Box Score Box Score
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Wofford College men’s basketball team lost 67-61 to Furman on Monday night at Timmons Arena. The Paladins rebounded from their 33-point loss earlier this season in Spartanburg to win their second-straight home game.
Wofford is 14-13 overall and 7-10 in SoCon play. Furman is 6-20 overall and 5-12 in conference play. Wofford was led by Drew Gibson and Junior Salters with 15 points each. Noah Dahlman had a career-high 14 rebounds for the Terriers. Furman was led by George Brazos with 18 points and Alex Opacic with 14 points and eleven rebounds.
“We had some good shots tonight, but for some reason we are not shooting as well as we are capable of,” said Wofford head coach Mike Young. “I am going to need to go back and look at this and see if our rhythm is off or if we are not driving to the basket like we should be doing. Noah Dahlman really battled tonight, but he does that everyday and tonight was no exception. He got some huge defensive rebounds for us tonight, we just did not get much done on the offensive end.”
The Terriers jumped out to a 6-2 lead at the 17:21 mark, with all six points from Corey Godzinski. A three-pointer from George Brazos tied the game at 10-10six minutes in to the game. After the game was tied at 12, the Paladins scored the next four points. Shane Nichols then hit a three-pointer to pull within one at 16-15.
After a basket by George Brozos with 4:12 remaining, the Paladins had a 25-20 lead. Shane Nichols hit his second three-pointer of the night, which was followed by a basket from Terry Martin for a 27-25 Furman lead with 2:29 on the clock. Two free throws by Noah Dahlman tied the game, then a driving basket by Drew Gibson gave the Terriers a 29-27 lead with 65 seconds left. However Alex Opacic tied the game and Jordan Miller hit a free throw and the Paladins took a 30-29 lead into the break.
Wofford opened the second half with a basket and free throw by Drew Gibson to take the lead at 32-30. The Terriers opened a four-point lead after a basket by Corey Godzinski at 36-32 at 16:45. A three-pointer by Justin Dehm returned the lead to Furman at 40-38 at 13:15. After a basket by Darryl Evans at 11:30 to take a 42-38 lead, Junior Salters hit three-straight three-pointers, but each one was matched by the Paladins with a basket. Another basket by Salters gave the Terriers the lead at 49-48 with 7:55 remaining in the game.
The Paladins took the lead again with a basket by Bobby Austin, but a three by Shane Nichols gave the Terriers a 52-50 lead. Drew Gibson hit a couple of free throws to go up four points. A bucket by Noah Dahlman kept the Wofford lead at four at 56-52, but the Paladins scored the next six points to regain the lead at 58-56. Shane Nichols tied the game at 58 with 3:14 on the clock. However to end the game, the Paladins outscored the Terriers 9-3, including four free throws in the final 22 seconds.
The Wofford shot 31.3% from the floor and 31.8% from three. The Terriers were 87.5% from the line. The Paladins were 44.6% from the floor and 24.0% from behind the arc and 64.7% from the free throw line. The Paladins had a 44-37 lead on the boards.
The Terriers have now dropped their last four conference games and have their first four-game losing streak of the season. Four Terriers scored in double figures. Alex Opacic had the double-double for the Paladins.
The Terriers will continue the three-game road trip at Chattanooga on Saturday night and at Western Carolina on February 28. Wofford returns home for the final regular season game on March 1 against The Citadel.
