Furman sweeps Chattanooga to win its third in a row

Final: Furman 75 - 70 Chattanooga

The fans were home, staying safe from the winter weather, but Furman students filled the gap and helped power the Dins to their third straight conference win. Furman leapt out to yet another big lead with energy from the students and the return of Cooper Bowser to the lineup. Yet again, they let the opponent back into the game in the second half, but an enormous performance from Alex Wilkins helped Furman over the top.

1. Wilkins’ scoring numbers jump off the stat sheet, putting up 33 and scoring it efficiently. Wilkins entered the game only shooting about 30% from three, but Bob Richey has mentioned several times that he is a 40% shooter in practice. He’s been forced into a lot of tough shots at the end of the shot clock, but really knocks them down when he has time to step into them. This game, a lot of his threes came from kick outs or offensive rebounds, which helped him go 6-8 from three. He shot 62.5% from the field overall.

2. Wilkins put up the first 30 point game from a Furman freshman since Jason Stewart in 1995-96. via SoConJohn on X.

3. The first half was dominant. Furman held UTC to 23 points and forced Dan Earl to use all four of his timeouts before the ten minute mark. The defense was good, Chattanooga seemed unmotivated, and it seemed like early everything Furman shot was going in.

4. The second half not so much… Shooting averages were bound to even out in the second half, but Furman went ice cold while Chattanooga put up 47 second half points. Giving up large leads is a consistent problem with this team, but it’s not an unfixable issue. It seems pretty identifiable that the Dins start settling for threes which leads to longer rebounds and quicker offense for the opponents. Up 49-30 with 17:18 remaining, Furman went cold, shot 3 threes, and turned it over twice. Add on two offensive rebounds for Chattanooga, and you have a 19 point game become a 6 point game after 4 minutes of game time. Furman had no shots inside the paint and 0 drawn fouls, even with Cooper Bowser in the game. As guys get used to Cooper being back, he should be someone they involve more when shots stop falling.

5. Cooper Bowser’s return was successful. On a minutes restriction, Bowser was still able to impact the game especially defensively. Bowser can play 1 on 1 in the paint against any big in the league and often comes away with a block or forcing a miss. He scored 9 points and uncharacteristically missed a couple shots, though one was on a late lob pass. He made up for it by going 3-4 at the free throw line and giving us a little Bowser to Bowser action for Cole to score an and one.

6. It felt more comfortable for Ben Vander Wal to be back in his role with Boswer on the court and he definitely showed it. Vander Wal thrives in the in-between spots where he can impact the game with steals, blocks, and timely rebounds. Without Bowser he had to play a traditional 4 at times which limited his flexibility. Vander Wal’s all-around stat line in this one: 7 points (75% FG), 7 rebounds (1 offensive), 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks.

7. Stopping the run: There was a noticeable step up in defensive intensity which Furman used to hold off a finishing run from Chattanooga. Forcing Dan Earl to use all of his timeouts in the first 10 minutes was certainly an advantage. Defense is where all of the success for this team will come from.

8. I’d assume Abijah Franklin has earned and will find minutes, especially with Asa Thomas still out. He is likely working back to full fitness from the flu, which can really zap your conditioning.

Furman will return to the court with an enormous midweek game against SoCon leaders ETSU, in Johnson City. With a win, Furman would move into a four-way tie for first place, depending on results elsewhere. Full stats from Sunday’s game below:

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