Lexington, Va. – Furman shot 48.6% from three-point range and outscored VMI by 39 points from behind the arc to claim its third consecutive victory with a 100-60 decision over the Keydets on Wednesday night at Cameron Hall in Lexington, Va.
Alex Williams and
Carter Whitt combined for 29 first half points to help the Paladins build a 41-26 advantage at intermission and
Marcus Foster, playing for the first time since suffering a knee injury on December 2, netted all 18 of his points in the second half as Furman pulled away. The victory improved the Paladins to 9-9 overall and 3-2 in Southern Conference play while VMI dropped to 3-15 overall and 0-5 in the league.
Furman limited the Keydets to 1-for-10 shooting from three-point range in the first half while Williams and Whitt led the Paladins to a 6-for-16 effort from long range over the opening 20 minutes. In the second half, VMI trimmed the Furman lead to 52-39 on Taeshaud Jackson's triple with 13:58 to go, but the Paladins went on a 29-8 run over the next seven minutes to up their lead to 81-47 and seal the verdict. Foster scored 11 during the decisive stretch while PJay Smith and
Ben VanderWal chipped in with seven apiece.
Williams finished with a game-high 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting and grabbed six rebounds. Whitt matched Williams by connecting on 5-of-8 triples to score 21 points and Foster went 6-for-7 from the field in the second half to post a double-double with 18 points and 10 boards. Smith, 4-for-5 from three, rounded out the double-figure scorers with 13 points.
The Paladins shot 48% from the floor, including 18-for-37 from three-point range. Furman compiled a 45-35 edge on the glass and grabbed 12 or more offensive rebounds for the ninth time in the last 10 games. The Paladins' 13 offensive boards led to 19 second-chance points.
Tyran Cook and Stephen Olowoniyi led the Keydets with 14 points apiece and Devin Butler reached double digits with 11 points. Jackson grabbed a game-high 13 boards for VMI.
The Keydets shot just 38.7% from the field but connected on only 5-of-25 threes.
Furman is back in action at Timmons Arena at 2 p.m. on Saturday when it hosts the Western Carolina Catamounts Tickets are available at
FurmanPaladins.com.