Ingles SoCon Men's Basketball Championship Bracket
Greenville, S.C. – Furman notched its school-record 25
th regular season win, matched last season's record for overall victories and reached 15 Southern Conference wins for the first time with an 82-58 triumph over The Citadel in Southern Conference men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon at Timmons Arena in front of a sellout crowd.
Sophomore
Noah Gurley connected on 7-of-11 shots from the field and 4-of-6 free throws to pace the Paladins with 20 points, while junior
Clay Mounce came off the bench to score 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting.
Mike Bothwell added 13 and
Alex Hunter contributed 12 as the Paladins finished the regular season with a perfect 12-0 mark at Timmons Arena.
Despite a slow start, the Paladins carried a 29-21 advantage into halftime and put the game away with an 11-0 run early in the second half. After The Citadel connected on a free throw to open the period, Bothwell buried back-to-back threes and Gurley drained a triple to open up a 38-22 lead. Gurley then fed senior
Jordan Lyons for a layup to put the Paladins in front 40-22 with 17:38 to go.
The Citadel trimmed the margin to 12 points before a 16-5 Paladin run pushed the lead to 23 on Mounce's basket with 7:40 left. The Bulldogs climbed back to within 18 points, but a late 10-0 run, powered by five points from Mounce extended the cushion to 80-51 as Furman cruised to the win.
The Paladins shot 45.5% from the field, including 56.3% in the second half, and made 12-of-16 free throw attempts. Along with a 36-34 edge on the glass, Furman forced 20 turnovers, recorded 13 steals and managed a 22-12 edge in points off turnovers.
Kaelon Harris led the Bulldogs with 24 points. The Citadel shot 45.1% from the field, but made just 5-of-19 three-point attempts.
Prior to tip-off, Furman honored Lyons, its lone senior, who was playing his last regular season game at Timmons Arena. The Peachtree City, Ga., native scored nine points to go with two boards, two assists and two steals as the Paladins matched the school record for wins at 25.
The Paladins will be the No. 2 seed for the SoCon Men's Basketball Championship and will face either Wofford or The Citadel in the quarterfinal round on Saturday at 6 p.m. at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C. Get your tickets at FurmanPaladins.com or by visiting the Timmons Arena Box Office and come support the Paladins as they look to punch their ticket to the Big Dance!
