Final: Furman 78 - 73 Samford
Well, if anything, this team has a knack for making fans sweat. After building a 14 point lead with around 10 minutes to go, Furman allowed Samford to cut that lead to 2. Largely because Jadin Booth started heating up, who Furman had limited to just two made shots in the first half. Then Eddrin Bronson, who stepped in at point guard, made a great pass to Johnston for a layup and took to the paint himself and pushed the lead back to 6. Soon after, with only 90 seconds remaining, another Bronson assist to Tom House gave the Dins what looked like a comfortable 9 point lead to finish out the game. A trio of errors including a 5 second call, fouling a three point shooter, and fouling again the next possession allowed Samford to somehow cut the lead back to 2. Bronson stepped in once again, making two free throws to put the game out of reach. It seems like Furman may be the Cardiac Paladins, but we sure hope it doesn’t continue that way!
Furman has won its last five games against Samford and is 8-2 in the last 10 games in the series. Coach Richey will be happy to have welcomed longtime friend Lennie Acuff to the SoCon with an 0-2 start against his Paladins.
Coach Richey believed efficiency was one of the keys to the victory: “Efficient offense, there’s nothing better…When the ball was going side to side, we were screening, we were spaced well, the ball was popping. I mean we were getting some layups, we’re getting tee up threes, we’re getting drives”.
Getting the open shots are what have helped Tom House heat up and allowed Wilkins the space to be able to get to the rim.
I mentioned it above, but Eddrin Bronson was enormously important in the closing stages of the game. Bronson was still getting over the flu bug that had put him and Baba Franklin out of the UNCG game, so he was questionable coming in. But with Wilkins and eventually Vander Wal out with fouls, Bronson took over the ball handling and finished without a turnover. He handed out three assists, including 2 in the final 2 minutes. As mentioned above, he finished a tough, clutch basket to put Furman up two possessions before hitting two free throws. Bronson has had some rocky moments but is absolutely a guy the Dins need to finish out games like this.
Tom House, again! Tom House has really started to feel his shot again and this time he got rolling in the paint and midrange. House had three layups and a three in the first half, keeping Furman on top while Faulkner had his way inside as well. In the second, House hit five more shots, including a tough three to add to his silky smooth midrange. House has come alive when Furman most needs it. He finished with 21 points on 8-14 from the field.
Charles Johnston was an animal down in the post, holding Samford to one shot on most possessions. He grabbed his career high 16 rebounds in a rebounding battle with Dylan Faulkner. Johnston has double digit rebounds in 13 of 22 games for the Dins. He’s .2 rebounds per game away from averaging a double double this season.
Alex Wilkins, just stayed resilient. He put up 20 points on only 9 shots before some interesting foul calls put him out of the game. Samford was hunting him for his third foul and got the benefit of some calls on the offensive end when they decided to fall over. He started out slow with turnovers, as did the team, but bounced back and helped extend the lead before fouling out. Without Alex’ 13 second half points, the Samford comeback may have been enough to beat the Paladins.
Injury Report: Furman was down to 8 guys again, and two fouled out by the end of the game. The good news: Furman should get both Abijah Franklin and some minutes from Cooper Bowser against Chattanooga this weekend.
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Strong breakdown of the closing stretch. Bronson stepping up while battling the flu is huge, especially with those clutch assists and freethrows. I caught the game and the 14-point lead evaporating was pretty nerve-wracking. House finding his shot at the right time has been key for this team lately, his midrange looked smooth again. Johnston's rebouding consistency is understated.