Greenville, S.C. – Chattanooga converted on 25-of-28 trips to the foul line and rallied from a 13-point second half deficit to down Furman, 75-71, in Southern Conference men's basketball action Saturday at Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
 
The Mocs (12-7, 4-2 SoCon) stepped up their defense down the stretch, holding Furman without a field goal from the 10:17 mark of the second half to 4:18 remaining in the game. After trailing by seven points at the break, Chattanooga faced a 41-28 deficit early in the second half before pulling within two points at 49-47. Furman answered with a run of its own to take a 58-50 advantage on Eddrin Bronson's free throws with 7:32 to play, but the Mocs outscored the Paladins 25-13 the rest of the way to earn the win.
 
Chattanooga reeled off a 15-2 run to grab a 65-60 advantage on Trey Bonham's triple with 3:33 to go. Furman trimmed the Mocs' lead back to one at 71-70 on a three from PJay Smith Jr. with 11 seconds to go before Honor Huff was fouled and converted on both of his free throw attempts with eight seconds left. Furman pushed the ball down the floor and Smith appeared to be fouled in the act of shooting a three-pointer, but after a lengthy discussion, the foul was ruled to be on the floor. The senior hit the first free throw and tried to intentionally miss the second, however, the shot failed to hit the rim. Bonham hit both free throws following a foul on the inbounds pass to up the Chattanooga lead to 75-71 and secure the victory for the Mocs.
 
Huff, Bonham, and Frank Champion each tallied 16 points for the Mocs, who fashioned a 38-27 edge on the glass and finished with a 17-3 advantage in second chance points on the strength of 12 offensive rebounds. Chattanooga, 44.2% from the field, shot 89.3% at the foul line and outscored the Paladins 34-22 in the paint after Furman notched the first 10 paint points of the night.
 
Furman connected on 10-of-23 three-point attempts, but the Paladins shot just 43.1% from the field and 17-of-28 at the charity stripe. Smith led the Paladins with 18 points while Nick Anderson added 15 on 5-of-7 shooting.
 
The Paladins scored the game's first 11 points and built a 22-6 lead early in the first half. Chattanooga started 2-for-17 from the field before shooting 60% (21-35) the rest of the way. 
 
Furman (15-4, 3-3 SoCon) hits the road for a pair of games this coming week. The Paladins travel to Lexington, Va., to take on VMI at 6 p.m. on Wednesday before facing the Mercer Bears on Saturday, January 25, at Hawkins Arena in Macon, Ga.