
Milton Matthews III, who had a total of 67 points scored in the 16 games he's seen action in this season, finished the night with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting from three-point range and 6-of-11 shooting from the field, leading three Bucs in double figures off the bench, as ETSU's bench out-scored Furman's 34-10 in the game.
Matthews' 18 points eclipsed his previous season high of 14 points in the season-opener against Converse. The graduate senior and former NAIA All-American saw 24 minutes of action in the win over Furman, eclipsing his previous season-high of 16:14 of court time in a 42-point win over Louisiana-Monroe.
The 6-3 graduate transfer from Florida A&M averaged 14.7 PPG and shot 37.3% from three in his time with the Rattlers last season, however, fell behind on the depth chart early in the season. With Blake Barkley missing the game due to injury, Matthews got his opportunity to shine and he didn't disappoint. In addition to his 18 points, Matthews added a pair of steals and two rebounds.
It also shows that ETSU is malleable in the ways it can beat an opponent, which is the sign of many championship-ready teams. For a lot of the night with Matthews out there, it allowed ETSU to properly space the floor and spread-out Furman with essentially four guards on the floor, and as a result, the Bucs were able to get a lot of good looks for Matthews, especially in scramble situations off of winning 50/50 duels for loose balls.
An excellent coaching job by Brooks Savage, as the Bucs looked more like Furman, both spatially and statistically, than Furman did.
The Paladins finished the night just 6-of-33 (18.2%) from three-point range, while the Bucs finished 12-of-24 (50%) from three-point range. In two games against Furman this season, the Bucs have knocked down 19-of-41 (46.3%) shots from three-point range, while the Paladins shot 13-of-59 (22%) from three-point range in two games against the Bucs this season.
Furman's shooting struggles are trending in the second half, and that's not trending in a good way. The Paladins were just 2-of-15 from three-point range in the second half of the game against ETSU and are a now a combined 11-of-55 (20%) from three-point range in the second halves and overtime of those four losses combined, which includes 3-for-24 (12.5%) from three-point land in the past two home losses at Timmons Arena to ETSU and UNCG.
In addition to Matthews, ETSU got 17 points from Brian Taylor II, who went 5-of-15 from the field, including going 2-for-4 from three-point range, as he finished off his 22nd double-figure scoring effort of the season and 43rd of his career.
Rounding out the double figure scorers for the Bucs in the game was Cam Morris III, who finished with 12 points, seven rebounds and an assist.
Furman, meanwhile, was led by Alex Wilkins, who posted his 12th game of 20 or more points this season, as the freshman phenom finished the night with 21 points and three assists, with only three turnovers, as he did an excellent job taking care of the basketball against ETSU's pressure and physicality.
In the first game against the Bucs, Wilkins had 19 points but coughed it up 11 times as part of a 21-turnover performance that saw the Bucs outscore the Paladins 23-8 in points from turnovers in ETSU's 75-71 overtime win at Freedom Hall a couple of weeks ago.
The 21-point effort puts Wilkins at 499 points for his freshman season, which is 63 points from setting a new freshman scoring mark at Furman with three regular-season games remaining and at least one tournament game to play.
Jonathan Moore scored a Furman freshman record 561 points back in the 1976-77 season, as the two-time SoCon Player of the Year/2,000-pt scorer would finish his career as one of the most celebrated basketball players in program history.
In addition to taking pretty good care of the basketball against ETSU's ball-pressure, Wilkins finished his night with an efficient shooting performance with 6-of-13 from the field and 1-of-4 from long-range, while finishing a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe.
Charles Johnston was solid for Furman in 24 minutes of action, posting his 10th double-double of the season, finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Asa Thomas rounded out the Paladins in double figures, posting 13 points but struggled shooting it off his 25-point effort against VMI last time out, as the Clemson transfer finished just 4-of-16 shooting from the field and 3-for-12 from three-point range.
All told, the Paladins finished the night connecting on just 35.0% (21-of-60) from the field, while knocking down just 18.2% (6-of-33) from three-point range. The Paladins had one of their better performances from the free throw line of the season, finishing 75% (21-of-28) from the stripe.
The Bucs were surgical in the second half, connecting on 51.9% (14-of-27) from the field, including a blistering 63.6% (7-of-11) from three-point range, which was part of a 44.8% (26-of-58) effort from the field and a 50% (12-of-24) from three-point range. The Bucs were also efficient from the free throw line, connecting on 73.7% (14-of-19) from the free throw line.
Furman ended the night holding advantages in the following categories: total rebounds (39-38), points in the paint (28-26), second-chance points (11-6), and offensive rebounds (13-11).
The Bucs held advantages in the following categories: bench scoring (34-10), fast-break points (8-3) and points from turnovers (14-12).
Both teams finished with 11 assists, while Furman held advantages in free throw scoring (21-14) and free throw attempts (28-19).
How It Happened:
ETSU came out and two of its first three shots from the field, which included a second-chance opportunity off an offensive rebound and putback to take an early 4-0 lead, but the Paladins quickly tied the game on a dunk from Cooper Bowser off a nice feed from Asa Thomas and a pair of free throws from Alex Wilkins to tie the game at 4-4, however, Brian Taylor II’s driving layup gave ETSU the lead back at 6-4 lead heading into the first media timeout.
With just over 15 minutes remaining, Tom House’s corner three gave the Paladins the lead back, 7-6, but the Bucs hit back with four-straight from Jaylen Smith and Brian Taylor II. The lead changed a couple of times before the second media timeout, as an Allen Strothers three-pointer just before the media timeout with 11:51 remaining in the half and to make it 15-14 Bucs lead.
ETSU took its largest lead of the night at six in the opening half, at 25-19, following a three-pointer by Milton Matthews III with 6:54 remaining in the half, prompting a Bob Richey timeout. Out of the timeout, Alex Wilkins converted a floater off the left side and then after Furman came up with a stop off a rare Matthews missed three, Wilkins found Asa Thomas for an open corner three to cut the deficit to one. Then after another Paladin stop, Charles Johnston drove to the basket but was fouled by Jordan McCullum. His two foul shots would give the Paladins a 26-25 lead with just over five minutes to play in the opening half.
Following a won challenge by the Bucs, which overturned a call, the Bucs got back-to-back threes to retake the lead by five, Asa Thomas answered with a three, and then Wilkins found Ben Vander Wal in transition and his dunk attempt was blocked by Taylor, however, there was contact on what initially looked like a clean in real time on the block by Taylor, and no foul was initially called.
Vander Wal remained down and the game was eventually blown dead after Furman rebounded an ETSU missed shot and the final media timeout gave an opportunity to review the play involving Taylor and Vander Wal. After a review, a flagrant foul was issued to ETSU's Taylor and Vander Wal connected on 1-of-2 free throws. Following two more free throws from Wilkins, Furman re-took the lead, 32-31.
After Strothers completed a three-point play the old-fashioned way to give ETSU the 34-32 lead, he picked up his third foul on the other end holding Wilkins, who tied it 34-34 with two more free throws with 58 seconds remaining in the opening half.
Furman had a chance to take the lead, but Eddrin Bronson missed an open corner three and ETSU got the rebound and called timeout to set up a play with 32.7 remaining. The Bucs would have a couple of cracks at it, but missed shots and Wilkins came up with the ball, however, his three at the buzzer was no good and the game stayed knotted, 34-34, at the break.
Furman had a chance to take the lead, but Eddrin Bronson missed an open corner three and ETSU got the rebound and called timeout to set up a play with 32.7 remaining. The Bucs would have a couple of cracks at it, but missed shots and Wilkins came up with the ball, however, his three at the buzzer was no good and the game stayed knotted, 34-34, at the break.
To open the second half, Vander Wal took a feed from Wilkins to convert a wide-open dunk, briefly giving the Paladins the lead, at 36-35. That followed a 1-of-2 effort from ETSU's Al Strothers at the line to start the half.
ETSU took a 48-45 lead after a another three from Matthews to cap a 7-0 spurt by the Bucs, as ETSU regained the three-point advantage 12:34 remaining in the game. That remained the score heading into the second media timeout of the second half. Brian Taylor II had a chance to extend ETSU’s lead to five out of the media timeout with a pair of timeouts.
ETSU took a 48-45 lead after a another three from Matthews to cap a 7-0 spurt by the Bucs, as ETSU regained the three-point advantage 12:34 remaining in the game. That remained the score heading into the second media timeout of the second half. Brian Taylor II had a chance to extend ETSU’s lead to five out of the media timeout with a pair of timeouts.
Taylor converted 1-of-2 foul shots to make it a 49-47 game before back-to-back threes by Matthews and Cam Morris III to make it an eight-point, 55-47 game. Johnston answered with another pair of free throws, but two more threes by the Bucs--Matthews and Isaiah Sutherland-- put the Bucs lead to double digits, at 61-49, with 9:26 left. The Bucs would eventually lead by as many as 13 in the final two minutes of the game.
All told, ETSU's perfect stretch of seven-straight made shots equaled a 20-4 run to turn a 45-41 deficit into a 61-49 lead. The Paladins got a half-hook in the paint from Cooper Bowser to trim the deficit to 10. The run spanned from the 14:28 mark until the 9:26 mark of the second half.
During that same 20-4 run, which saw ETSU go perfect mode to turn the tables on Furman, the Paladins went 0-of-6 from three-point range.
Furman briefly cut it to eight (61-53) on a bucket by Asa Thomas with 8:18 left, however, Strothers answered with a layup with 7:51 remaining to push the margin back to 10.
The third media timeout of the half saw the Paladins trailing by 10, at 63-53, with 7:04 remaining. Layups by McCullum and Taylor pushed the margin back to 12 before Wilkins drove the lane and slammed it home to trim it back to 67-57.
The Paladins would trim the margin to single digits, getting the margin (76-69) to seven with 34 seconds remaining, however, could get no closer, as the Bucs went 6-for-6 down the stretch to close out the nine-point win.
Furman returns to action Saturday against Wofford (18-10, 10-5 SoCon) at the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. EST. The Terriers captured a 74-70 win in Greenville back on Jan. 17.
ETSU stays on the road at UNC Greensboro (12-16, 8-7 SoCon) on Saturday afternoon, as the Bucs go in search of a share of the 2025-26 SoCon title--their first since 2019-20--when ETSU takes on the Spartans in a tip-off slated for 4 p.m. EST at Bodford Arena. The Bucs won the previous meeting, 86-60, in Johnson City back on Jan. 10.
Postgame Press Conference:
Players Asa Thomas and Ben Vander Wal
Head Coach Bob Richey
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