Mounce leads Furman past Samford; Wednesday's takeaways from around the SoCon

Clay Mounce leads Furman past Samford

Furman 86,  Samford 71

The Particulars:

Clay Mounce posted a season-high 25 points and Furman claimed its sixth-straight win, with a 86-71 win over Samford in Southern Conference basketball action Wednesday night at the Pete Hanna Center.

With the win, Furman improved to 21-5 overall and 11-2 in the Southern Conference, keeping pace with East Tennessee State atop the Southern Conference standings, who blasted The Citadel, 91-67, to also move to 11-2 in league play. Samford dropped its 11th-straight contest to fall to 8-19 overall and 2-11 in league play.

Mounce finished the night  by going 9-of-12 from the field, which included a 5-for-7 performance from beyond the three-point arc and was 2-for-3 from the charity stripe. Additionally, Mounce, a redshirt junior from Elkin, N.C., added five rebounds, two assists and a steal to his points total to finish off his strong performance. 

As a team, the Paladins shot it at a 51.7% (31-of-60) clip from the field, including shooting 53.8% (14-of-26) from three-point land. The Paladins also finished the contest shooting 80% (8-for-10) from the charity stripe. 

Samford finished the contest by connecting on 42.6% (23-of-54) from the field, while also connecting on 36.4% (4-of-11) from three-point land. The Bulldogs were an impressive 80.8% (21-of-26) from the charity stripe in the contest. 

Furman finished the night holding advantages in points off turnovers (35-7), assists (23-11), fast-break points (12-4) and bench scoring (17-10). Both teams ended the night tied in points in the paint (32-32) and second-chance points (13-13). The Paladins forced 20 Samford turnovers, while committing only 13 turnovers. 

Mounce was joined in double figures by four other Paladins, with Mike Bothwell (15 pts), Jordan Lyons (14 pts), Noah Gurley (12 pts), and Alex Hunter (12 pts). Bothwell scored his 15 points off the bench on 5-of-7 shooting from the field, including a 2-for-4 effort from beyond the arc. Bothwell was also a perfect 3-for-3 from the line. Tre Clark led the Paladins on the backboards with six caroms, while Hunter dished out a team-high six assists.

Samford got a team-high 21 points from senior guard Brandon Austin. Austin connected on 5-of-10 shots from the field and went 2-for-3 from three-point range and 9-for-9 from the line to equal his 21 points. He was joined in double figures by Jalen Dupree (16 pts), Robert Allen (12 pts), and Josh Sharkey (12 pts). Allen, a sophomore, added 11 rebounds to complete an impressive double-double performance. Sharkey, an all-conference senior guard, led all players with eight assists. 

Turning Point:

Samford started the game strong getting out to a 5-0 lead following a Robert Allen three-pointer, however, Furman responded with a 13-0 run, which was capped by three free throws by Bothwell with 14:04 to play in the opening half, as the Paladins never relinquished the lead the rest of the way and went to the halftime locker room leading by seven, 42-35.

In the second half, the Paladins would continue their strong play, taking a 19-point lead following, at 62-43, following a Clay Mounce three-pointer with 12:25 left. The Paladins would take their largest lead of the game, at 25 points, as another Mounce triple, gave the Paladins an 84-59 lead with just under four minutes left. A 12-2 run over final 3:59 made the score a little more respectable for the Bulldogs.

Up Next:

Furman returns to Timmons Arena to host Chattanooga Saturday afternoon, with tip-off set for approximately 4:30 p.m. inside the friendly confines. Samford returns to the hardwood to face The Citadel in Charleston, with tip-off set for 1 p.m. EST. 

Takeaways from Wednesday night’s Southern Conference action:

• With UNC Greensboro’s 82-62 win over Western Carolina Wednesday night, the Spartans became the third Southern Conference team to reach 20 wins this season, improving to 20-6 overall and 10-3 in league action. UNCG joined Furman (21-5) and East Tennessee State (22-4) to reach 20 wins this season. As of Thursday, Feb. 13, only the Atlantic Coast Conference could make the same claim, with Louisville (21-4), Duke (21-3) and Florida State (20-4) could make the same claim. That means the SoCon is one of two conferences out of 34 NCAA Division I basketball that can make such a claim. ETSU, Furman and UNCG are now a combined 63-15 overall this season and 32-7 in league play. The top three in the ACC are a combined 62-11 overall and a combined 33-7 in the ACC. 

• With its 86-71 win at Samford, Furman now has nine true road wins this season, which ranks second in the nation in true road wins. The Paladins have won 11 of their last 13 SoCon road contests. ETSU will go for its ninth true win on Saturday afternoon at VMI. 

• With The Citadel’s 91-67 loss at East Tennessee State coupled with Samford’s 15-point home loss to Furman, the battle for the Bulldogs at McAlister Field House on Saturday afternoon will offer two obvious outcomes; the Bulldogs will win and it will bring an end to a combined 24-game losing streak between Samford (11-straight losses) and The Citadel (13-straight losses). In fact, Samford’s last win came on Jan. 1, 2020, defeating The Citadel 69-68 at the Pete Hanna Center in Birmingham.  The Citadel has yet to notch a win in 2020, with its last win coming back on Dec. 19, in a 102-99 triple-overtime road win over Longwood.

• Though it came in a loss, Western Carolina’s big man Carlos Dotson had quite the night against UNCG, posting a career-high 32 points and added 12 rebounds, which accounted for his league-leading 14th double-double of the season. Dotson, who scored over half his team’s points in the loss, finished the night by connecting on 11-of-20 shots from the field and 10-of-15 from the charity stripe. While Dotson connected on a 55% shooting clip Wednesday, the rest of the team shot just 25% (10-of-40). Dotson also corralled one-third of the team’s 36 rebounds in the contest. 

• With its 70-68 loss to Mercer on Wednesday night, Wofford has now dropped consecutive Southern Conference games for the first time since Feb. 1 and Feb. 3 of 2018, when lost at The Citadel (L, 78-80) and at Mercer (L, 65-73). It also marks the first in the history of Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium that the Terriers have lost back-to-back home Southern Conference games. The last time the Terriers dropped back-to-back home games in league play came in the 2008-09 season. The Terriers suffered an 82-77 early conference loss to Appalachian State at the BenJo, which was followed up in mid January with a 65-63 home loss to College of Charleston (Jan. 15).

• Wofford has been a true measure of how much the league has improved this season. The Terriers are 2-1 this season against the top three in the SoCon (ETSU, Furman and UNCG) with the only loss of the three coming in a 49-48 setback at East Tennessee State. However, the Terriers are 0-4 against Western Carolina (L, 72-81), Chattanooga (L2, 59-72; 77-84) and Mercer (L, 68-70) against teams fighting in the middle of the SoCon for those 4-6 seeds in Asheville. 

• Maceij Bender good litmus test of how things go on a given night for Greg Gary’s Mercer Bears. In Wednesday night’s win, he posted 18 points and nine boards in a road win over Wofford. In a win at East Tennessee State a couple of weeks ago, Bender had 14 points and three boards. In back-to-back losses to Furman and East Tennessee State last week, he combined to have 15 points and 15 rebounds. He was held to just five points and seven boards in the loss to ETSU, and in the loss to Furman last week, he scored 10 points and had eight boards. In those two losses, Bender was 6-of-18 from the field. In wins over ETSU and Wofford, Bender went 14-of-20 from the field. The one outlier for Bender and the Bears is the first meeting against Furman, which saw the Bears lose 64-62, however, he went for 19 points and 10 boards on 9-of-16 shooting from the field. Go figure. 

February’s slate of SoCon that could play a major role in deciding the regular-season champion

February’s slate of SoCon that could play a major role in deciding the regular-season champion

Championship Chase

As we get closer towards the Southern Conference title, there are several matchups that will prove pivotal in deciding the regular-season champion and No. 1 overall seed in Asheville in a few weeks. The games listed below likely will be the ones to decide the Southern Conference regular-season champion. 

• Western Carolina at UNC Greensboro (Feb. 12, 2020) —The Catamounts likely are out of the running for a shot at the regular-season title now, but could go a long way in playing the role of spoiler for East Tennessee State or UNC Greensboro down the stretch. The good news for the Bucs and Spartans is both have them at home in the friendly confines, and both won relatively comfortable matchups the first time each played the Catamounts. The Spartans claimed a 72-58 win in the previous matchup a couple of weeks back at the Ramsey Center after trailing 40-39 at the half. The Spartans are currently just a game back of Furman and East Tennessee State, who sport identical 10-2 records atop the league standings. Following a 95-67 win over Samford Saturday, the Spartans moved to 19-6 overall and 9-3 in league play. 

• Western Carolina at Wofford (Feb. 15, 2020)—Wofford suffered a crucial setback this past Saturday evening, as Chattanooga came to Spartanburg and completed the season sweep of the Terriers, claiming an 84-77 win over the defending Southern Conference champions. The loss could have seriously hampered first-year head coach Jay McCauley’s club from defending their regular-season title from a year ago, as Wofford fell to 16-9 overall and 8-4 in league play, and are sitting alone in fourth-place in the league standings. Western Carolina was able to hang on for an 81-72 win in Cullowhee a few weeks back. The Terriers got a career-high 31-point effort from Nathan Hoover in the loss to Chattanooga the last time out. Wofford will face Mercer Wednesday night (Feb. 12) and the Catamounts will be the third game in a three-game home stand. In the first matchup between the Catamounts and Terriers, Catamount point guard Mason Faulkner led the Catamounts to the win with 25 points. Wofford’s Chevez Goodwin fouled out with just under eight minutes left. 

• Furman at East Tennessee State (Feb. 19, 2020)—It’s likely the game that will go a long way in deciding the Southern Conference regular-season champion, especially since the Bucs now own the series sweep of UNC Greensboro. Since losing to Mercer at home back on Jan. 29, the Bucs have won three-straight games, which included a 73-60 win at Mercer this past Saturday night. The Bucs and Paladins were the first two teams in the SoCon to reach 20 wins this season. Since Furman lost 66-52 at Wofford, the Paladins have won five-straight following Saturday’s 82-73 win at Western Carolina. Furman, which is 20-5 overall and 10-2 in SoCon play, won the first matchup with ETSU, 65-56, back on Jan. 4. A win by either team in this one puts them in great shape for a Southern Conference title, especially with an ETSU win given the fact they have already swept UNCG. In the first matchup between the two, the Paladins got a game-high 14 points from Jordan Lyons. 

• Wofford at UNC Greensboro (Feb. 19, 2020)—In what is part of a crucial two-game stretch for Wofford, the Terriers will be on the road to face UNC Greensboro on the same night Furman and East Tennessee State face off against each other in Johnson City. This loser of this matchup probably all but sees their SoCon title hopes evaporate. The Terriers claimed a hard-fought, 98-82, double-overtime win in Spartanburg back on Jan. 4. Wofford had six players post double-figure scoring performances, with Nathan Hoover and Storm Murphy leading Wofford 17 points apiece.  Isaiah Miller led all scorers with 28 points before fouling out in the second overtime. The Terriers have won four-straight in the series, however, over the past 10 matchups, the Spartans and Terriers are tied 5-5 in the last 10 matchups against each other.  The Terriers hold a 29-17 lead in the all-time series. 

• Wofford at Furman (Feb. 22, 2020)—Furman will look to avoid the season-sweep at the hands of the Terriers for the second-straight season when the two meet on the Southern Conference hardwood at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in late February in a game that could exceed 6,000 fans. Furman didn’t look so hot in its last appearance in downtown Greenville, dropping Ann 86-73 contest to UNC Greensboro back in mid-January. Furman also sports an impressive, 80-73, Winthrop at the Well back in December. Wofford held Furman to its lowest point total in the first matchup of the season at the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. In the first clash between the two, Furman had trouble containing Chevez Goodwin, who led all scorers with 18 points, while Nathan Hoover added 17 points in a nationally-televised broadcast on ESPNU. Wofford has won 14 out of the past 17 meetings with Furman. 

• East Tennessee State at Wofford (Feb. 26, 2020)—Maybe the toughest road game remaining for East Tennessee State in their chase for a regular-season title is at Wofford on Feb. 26, as the Terriers will be celebrating Senior Night. The Bucs claimed a defensive struggle in the first matchup between the two back on Jan.1, winning 49-48 at Freedom Hall. The Bucs won in their first game at the Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium back in 2018. In the first matchup between the Bucs and Terriers this season, a key steal by Isaiah Tisdale late in the game on Wofford’s Tray Hollowell prevented Wofford from getting off a potential game-winning shot allowing the Bucs to hang on for the one-point win. Patrick Good was the lone Bucs player in double figures with 12 points.

• Furman at UNC Greensboro (Feb. 26, 2020)—Another huge game in determining the No. 1 overall seed in Asheville will be the one between Furman and UNC Greensboro. It would greatly help the Spartans for Furman to beat East Tennessee State in Johnson City a week earlier so the Paladins would earn the season sweep over the Bucs. If the Spartans could beat Furman at the Greensboro Coliseum, it could force a three-way title for the Southern Conference title. The Spartans have owned the Paladins of late, having won seven out of the past 10 meetings and six of the past seven. In the first meeting between the Paladins and Spartans this season, Furman turned it over 19 times, with 16 of those coming from steals. The Spartans had five players scoring in double figures, led by SoCon preseason Player of the Year Isaiah Miller, who poured in 18 points, dished out five assists, recorded six steals and collected four rebounds en route to leading the Spartans to the win. Miller connected on 8-of-17 shots from the field, which included going 0-for-4 from three-point range. He was also 2-for-2 from the charity stripe.

• Western Carolina at East Tennessee State (Feb. 29, 2020)—The final game that could factor in to the Southern Conference title race will take place on the final day of the regular-season, as East Tennessee State hosts Western Carolina. The Bucs won an 85-66 contest last month with all-conference forward Carlos Dotson sidelined with an injury. That game saw ETSU’s Isaiah Tisdale go crazy, scoring 26 points. Dotson will be on the floor this time around, however, the Bucs have been so dominant in this series of late, having won nine-straight and 26 of the past 27. 

Furman outlasts Western Carolina; Jordan Lyons becomes winningest player in program history

Furman senior guard Jordan Lyons scores 33 points to help Furman to 20th win

Furman 82, Western Carolina 73

The Particulars:

CULLOWHEE, N.C.--Jordan Lyons scored 33 points, while Alex Hunter added a career-high 21 points, as Furman held off feisty Western Carolina, 82-73, at the in Southern Conference basketball action Saturday afternoon at the Ramsey Center.

With the win, Lyons became the winningest player in Furman basketball history, with 91 victories now in his career, as the Paladins posted their fourth-straight 20- win season in the win, improving to 20-5 overall and 10-2 in SoCon play. The loss saw Western Carolina drop to 15-8 overall and 7-5 in Southern Conference play. Furman has now won 110 games since the start of the 2015-16 season, and this was Furman’s fifth-straight win. It was Furman’s ninth-straight win over the Catamounts. 

The Paladins and Catamounts played another classic. Furman finished the night connecting on 50.9% (27-of-53) from the field, while the Catamounts finished the night posting a 46.3% (25-of-54) shooting clip. The Catamounts were exceptional from three-point range in the contest, as the Catamounts were 14-of-29 (48.3%) from three-point range in the contest.  Furman finished the afternoon connecting on 12 three-pointers, going 12-for-25 (48.0%) from downtown.

The Paladins held advantages in points in the paint (26-20), second-chance points (10-6), fast-break points (13-5), and bench scoring (6-5). The Catamounts won the battle of the boards (33-29) and had dished out more assists (15-12). Furman finished the afternoon going 16-of-25 (64.0%) from the charity stripe, while the Catamounts finished the contest 9-for-12 from the line. The 14 three-pointers surrendered by Furman are the most it has allowed this season. 

Lyons’ 33 points came on 10-of-14 shooting from the field and 4-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc. Lyons was also an impressive 9-of-12 from the charity stripe.  Hunter finished the night connecting on 7-of-11 the field and 5-of-7 from three-point land. He also connected on 2-of-2 from the line and had two assists and a steal. Noah Gurley rounded out the Paladins in double-figure scorers with 11.

The Catamounts finished the contest with two in double figures, led by senior forward Onno Steger’s 24 points, as he connected on 8-of-15 shots from the field, including 7-for-12 from three-point land. Steger also added four rebounds, m an assist and a steal. 

Junior point guard Mason Faulkner rounded out the Catamounts in double figures, posting 22 points, five rebounds, four assists and a steal. 

Western Carolina’s all-conference big man Carlos Dotson, who came into the game averaging 14.6 PPG and a league-leading 9.7 RPG, was held to just nine points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field and 3-for-4 from the charity stripe. He led the Catamounts with 12 boards and also had four assists. 

Turning Point:

After two made foul shots by Mason Faulkner cut Furman’s lead to two, 73-71, with 2:16 left, the Paladins embarked on arguably their most important possession of the game. Jordan Lyons drew a foul cutting baseline to the basket and knocked down both free throws to push Furman’s lead back to four eight seconds later. 

Following an Onno Steger missed three-pointer, Lyons would make what might have been the play of the game on the following possession, as his layup falling down spun in the basket while being fouled by Western Carolina’s Travion McCray made it a 78-71 after completing the three-point play the old fashioned way. 

Furman’s defense was outstanding down the stretch in the basketball game, and the Paladins didn’t allow a made field goal by the Catamounts for the final 3:13 of the contest. Furman made four of its final six foul shots down the stretch to close out the season sweep of the Catamounts.

Quotable:

Jordan Lyons on becoming Furman’s all-time winningest player

“Becoming the winningest player in Furman history is more special than any honor, achievement, award or accomplishment that I could have. This program prides itself on winning and we pride ourselves on getting better every year and I have been really, really blessed to play with some great teammates in the past and currently and have had some really good coaches in the past and currently and that’s a big reason why this program is able to build. It will be a really fun record to hold for a year, and then watch Clay [Mounce], Tre [Clark] and Alex [Hunter] break it next season. I haven’t won a single one of these 91 wins by myself.”

Alex Hunter on his career-high 21-point effort vs. Western Carolina

“I would say during warmups I was really feeling good and I felt loose. I did my usual shooting routine and my shot felt good and then I saw the first two go in and my coaches and my teammates were telling me to keep being aggressive so I just kept at it.”

Alex Hunter on Colin Kenney seeing more playing time of late

“It’s helped us a lot having him in there. This past week coach kind of set in stone that Colin [Kenney] was going to be that eighth man and we also have Jaylon Pugh who is also capable of being that. He [Colin Kenney} just came in and gave some really good minutes on defense, and he also gives us another handler out there and like in presses and stuff like that he can bring it up. We see it everyday in practice. He’s got it so he’s helped us a lot and he’s helping us keep our legs fresh.”

Furman head coach Bob Richey on defending Carlos Dotson and Western Carolina’s offense as a whole

“They’re a lot to guard. It’s no accident that they are averaging 77 or 78 points a game and for us to hold them to five below their average on their home floor…I couldn’t be more proud of our team. You’ve got to make decisions in scouting and at the end of the day we felt like from what [Carlos] Dotson did to us in Greenville we figured they’d try to establish him early and we had to shrink the floor and we had to play through multiple efforts. We got burned a few times and [Mason] Faulkner hit the huge three late where we kind of went in there to get the ball out and we didn’t rotate over and he got an open three, but for the most part it’s Furman basketball. We’re going to fight for fronts and we’re going to shrink the floor and try and keep it out of the paint.”

Bob Richey on Jordan Lyons becoming the winningest player in Furman basketball history

“I’ll be honest sometimes we probably as a fanbase and as coaches we take it for granted because being around him everyday you just come to expect it, but Jordan [Lyons] is a special player but he’s also a special person. To see how his leadership has through his career, but also even through this season…since the last time we lost his leadership has gone to a whole different level and today during practice…during huddles…he’s just saying the right stuff and he just had that look about him tonight that said he just wasn’t going to lose and was going to the team on his back and I think guys jumped on his back. They have been playing ball around here for 101 years and he’s got the most wins in school history…I think that’s pretty big-time.”

Up Next:

Furman will stay on the road Wednesday night when it travels to Birmingham to face Samford for a 7 p.m. tip-off against the Bulldogs at the Pete Hanna Center. Furman won the earlier meeting between the two earlier this season, 101-78, back in late January.

Western Carolina returns to the floor Wednesday night, as the Catamounts will be on the road to face UNC Greensboro in a 7 p.m. game at the Greensboro Coliseum. The Spartans claimed a 72-58 win in Cullowhee a couple of weeks ago.

Stay tuned for my takeaways from Southern Conference basketball over the weekend coming up later this afternoon.

Three conversation starters from SoCon Hoops (Feb. 6)

 Takeaways and Conversation Starters From around the SoCon

Bo Hodges continues strong play in ETSU's 11th-straight win over Chattanooga

1. Streaks and Records

For me probably the most impressive streak in the Southern Conference right now is East Tennessee State’s the past five years, notching a fifth-straight 20-win campaign under fifth-year head coach Steve Forbes.

The Bucs registered an 80-64 win over arch-rival Chattanooga to move to 20-4 overall and 9-2 in league play, which is tied atop the SoCon standings with Furman. The more surprising streak might be the one that the Bucs own against the Mocs, as the two schools represent the most decorated Southern Conference basketball programs.

The win was ETSU’s 11th-straight since losing the 2016 Southern Conference championship game to the Mocs at the US Cellular Center. All told, the past five seasons under Forbes, ETSU has posted a combined record of 120-43 overall and one of the most successful track records for mid-major programs over the past five seasons. 

There’s no denying the fact that Bo Hodges has been one of the best players in the Southern Conference this season, and has really stepped up his play as of late and posted five-straight games in double figures, which included his second-career double-double in a win over UNCG and a career-high 27-point effort in a win over arch-rival Chattanooga just 11 days ago. The junior from Nashville, TN posted 16 points, six rebounds, two blocks, two steals and an assist in the road win. 

It looks as though what was a promising season two weeks ago for the Mocs is now suddenly in peril. 

2. The List—(My Top candidates for SoCon Player of the Year to this point)

• Isaiah Miller (UNCG)—He’s been the most consistent scorer in the Southern Conference this season and leads the league with 11 games with 20 or more points and also ranks first in steals-per-game. He is the best athlete in the league and has the potential to take over any game.

• Bo Hodges (ETSU)—He does it all. Hodges is having a season comparable to Wofford’s Karl Cochran back in 2015 in which he led the Terriers in virtually every statistical category en route to sweeping SoCon Player of the Year honors. He is tied with Tray Boyd for team high scoring average (13.5 PPG) ETSU’s leading scorer. Hodges had to step up his play with Jeromy Rodriguez continuing to nurse a foot injury. 

• Jordan Lyons (Furman)—Lyons broke the program record for three-point field goals in Furman’s 79-57 win over Mercer and now has 274 triples in his standout career. He has made big shot after big shot this season, and he was one of the main reasons why the Paladins were able to post home wins over East Tennessee State and VMI, delivering daggers against the Bucs, and scoring 40 and 26 against the Keydets. The 26-point effort was perhaps more impressive because it was a game that appeared Furman was seemingly about to lose had it not been for his acrobatic three with 7.4 seconds left.

• Carlos Dotson (Western Carolina)—While Mason Faulkner has been the missing piece that has allowed the Catamounts to more than double their win total from last season, Carlos Dotson notched his sixth double-double of the season last night in Western Carolina’s 78-70 road win at Samford, posting 20 points and 14 rebounds. He's a valued commodity at the mid-major level.

3. At-large chances?

Many of you read the piece on mid-major madness yesterday and about what East Tennessee’s chances might be if the Bucs went 29-5 and lost in the championship game to a Wofford, UNCG or Furman. Those hopes took a big hit last night, with LSU’s debacle in Nashville, with a 99-90 loss to the Jerry Stackhouse-led Commodores. 

Strangely, it was Will Wade’s hometown. I am sensing another conspiracy here, given the fact Matt Ryan of Chattanooga also spent time in the Music City and Wade spent time as the coach in the Scenic City. Ok, I am joking. Wade’s Tigers were demolished of course, 74-63, by ETSU at the Maravich Center back on Dec. 18. That score is generous for anyone who watched it.

My opinion is that UNC Greensboro (18-6, 7-3 SoCon) has the SoCon’s next best win over Georgetown. Had Furman handed No. 9 Auburn a third loss, holding as much as 13-point second half lead before dropping an 81-78 decision in overtime, the SoCon would be make a huge case right now. In fact, as good as 2018-19 was, had Furman won that game, the SoCon would like have a really solid chance at a second bid if one UNCG, ETSU or Furman lost in the championship game after having won out from this point.

Someone asked an excellent question to me on twitter the other day, and that was how could the league be kept out of the SoCon title if it ends the season with six 20-win teams. It would kind of unheard of on the service. It’s probably only going to be five now with Chattanooga’s loss last night, but should they win a three or four in the stretch and win a game in the tournament, it’s possible.

ETSU of course picked up its 20th on Wednesday night. Furman (19 wins), UNCG (18 wins), Wofford (16 wins) are all likely to do it again. Western Carolina is creeping up with 15 wins, and Chattanooga has 14. Let’s assume the other three of the big four do just that and win 20, below I have listed Western Carolina’s and Chattanooga’s remaining games.

Realistically, it’s still likely only a one-bid league unfortunately. However, this string of success could be huge in that happening for the SoCon in the very near future, with four teams to likely win 20 in the regular-season for a fourth-straight season. That’s impressive!

Western Carolina (15-7, 7-4 SoCon)

Feb. 8 vs. Furman

Feb. 12 at UNCG

Feb. 15 at Wofford

Feb. 19 vs VMI

Feb. 22 vs The Citadel

Feb. 26 vs. Samford

Feb. 29 at ETSU

Chattanooga (14-10, 5-6 SoCon)

Feb. 8 at Wofford

Feb. 12 vs. VMI

Feb. 15 at Furman

Feb. 19 at The Citadel

Feb. 22 vs. Mercer

Feb. 26 at VMI

Feb. 29 vs. UNCG

Furman halts Mercer's winning streak at six

Furman's Jordan Lyons sets a career standard for three-pointers made

Furman senior guard Jordan Lyons now has a school-record 274 made three-pointers in his career

The Particulars:

Furman 79, Mercer 57

Furman ended the SoCon’s longest winning streak, ending Mercer’s six-game winning streak, as the Paladins moved to 10-0 at Timmons Arena with a 79-57 mid-week over the Bears.

With the win, Furman improved to 19-5 overall and 9-2 in Southern Conference play, while Mercer fell to 12-12 overall and 6-5 in league play. The Paladins have now won 10-straight in the series over the Bears and also gained the series sweep with the lopsided win. The win also improved Furman to 61-11 at Timmons Arena since the start of the 2015-16 season. 

The Paladins connected on a blistering 57.1% (28-of-49) from the field for the game,  

including 39.3% (11-of-28) from three-point range. Meanwhile, the Paladins turned in one of its most impressive defensive performances of the season, holding the Bears to just 33.3% (20-of-60) shooting and just 25.9% (7-of-27) from three-point range. The Bears came into the game leading the SoCon in three-point field goal percentage, shooting at a 37.1% clip.

Furman finished the game holding advantages in points in the paint (34-24), points off turnovers (19-7), fast-break points (13-4), assists (19-11), and bench scoring (17-13). Mercer won the battle of the boards 41-29, including 20 offensive rebounds, however, converted those into just 11 second-chance points. The Bears ended the night with an 11-4 edge in second-chance scoring. 

Furman finished with an impressive 19 assists on 28 made field goals, turning the ball over just 12 times, while forcing 18 Mercer turnovers and held the Bears to 11 assists on 20 made field goals. 

The Paladins struggled from the charity stripe, connecting on just 12-of-24 from the charity stripe (50%), while Mercer on 10 of its 14 attempts (71.4%).

Furman placed five players in double figures, with Furman’s three starting big men—Jalen Slawson, Noah Gurley and Clay Mounce combining for 40 points on 16-of-24 shooting from the field, including combining to score Furman’s first 11 points of the contest. 

Leading the way in scoring for the Paladins was Noah Gurley’s 15 points, as he connected on 6-of-8 shots from the field, including 2-for-2 from three-point land and was 1-of-1 at the charity stripe. Gurley also contributed two rebounds, one block, one steal and one assist to finish out add to his game-high tying total.

Jalen Slawson (13 pts), Jordan Lyons (13 pts), Clay Mounce (12 pts), and Mike Bothwell (10 pts) rounded out the Paladins in double figures. Mounce also added a team-leading six rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block to round out a solid night. Slawson connected on 4-of-7 shots from the field, while four boards, a steal and an assist. Lyons finished connecting on 3-of-6 shots from the field, which included 3-for-5 from long range and was 4-of-5 from the free throw stripe. Alex Hunter had a team-high five assists and only one turnover, while adding nine points.

Evidence of Furman’s superior defensive performance would show up in cooling off what had been Mercer’s red-hot scoring threat Djordje Dimitrijevic, who had been averaging 25.0 PPG in his previous six outings coming into Wednesday night’s clash. The Paladins limited Dimitrijevic to just 2-for-13 shooting from the field, and 1-for-9 from three-point land in the win.

Mercer placed two in double figures, led by freshman guard Kamar Robertson’s 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field and a 5-for-8 performance from three. Center Maciej Bender was the only other Bear in double figures, finishing with 10 points. 

The Turning Point:

Trailing 16-11 following an Ethan Stair layup with 11:51 remaining in the opening half, answered with an Alex Hunter three-pointer, which commenced a 23-3 run over a 6:44 on the game clock to take control of the game, as a pair of Mike Bothwell free throws extended Furman’s lead to 15, at 34-19. That would remain the margin as the two teams entered the halftime locker room leading 39-24. Furman held Mercer to just one field goal over the final 11:30 of the opening half.

All told, the Paladins finished the half on a 28-8 run, using highlight dunks from Clay Mounce and Jalen Slawson, and a trio of triples from senior guard Jordan Lyons. With his three triples in the contes Lyons, a senior from Peachtree City, GA, set the school’s all-time career record for three-pointers made, with 274. Lyons surpassed Eric Webb’s 273 three-pointers over a four-year span, which established between 2003-07 as a standout guard for the Paladins. 

https://twitter.com/FurmanHoops/status/1225213137370173440?s=20

After shooting 57.1% (15-of-29) from the field in the opening half, the Paladins shot it even better in the second half, connecting on 65.0% (13-of-20) from the field, as the lead ballooned to as much as 29 in the second half before Furman ended up getting the 22-point win. All 12 Paladins that dressed out for the contest played. 

Quotable:

Jordan Lyons on setting a new program record for career three-pointers

“Oh man…it’s really special. First and foremost I’d like to thank Jesus and the Lord because they have blessed me with abilities that I have been able to utilize my entire life and I have been able to play in the Lord’s name and that’s really helped me succeed throughout my life and I will never take those blessings for granted and most importantly my father always asked me whenever something good happened if I had gotten on my knees to thank the Lord so that’s first and foremost and I will continue to play in His name and try and continue to use his blessings and gifts in this life. This record is never just going to be about me. There's no way possible I could've done it without the people in my life like the Peachtree City (Ga.) community back home and everybody who's involved with this program - all the coaches I've had and current coaches, all the former teammates and current teammates.”

Bob Richey on maintaining a high standard of winning over the past couple of years:

“That just goes into our culture and our drive to create a program that can sustain and that’s something we talk about whether it be in recruiting…whether it be in developing…whether it be in schematics…whether it be in game plans…we want to have a culture that sustains and whatever that is…a great player leaving…a coach getting another great job…seniors graduating. Our program’s got to last and it’s got to be here to stay and we don’t put so much emphasis on being some great team so to speak. Our whole job and what we’re trying to do is create a program that can sustain adversity, graduation, transfers and coaches leaving, and in order to that the program has to be bigger than every single individual and it’s got to have an identity and I think we’ve been able to create identity here. I think for us we go a little bit against the norm. Right now in college basketball is infatuated with transfers and every year there’s going to be 700, 800 or 900 transfers in the spring and they’re already starting to make calls on and who have you got transferring in…who’s transferring out? What we try is opposite and I am a little stubborn on it, but we don’t have a single transfer on our roster and we have very few kids transfer out and we’re a true developmental program and I think that’s been the key to it. There’s always somebody that’s ready to go next and has been acclimated to our culture and we don’t have to re-train guys where it’s like ‘hey you did it another way at another place’ alright…come see how we do it. Well instead, Johnny Lawrence and Marcus Foster are getting an everyday view of Jordan Lyons’ leadership and they’re getting a chance to see Clay Mounce and how he goes about his business and no one knows what those two kids are doing. Last week after the VMI game, this whole building cleared out, but Marcus Foster is one the gun shooting 500 threes because he understands what this program’s about so now all of the sudden in a couple of years they’re going to be saying ‘where did Marcus Foster come from’ right? We have invested in development and developing people and I think what we’ve seen is that it’s carrying over on the court. And look at Jalan Slawson…Look at his improvement from last year…How about Mike Bothwell?…Take for instance Colin Kenney tonight and the improvement he’s made in just this one year…So what that is this how they do it…This is the expectation every day and it doesn’t matter who’s graduating and it doesn’t matter who’s leaving…We’re going to do this in April, May and June and July and when you have consistency of system and you have a culture that can sustain any type of adversity or type of moving parts then you give yourself a chance to continue to win.”

Press Conference Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=167&v=2VHsciGI-Eo&feature=emb_logo

Up Next:

Furman will be on the road to face Western Carolina (15-7, 7-4 SoCon) at the Ramsey Center on Saturday afternoon, with tip-off set for 2 p.m. Furman won a close, well-played game on both ends, 83-79, last month. The Catamounts have won two-straight, including a 78-70 win at Samford Wednesday night. The Catamounts have already more than doubled their win total from a year ago under second-year head coach Mark Prosser.

Mercer returns to the floor Saturday, as East Tennessee State (20-4, 9-2 SoCon) visits Hawkins Arena, with tip-off time set for 4:30 p.m. The Bears handed the Bucs their only loss inside the friendly confines just last week, posting a 71-55 win at Freedom Hall.

Check back for a full recap of Wednesday’s action and takeaways from around the SoCon later today.