A season for the history books has now come to a close after Furman's loss over the weekend in the NCAA Tournament. The Paladins ran into a " buzzsaw" Saturday falling to San Diego State, 75-52 in Orlando.
An 11-0 run by the Aztecs in the 1st half helped them take control. They would close the 1st half outscoring Furman 20-8 in the final 8 minutes. They held the Paladins without a field goal for over 6 minutes in that stretch. SDSU led 39-25 at the half and the Paladins never recovered.
Cold shooting hurt Furman, as they hit just 32% from the floor and 23% from 3-point range. SDSU shot 50% of their shots and dominated the points in the paint.
Furman had three players in double figures. Mike Bothwell had a team high 15, JP Pegues had 10, but shot 3 of 15 from the field. Alex Williams added 11 off the bench, SoCon Player Of The Year Jalen Slawson was held to just 8 points. He left the game after being on the wrong end of a collision in the 1st half. He returned to the line up , a few minutes later.
San Diego State had 4 players in double figures. Micah Parsons had a game high 16 points , Darrion Trammell had a baker's dozen, Lamont Butler had 12 and Matt Bradley added 10.
The loss brings Furman's season of historic achievements to a close. Furman finishes the season with 28 wins, which is a program record for single-season victories. The Paladins won the SoCon Tournament and made the NCAA's for the 1st time since 1980, and won an NCAA Tournament game for the 1st time in nearly 50 years.