Final: Furman 77 - 73 Samford
After the VMI win, it was evident that Furman would be extremely shorthanded going into one of the toughest weeks of the season. Injuries to both Asa Thomas and Tom House on Saturday left Furman with 8 scholarship players available. Early in the season, Coach Richey had been reluctant to play an 8 man rotation, hoping to get more guys on the floor and prevent fatigue at the end of games. But going into Samford, he was forced into it. Furman weathered an initial storm, trailing by 6 at the 4:25 mark in the first half. But they fought back, tying the game on an Alex Wilkins floater before half, and never trailed again.
Another eye-popping performance for Alex Wilkins: Wilkins set himself another career high in points and did it in all phases of the game. He began the game with 8 straight points including 2 threes, keeping up with the Bulldogs quick start. He finished the first half well, dishing it to Johnston for a dunk and going full court to float in the game-tying bucket with 1 second to go. Wilkins came out in the second half scoring 4 of the first 6 points, giving Furman the 46-40 advantage and forcing a quick timeout from Lennie Acuff. Finally, to wrap up the game he scored 5 points in the final 4 minutes, including the game sealing free throw. A career high scoring night from Wilkins and he managed to keep his passing going, dropping 5 dimes as well.
Johnston was challenged and still came out looking good. Samford runs a lot of their offense through Dylan Faulkner, especially when Jadin Booth isn’t hitting his shots. Johnston was often tasked with defending 1-on-1 and though he eventually fouled out with a few seconds remaining, he held up well in the paint. Johnston grabbed 14 rebounds and had 9 points. 3 of those, his only three of the night, may have been the biggest bucket of the game. When Samford drew to within 1, Johnston calmly knocked down a three and grabbed the rebound on the defensive end of the floor. Johnston is quietly plugging along, while not having his best shooting season, he is on pace to average a double double for the year.
There’s not much to say about Ben VanderWal that we haven’t already. He did his thing today guarding the opponent’s best scorer, holding Booth to 4-11 from the floor. Samford often played with four guards and VanderWal was not getting blown by.
The resilience of this Paladin team shined last night as different guys stepped up throughout the game to provide both offensive and defensive sparks. Mason Smith, often playing no minutes early in the season played 25 tonight. He hit two threes, grabbed a whopping 11 rebounds! and closed the game on the floor as a reliable free throw shooter. Owen Ritger only saw 7 minutes tonight, but hit a huge turnaround jumper to keep the Paladins rolling in the second half.
Cole Bowser’s first start. He was hampered with foul trouble but still knocked in two threes and grabbed 4 rebounds. He finished with 8 points in 18 minutes and truly looked like he belonged in his first career starting lineup.
Furman continues to dominate the boards. The Dins allowed only 6 offensive rebounds while grabbing 25 themselves and won the rebounding battle overall (43-32).
Defensive adjustments: The defense looked like they might struggle to get stops and let the game get away from their offense. In the second half they tightened up, adjusting to the pick and roll from Samford and forcing a lot of quick threes. Furman held Samford to their lowest point total since their game at VCU (12/5), where they scored 57. Bob Richey’s squad has outscored every team in the second half during December and January. They’re holding SoCon opponents to an average of 30 points in the second half.
Estimated injury timelines:
Collin O’Neal: Keep an eye out, should be ready any day now
Tom House: Will play when he clears concussion protocol
Cooper Bowser: Estimated timeline is 1.5 weeks
Asa Thomas: Will be out until mid-February.
The Dins were shorthanded, but it didn’t matter. Winning these games translates directly to March, when Furman will be back healthy and humming. Furman plays Wofford at Timmons Arena this Saturday, looking to keep momentum going.
Stats from the game via ESPN:
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