The Paladins competed in Bon Secours Wellness Arena on Dec. 17 against the Stephen F. Austin University Lumberjacks, a college basketball team that infamously defeated Duke with a buzzer beater three years prior. The two teams faced off with relatively equal records, with SFA and Furman entering the arena at a 6-4 and 7-4 record respectively.  

The first half of the match was nothing but complete domination by the Paladins due to the Dins’ ability to catch rebounds and perform a perfectly coordinated defense. The Paladins’ offensive shots racked up and remained mostly unanswered by SFA for most of the first half, ending the half-time at 44-22 favoring Furman. 

In the second half, however, the SFA Lumberjacks scored approximately twenty points consecutively that went mostly unanswered by the Paladins, evening out the score and turning the game into a tight nail-biter. With less than 40 seconds remaining, SFA scored a three pointer that increased their lead to 68-72. With only 39 seconds to go and with 5 points needed for a win, it seemed that the Paladins would have to pull off a miracle in order to stave off defeat. 

Their miracle came within practically seconds as the officials reviewed and deemed that the ball had not left the SFA shooter’s hands before the buzzer sounded 0 (each team has precisely 30 seconds to score either a two- or three-pointer before possession falls into the other team), and thus the three-point shot was no good. With only seconds remaining, the score evened out to 70-70 with the Paladins in possession with 9 seconds left on the clock for the game. The Dins rushed forward, and Mike Bothwell (guard) successfully landed a two-pointer throw with less than two seconds on the clock, securing the win for Furman and leading Furman into an 8-4 record facing off against Anderson University.