Box Score Game Box (pdf)
Game Highlights
SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The Wofford men’s basketball team was defeated 73-68 in overtime by Furman on Monday night at Benjamin Johnson Arena. The Terriers used a 13-0 run to take a lead late in the second half, but the Paladins scored the first seven points in overtime to secure the victory.
Wofford is 10-10 on the season and 7-2 in the Southern Conference and Furman is 15-5 overall and 7-2 in SoCon play. The teams are tied for second in the SoCon South standings. Wofford was led by Noah Dahlman with 24 points, while Jamar Diggs added 14 points. Tim Johnson led all players with eight rebounds. The Paladins were led by Amu Saaka with 22 points, followed by Noah States and Brandon Serirumbi with 15 each.
“When you take a step back, that was a great college basketball game between two very fine teams going at it,” said Wofford head coach Mike Young. “Furman made a couple more plays than us tonight and I tip my hat to them. They have a nice outfit and we knew that. They got the first one. We are in good shape and there is a lot left to play. We have nine more and while we did not play our best, I thought we got a little better in the second half.”
The Terriers scored first, but the Paladins were able to take an early 12-6 lead at the 15:22 mark. Wofford tied the game at twelve after a three by Kevin Giltner and it was also tied at 14 after a shot by Terry Martin. The Terriers had an 18-17 lead at the 11:56 mark, however the Paladins went on a 10-0 that included two three-pointers.
Wofford ended the run with a three by Cameron Rundles for a 27-21 score with 7:22 left in the half. The Paladins kept an eight point lead until the final minute of the half when Jamar Diggs hit a three and Noah Dahlman added a lay-up for a 37-33 score at the break. In the first half the Paladins shot 68.0% from the floor and were 3-of-5 on three pointers.
To open the second half, Furman hit a three and a lay-up to go up 42-33. With the score 37-44 at the 17:50 mark, neither team scored for the next three minutes until Brad Loesing hit a free throw. The lead remained between six and eight points until there was 10:14 on the clock. With the score 53-45, the Terriers would use a 13-0 run in just two minutes to take a 54-53 lead after a lay-up by Noah Dahlman gave Wofford a 58-53 lead.
The Paladins were able to regain the lead at 59-58 after four straight points by Amu Saaka with 3:45 left in the half. Shots by Noah Dahlman and Brad Loesing made it a 62-59 lead with 2:49 on the clock. The Paladins tied the game with 3-of-4 free throws. Wofford got the ball back with 33 seconds remaining and held for the last shot. A lay-up by Cameron Rundles bounced off as time expired and the game went to overtime.
In the extra period, the Paladins scored the first seven points as the Terriers missed their first seven shots. Jamar Diggs got the Terriers on the board with a basket at the 1:56 mark and added two free throws thirty seconds later to make it a 69-66 game. Furman still had a three point lead at 71-68 after two more free throws by Jamar Diggs. However in the final thirty seconds the Terriers would miss four shots and the Paladins hit two free throws for the 73-68 final score.
Wofford shot 41.8% from the floor and was 26.7% from three. From the free throw line, the Terriers were 53.3%. Furman was 54.0% overall and was 41.7% from behind the arc. They were 87.5% from the line. Wofford had a 35-31 lead on the boards and committed one fewer turn over. The game was the fourth overtime contest of the season for Wofford and the Terriers are now 1-3 in overtime games. Wofford is also 1-10 on the season when trailing at the half.
Wofford heads up the mountain on Thursday night for a trip to Appalachian State. The game against the Mountaineers will air at 7:00 pm on SportSouth and is a rematch of the 2010 Southern Conference Championship game. The Terriers will return home on Saturday at 7:00 pm against Western Carolina.
