By Justin Mathis (@J_Math23)
GREENVILLE, S.C. – Last week after a frustrating loss at home to Western Carolina, Bob Richey was vocal about needing more contributions from the Furman bench while dealing with some injuries.
One could say that message was received.
Following a road win at Chattanooga earlier this week, the Paladins returned home for a Southern Conference clash with Virginia Military Institute. A strong defensive effort and solid performance off the bench helped Furman (12-5, 3-1 SoCon) pull away for a 69-48 victory over the Keydets on Legends Weekend at Timmons Arena.
This marks the first time Furman has held a Division I foe under 50 points since an 85-42 win over The Citadel on February 26, 2025.
“I thought the game was a gritty game,” Richey said. “I couldn’t be more proud of our defensive effort. We had some guys really step up today. I thought we were connected. Our offense was okay. I thought when we got a shot, it was pretty good, but when we threw it to them, it was pretty bad. We’ll have to clean that up and get a little bit better there the next time we play them and be ready to execute on offense a little cleaner.”
At the under-8 timeout in the first half, Furman and VMI were deadlocked at 22 following an Eddrin Bronson triple from the wing. The redshirt sophomore provided a spark and rattled off a personal 8-0 run that pushed the Paladins ahead by a 29-27 margin.
That burst from Bronson turned into a 15-5 run for the Paladins over the last seven-plus minutes of the half as Ben Vander Wal notched a layup, Charles Johnston hit two free throws, and Alex Wilkins canned a jumper that built a 34-27 lead at the interval.
“We have a good relationship,” Bronson said about Richey. “He has a lot of trust in me and told me earlier in the week that he was going to stick with me. That relationship and that trust helps me to go out there, play confident, and just do what I’m capable of doing.”
“I thought he played a complete game,” Richey remarked about Bronson. “Ed is a player that I think has the talent to be an all-conference player in this league. I’ve thought that since his freshman year and still believe that. For us to go out and win a championship with this team, Ed Bronson is going to have to be part of that. Ed was our leading scorer in the NIT game at North Texas and made a big shot at Belmont last year to get that win. He’s had to find and restore his confidence a little bit, but we’re behind him and we love Ed. Days like today aren’t a shocker to me. I’ve seen him do that over and over. I have full faith that he’ll continue to be a big part of this going forward.”
Furman outscored VMI, 15-6, over the first five-plus minutes of the second stanza, which amounted to a 50-30 advantage. During the flurry, Wilkins buried a pair of three-pointers, as did Bronson. Shortly after, Mason Smith drained a triple at the 13:37 mark that pushed the Paladin lead to 21 points.
With under 10 minutes to play, Wilkins took an outlet pass off a defensive rebound, moved quickly up court, utilized a behind-the-back dribble and spin move to split three defenders and swished a runner in the lane for a 59-37 margin.
Defensively as a team, Furman held VMI to five field goals over the last 12:05 of regulation. To close out the first half, the Paladins forced the Keydets to miss their last seven shots from the floor as part of a 3:21 scoring drought. The determination in that aspect of the game is something the Paladins pride themselves on.
“That was our best defensive performance of the season,” Vander Wal exclaimed. “We had 10 kills (three stops in a row) in the game and usually, our goal is seven. I don’t think we’re going to lose a game if we have 10 kills. Ed was incredible today, but Cole (Bowser), Baba (Franklin), Owen (Ritger), and Mason – those guys came in and were ready to roll. Ultimately because of injuries, we ended up needing them. It shows the depth of our team and how hard we can play.”
Of note, two Furman players – Tom House and Asa Thomas – left the game in the first half and didn’t return. House left after a collision, while Thomas exited with a “lower body thing,” as described by Richey in the postgame press conference. VMI also saw Alexander Daushvili leave early in the contest due to an apparent injury and did not return.
“That (Western Carolina) game was my fault,” Richey said. “I didn’t think that I trusted our bench enough. We felt like we needed to embrace opportunity a little bit more. The easy answer would’ve been to slow it down, play five or six guys, and not trust our bench. What you end up doing is almost unintentionally dividing your team. Injuries aren’t fun and are part of the game.”
“Injuries also provide an opportunity for somebody. This has been a concerted effort from our program over the last seven days to say, ‘Hey, you know what, we’ve got to make sure we trust everybody.’ I thought that it was on full display today. We have some very good players who are out right now but have some very good players getting an opportunity right now. The whole has to be greater than the sum of its parts. We’ve got to depend on each other, be gritty, be glued together, and go for a common purpose.”
Wilkins posted a game-high 17 points for the Paladins, followed by Bronson with 16 and Vander Wal with 11 points and six boards. Johnston also tallied six points and pulled in a game-high 15 rebounds. Furman outscored VMI 22-10 in the paint, 18-12 in second chance points, and 26-15 off the bench.
Next up for Furman is a road trip to Birmingham, Alabama to face Samford on Wednesday before hosting Wofford next Saturday at 5 PM.
TJ Johnson notched a team-high 15 points for the Keydets, along with 10 points from Walker Andrews. VMI (6-11, 1-3 SoCon) will start a three-game homestand on Thursday against Mercer.
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