The Furman Paladins went on the road last Saturday to face off against the undefeated Princeton Tigers. Both Furman and Princeton had similar Cinderella runs in last year’s NCAA Tournament, with the Tigers’ run lasting to the Sweet Sixteen, including an upset of #2 seed Arizona. Princeton had a strong 7-0 record to begin this season, headlined by a 7-point victory over Rutgers. The Paladins went into the game as 6.5 point underdogs and were 0-1 on the road.
The first half saw both teams get off to slow starts. The Tigers, who rely heavily on three-pointers, only connected on two threes in the first half. They would go on to post a very lackluster 4-31 on the day. Most of the first half was filled with sloppy play by both teams with Furman taking a one-point advantage into the break. The most notable story of the first half was Marcus Foster (guard), Furman’s current season leading scorer had only three points and did not return to play in the second half due to injury. While his status for the upcoming game this Monday is unknown, Foster’s health will make a big difference for the Dins moving forward.
As the second half began, a Foster-less Dins squad proved their resilience by starting the half on an 8-0 run. They maintained a lead from there that grew to as large as 11 points with 6:25 to go after a JP Pegues (guard) three-point jumper. From that moment on, the Tigers’ sophomore guard Xaivian Lee took over the game, connecting on circus layup after circus layup. With Furman on their heels, the Tigers hit their third three of the game with 1:38 to go to tie it up at 67. The lead was only squandered momentarily as JP Pegues attacked the rim for a nice layup to put the Dins back up.
The last thirty seconds of the game was a nightmare for the Dins. The Tigers were able to attempt four shots in their final possession due to three key offensive rebounds. On the fourth attempt, the Tigers’ Matt Allocco (guard) drained a three from the left wing putting Princeton ahead 70-69 with 4.2 seconds left. With no timeouts, the Dins inbounded the ball to Pegues, triggering flashbacks to the NCAA Tournament “shot” against Virginia for Furman fans. Unfortunately, history did not repeat itself and Pegues’ jumper missed off the right side of the rim.
Falling to 4-4 now on the season, Furman has many questions surrounding their squad, including the injury of Foster. The Dins will attempt to avenge this tough loss when they face Arkansas on Monday, Dec. 4.
