Furman outlasts Samford, advances to SoCon semifinals

By Justin Mathis (@J_Math23)

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Sometimes, the biggest play doesn’t always show up in the box score.

 

In his postgame press conference Saturday, Furman head coach Bob Richey pointed out that junior forward Cooper Bowser elected to sacrifice some of his playing time for his team to have better matchups against Samford.

 

“One thing I remembered was my sophomore year,” Bowser explained. “I remember there was a conversation that Coach had with a senior named Tyrese Hughey. He asked him to come off the bench so I could start and get my feet wet. I was thinking back to that, about how he sacrificed for me at the time and for me to pay it forward and sacrifice for these guys. It was no question in my mind that I was going to come off the bench for this team.”

 

That decision proved fruitful as Furman and Samford engaged in a high-scoring affair. Despite a stellar showing from SoCon Player of the Year Jadin Booth, the Paladins held on for an 86-81 victory over the Bulldogs.

 

Both teams emerged from halftime deadlocked at 49, but the second half featured even more offensive fireworks. Booth and Cade Norris each drained a three-pointer, creating a two-point Bulldog lead, but a Ben Vander Wal stick-back tied the game moments later.

 

That basket started a string of four made baskets in as many trips for the Paladins, which also featured an Asa Thomas steal and layup, an Abijah Franklin triple, and another Vander Wal bucket for a 59-54 lead with 12:32 to play. Alex Wilkins tallied a pair of baskets, but Norris drained another three that cut it down to four point margin with nine minutes left.

 

“I can’t explain how proud I am of my team,” Samford head coach Lennie Acuff said. “I’m so obviously very disappointed for them. (Furman) hit us with a haymaker to start the game. I think they made something like eight out of their first 10, but we didn’t flinch. I don’t count wins so much as I count memories. Samford is a special place. I work for a great president, a great athletic director, and board. I’m heartbroken about tonight. I knew we would have to play well, and it would have taken our best because they played awfully well. I am blessed and equally excited about the future, because I think we can build something really special here.”

 

“They are one of the hottest teams in the league,” Richey stated without hesitation. “They have the Player of the Year in Booth, one of the best post players in the league. I haven’t seen many shooting performances like what Booth put on tonight. We knew we were going to have to do a better job on him in the second half and take away some of his looks, and not allow him to just continue to shoot like he was.”

 

“We knew it was going to take everybody, take a team effort. It’s the humility of our group that a guy like Cooper Bowser would say, ‘Hey, we feel like we gotta play single big a lot of the night.’ It takes that type of connection and type of culture to really be able to die to self in those moments. It’s not going to be about who starts, it’s going to be about everybody. We’re going to have to play team basketball in order to have success in this tournament.”

 

Dylan Faulkner tallied a takeaway and quick finish at the rim, pulling Samford within a 66-65 margin with under seven minutes to go, but Furman found a 9-0 burst featuring a Cole Bowser basket from just outside the lane. Norris splashed a shot from deep to pull the Bulldogs back within seven, but the Paladins went 10-for-11 at the charity stripe – including five straight by Tom House – to seal the win.

 

House paced the Paladins with a team-high 20 points, while Wilkins finished with 19 points. Cooper and Cole Bowser also tallied 14 and 10 points, respectively. Furman outscored Samford, 48-6, in bench points, 32-20 in points in the paint, 15-6 in second chance points, and 11-9 in points off turnovers. Furman will face off against UNC Greensboro at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday.

 

Booth poured in a game-high 34 points for Samford, along with 12 points by Faulkner and 11 points apiece from Cade and Keaton Norris. The Bulldogs shot 27-for-55 from the floor and 13-for-29 from three-point land. Samford finishes the season at 18-14 overall.