The Furman Men’s Basketball Team overcame the Wofford Terriers during a highly anticipated game in downtown Greenville at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena on Saturday. The game was a part of the “Weekends at the Well” series and was the third to last game of the regular season. The final score was 70-69.
The game opened to a rough start for the Paladins, with Wofford going on a 10-point run in the first three minutes. After a timeout, Furman recovered from their slump and quickly regained the ground that had been lost, gaining the lead and expanding it throughout the first half. The score at the end of the half was 35-23.
Coming into the second half, Dins fans were treated to what is rapidly beginning to feel like a bad episode of a TV show on rerun: the Furman halftime hangover. While the Paladins continued to score, they failed to keep pace with the Terriers, who were perpetually nipping at their heels. With 6:24 left on the clock, Wofford took the lead with 58 points over Furman’s 57.
The score remained tight as the two teams battled it out. At 3:28 the Paladins reclaimed the lead and began to show signs of rallying, putting five points in between themselves and the Terriers and bringing the score to 70-65. After another two points had been scored by Wofford, a questionable technical foul was called on Furman’s Garrett Hien, which afforded two additional free throws to the Terriers, as well as possession of the ball. Wofford’s Ryan Larson made the free throws and the score was brought to 70-69 with 53 seconds left on the clock. Fortunately for the Paladins, Wofford proved unable to capitalize on this opportunity. After missing two shots, the ball was finally recovered and held by Furman’s Conley Garrsion, resulting in a narrow victory for the Dins.
Saturday’s game was a significant victory for the Paladins, who lost a similarly close game a week prior to leading conference team Chattanooga. The win over Wofford not only granted fans the home win that they had been hoping for, it also demonstrated a capacity on Furman’s part to recover from the halftime hangover. With only two more regular season games left before the conference playoffs, this recovery may be a hopeful sign regarding Furman’s SoCon prospects.
