Wofford’s 17-0 run lifts Terriers to road win at Furman

By Justin Mathis (@J_Math23)

GREENVILLE, S.C. – As teams close in on the midway point of Southern Conference play, Wofford crossed over county lines for a Saturday matchup with Furman in front of a sellout crowd at Timmons Arena. 

 

In the first of two meetings between the longtime rivals, one key segment in the second half powered the Terriers to a 74-70 win over the Paladins.

 

Alex Wilkins and Eddrin Bronson each drilled a triple for the Paladins in the opening segment, but Nils Machowski canned a three-pointer as part of an 11-3 Wofford run for a six-point Terrier lead at the first media timeout. Shortly afterwards, Mason Smith and Abijah Franklin each notched a three-pointer and tied the game at 11.

 

A trio of free throws and Chace Watley jumper put Wofford ahead, 24-23, but a Franklin mid-range jumper and free throw pushed the Paladins ahead by a 27-23 margin with 6:23 left before halftime. With time winding down in the half, Cole Bowser muscled in a layup amid heavy traffic. Franklin then stole the ball off an inbound pass, squared up, and swished a triple from nearly 30 feet out for a seven-point Paladin advantage at the interval.

 

Wofford came out firing to begin the second stanza as Brian Sumpter tallied a layup and alley-oop dunk off a Machowski assist, which cut the deficit to three. Two Charles Johnston free throws, along with a Bronson three-pointer and Wilkins runner, made for a 10-point Furman lead, 46-36, with 15:47 to play.

 

Later, Wilkins found Bowser for an alley-oop dunk and Johnston tipped a tall pass to a wide open Ben Vander Wal in the post for a bucket for a 59-46 lead with 9:59 remaining. However, Wofford countered by uncorking a staggering 17-0 run over a near-seven minute span that propelled them ahead, 63-59, with 3:16 left in regulation. 

 

“I think we just locked in and played a lot harder,” Machowski remarked. “We stopped playing one on one, started playing as a team, and it worked out for us. We made a couple of stops in a row, started making our shots and layups, and went from there. We can use this as good momentum.”

 

Vasko kickstarted the run with consecutive baskets, followed by a Holmes mid-range shot. Five straight points from Machowski, along with back-to-back Holmes layups and a Sumpter bucket, ended it before Wilkins halted the run with four straight points, tying the game at 63 with 2:12 left.

 

“Give Wofford credit,” said Furman head coach Bob Richey. “They made a tremendous run late in the game when it appeared that we had control of the game up 13. I thought there was a lot of good we did for the first 30 minutes of the game in particular, but I thought that once we started struggling to guard, we got way too stagnant offensively. I thought tonight that our shot selection was probably the worst it has been all year and somehow, you still scratch to 70. We will learn from this, watch it and be dead honest with ourselves in terms of what happened during that 17-0 run, get off the mat, and quickly turn the page to get to the next game.”

 

Machowski subsequently drilled a triple from the left wing that provided a five-point cushion for Wofford. Franklin swished a triple from the left side with 11 seconds left, but two Machowski free throws sealed the road win for the Terriers.

 

“We started getting stops,” Wofford head coach Kevin Giltner exclaimed about the second half. “That energized the team and really gave us a lot of juice. It fueled our offense and defense. We played with a lot of grit and rebounded really, really well. When we score like that, it keeps (Furman) out of transition, in which they are deadly. This is going to do a lot for us. We needed a win because we didn’t want to lose three in a row and the third being against our rival. It can be jet fuel to energize us. This will do a lot for us, but we’ve got to turn the page quickly.”

 

Wilkins led the way for Furman (13-6, 4-2 SoCon) with a team-high 19 points, followed by Franklin with 14 points and Vander Wal with 10. Furman outscored Wofford, 23-4, in bench points and 18-10 in second-chance points. Of note, Furman guard Mason Smith left the game with an undisclosed injury in the first half and did not return.

 

The Paladins start a two-game road trip as they visit The Citadel Wednesday and UNC Greensboro on Saturday.

 

Machowski and Holmes each posted a game-high 20 points for Wofford (12-7, 4-2), while Watley tallied 15 points and Sumpter added 10. Wofford outscored Furman, 44-26, in the paint and 18-11 in points off turnovers. 

 

Next up for the Terriers is a home game against Samford on Saturday at 6 p.m.