JP Pegues drained a game-tying three-pointer with under a second left in regulation and Furman held The Citadel to 1-for-8 shooting in overtime to rally for an 82-79 road victory, Wednesday night.
The Paladins trailed by as many as 18 points late in the first half, faced a 72-69 deficit with under 25 seconds to play and The Citadel’s Madison Durr headed to the foul line.
The guard missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity, but Pegues missed a three with 10 second to go and the Paladins were forced to foul again.
Quentin Millora-Brown missed his one-and-one chance with under eight seconds left and Furman pushed the ball to Pegues on the right wing. The junior created space and nailed the game-tying triple with 0.8 left to force overtime.
After the Bulldogs and Paladins traded a pair of free throws in overtime, PJay Smith drained a three to put Furman in front. The Citadel made 1-of-2 at the line on the next possession before Marcus Foster converted a three-point play in the paint with 1:54 on the clock to up the Furman lead to 80-75.
The teams traded layups before Elijah Morgan hit two free throws for the Bulldogs with under a minute left to cut the lead to 82-79. Furman turned the ball over on its final two possessions, but The Citadel missed three game-tying chances from three-point range in the final 10 seconds.
Foster compiled 17 points, a career-best 15 rebounds, and career-high seven assists to notch his fourth double-double in five games since returning from injury. Pegues totaled 16 points and Smith netted 15 points on 4-of-8 shooting from three. Alex Williams added 12 points for the Paladins who shot 47% from the field and went 9-for-11 at the foul line.
The Paladins’ bench outscored The Citadel 33-2 and Furman managed a 17-7 advantage on points off turnovers.
A.J. Smith and Morgan finished with 24 points apiece for the Bulldogs, but Morgan tallied just two free throws over the final 25 minutes after scoring 22 first-half points. Keynan Davis scored 15 points and Millora-Brown posted 12.
The Citadel (9-13, 1-8 SoCon) hit five threes in the first half and shot 59.3% to build a 42-24 lead before Furman hit two triples to cut the margin to 42-30 at the break. The Bulldogs shot 47.6% from the field and 36.8% from behind the arc but connected on just 2-of-11 threes after halftime.
A pair of triples by Smith and a Ben VanderWal three helped Furman trim the deficit to single digits in the second half. Furman took its first lead with under eight minutes to go on a Carter Whitt layup and the schools traded the advantage five times before Pegues’ game-tying three at the end of regulation.
The win marked Furman’s 15th over The Citadel in the last 17 meetings.
Furman returns home on Sunday to celebrate “Hall of Fame Weekend” when it hosts UNC Greensboro at Timmons Arena. The Paladins will look to remain unbeaten at home in SoCon play. That game is set for a 2PM tip off, you can hear all the action on The Fan Upstate.