Greenville, S.C. – Furman's defense held East Tennessee State without a field goal for a stretch of 6:45 in the final minutes and PJay Smith Jr. converted on 3-of-4 trips to the foul line in the final 12 seconds to lift the Paladins to a 73-70 Southern Conference victory over the Buccaneers on Wednesday night at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
 
With the victory, Furman upped its record to 15-3 overall and 3-2 in the SoCon while the Bucs slipped to 10-8 overall and 3-2 in conference play.
 
Tied at 60-60 with under 3:45 to play, Furman's Nick Anderson nailed a three-pointer to give the Paladins the lead. After two straight stops on the defensive end of the floor, Ben VanderWal tipped in a Smith jumper to up the margin to five and Garrett Hien's steal on the next Buccaneer possession led to a layup for Smith to push the Furman advantage to 67-60 with 1:29 remaining.
 
An Eddrin Bronson free throw and Anderson triple extended Furman's lead to eight points, but ETSU's John Buggs III drained a three-pointer and finished a four-point play with a foul shot to end a drought of 6:45 without a field goal as the Bucs trimmed the deficit to 70-66 with 19.7 seconds left. After Smith hit 1-of-2 free throw attempts, ETSU's Quimari Peterson sliced the margin to one point with a driving layup. Smith converted on a pair of trips to the charity stripe with 2.9 seconds to go and Peterson's last second heave banged off the rim as time expired.
 
The victory marked the ninth time this season Furman rallied from a second half deficit to earn a win. Trailing by a point at halftime, the Paladins limited ETSU to 31% shooting, including 2-for-10 behind the arc over the final 20 minutes.
 
Smith paced the Paladins with 21 points on 6-of-11 shooting while Anderson added 14 points by hitting both of his three-point attempts and all four of his trips to the charity stripe. Bronson finished with 11 points to give the Paladins three players in double figures. Davis Molnar provided a spark off the bench with nine points and Hien posted seven rebounds and five assists to go with his five points.
 
Furman shot 44.4% from the field and converted on 18-of-25 trips to the foul line. The Paladins totaled 20 points off 14 ETSU turnovers and got 16 points from their bench. ETSU managed a 36-33 rebounding edge and netted 23 second-chance points on 15 offensive rebounds.
 
Peterson led ETSU with 21 points and Jaden Seymours contributed 18 points and eight rebounds. Buggs tallied 13 points while Karon Boyd grabbed a game-high 11 boards for the Bucs.
 
The Paladins conclude their three-game homestand hosting Chattanooga at the Well on Saturday at 5 p.m. Tickets for all Furman home games are available by clicking here.