Jalen Slawson led four players in double figures with a game high 18 points on Saturday evening to lift the Furman men’s basketball team to a 75-50 Southern Conference victory over the Wofford Terriers from Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.
The win is Furman’s first over the Terriers in Spartanburg since a 73-68 overtime triumph on January 24, 2011.
The Paladins improve to 14-7 on the season and 6-2 in conference play, while Wofford drops to 12-8 overall and 4-4 in the league.
Slawson led all players with 18 points on 6-of-10 shooting, and 4-of-6 behind the 3-point line, and added five rebounds, three blocks and one assist. Mike Bothwell contributed 15 points, five rebounds, two assists and one block. Marcus Foster and Alex Hunter both finished with 10 points apiece. Foster grabbed five rebounds while Hunter and Conley Garrison each dished out four assists. Garrett Hien and JP Pegues both provided eight points.
B.J. Mack was the only Terrier to score 10 or more points after finishing with a team high 14 on 6-of-13 shooting. Isaiah Bigelow registered 10 rebounds and Ryan Larson five assists.
Furman outscored Wofford 9-3 over the final 3:09 of the first half after the Terriers had cut their deficit down to four almost a minute earlier. Mack made it a 28-24 game with 3:56 remaining before the Paladins scored nine of the next 10 points, highlighted by 3-pointers from Pegues and Bothwell, to take their largest lead of the half at 37-25 with 39 seconds left. Mack’s layup with 17 seconds to go sent Furman into halftime leading 37-27.
The Terriers got to within seven to begin the second half before being held scoreless for almost six minutes as the Paladins broke the game open courtesy of a 15-0 run. Furman went from leading 39-32 to holding a 54-32 advantage at the 13:10 mark following Bothwell’s 3-pointer. Bothwell scored seven points during the run while Hunter and Hien each connected on triples.
The Paladins led by at least 20 points over the final 7:57 of the contest beginning with a 3-pointer from Foster to put them ahead 62-40. Furman took its largest lead of the game at 75-46 with 1:19 remaining when Slawson knocked down a triple. Wofford scored the game’s final four points at the free throw line to make the final score 75-50.
The Paladins made 13 of their 22 field goal attempts (59.1 percent) in the second half and were 9-for-15 (60.0 percent) behind the 3-point line.
The 25-point win was Furman’s largest margin of victory over the Terriers since the 2005-06 season when it won by a score of 83-52 in Spartanburg.
The Paladins concluded the game shooting 50.0 percent (26-of-52) from the field and 48.6 percent (18-of-37) from 3-point range. Wofford finished at 37.8 percent (17-of-45) overall and 33.3 percent (5-of-15) behind the 3-point line.
Furman held the advantage in points off turnovers (15-7), second chance points (9-8), fast break points (13-5) and bench points (19-14).
The Paladins are back at Timmons Arena on Wednesday, January 26 to host VMI at 7 p.m.
Tickets for Wednesday's contest and all Furman home games at Timmons Arena are on sale now at the Timmons Arena Box Office and online at www.furmanpaladins.com. Fans can watch the game on ESPN+ and listen to the "Voice of the Paladins" Dan Scott on 97.7 FM/1330 AM in Greenville, 97.1 FM/950 AM in Spartanburg,thru Audacy.com and the streaming player below.
