SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Senior Spencer Collins scored a game-high 21 points and the men's basketball team sent off its senior class with a thrilling victory, 77-73, over Southern Conference rival Furman, Saturday night at Benjamin Johnson Arena.
 
In front of the largest home crowd of the season, 3,120 announced, the careers of Collins, Justin Gordon, Zach Korkowski and C.J. Neumann were all honored. When the game began, all four were on the floor.
 
When it was over, they celebrated. Wofford's senior quartet scored 44 points on a combined 53-percent shooting. Collins' 21 was backed by 16 from Gordon and another seven from Neumann. Gordon and Neumann each grabbed five rebounds, leading the Terriers to a 26-19 advantage on the glass and a critical victory in terms of SoCon standings.
 
"This is a special group of seniors and they were genuinely fired up to get out here, compete and play a good basketball game," head coach Mike Young said. "Our seniors put us on their backs."
 
The Terriers went on an 8-0 run to turn a one-point Furman lead into a 64-57 game. Collins drained a 3-pointer at the 5:09 mark to close the run, bringing a raucous Benjamin Johnson Arena to its feet.
 
"There was great energy in this arena. The students were awesome and the Spartanburg community was here in full force."
 
Junior Eric Garcia gave Wofford its largest lead of the night, 69-61, with just over 2 minutes to play. Furman scored the next five points to make it a one-possession game, but Collins buried the dagger, draining a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left to make it a two-possession game. It was his final basket at Benjamin Johnson Arena.
 
Even after Collins' triple, Furman had one shot to potentially force overtime. The Paladins stole the ball away with 10 seconds left, but freshman Matt Rafferty's 3-pointer was well short.
 
When it was over, the lead had changed hands 18 times. At no point did either team hold a double-digit lead and for more than 30 minutes it was a four-point game or less.
 
"Wins in February are hard to come by. Each team knows exactly what the other is going to do and it comes down to kids making plays," Young added. "It comes down to hustle stats, offensive rebounds and making your foul shots. I'm really proud of this team. It was a heck of a win."
 
The win puts Wofford (15-14, 11-5 SoCon) into a tie with Furman (17-12, 11-5 SoCon) for third in the Southern Conference standings. East Tennessee State (19-10, 12-4 SoCon) is a game ahead in second and Chattanooga (24-5, 13-3 SoCon) remains in first.
 
Wofford shot 53 percent and survived a game in which Furman shot over 60 percent. They did so by hitting 16-of-21 free throws (76.2 pct.), only turning it over eight times and grabbing 10 offensive rebounds to just four for Furman.
 
Garcia scored 10 points and freshman Fletcher Magee scored 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting with a 3-for-5 mark from beyond the arc. Magee, the national leader in free throw percentage, hit all three attempts, increasing his season total to 92.6 percent (75-81).
 
For Furman, senior Stephen Croone scored a team-high 19 points, but was held scoreless on three attempts from the perimeter. Sophomore Devin Sibley had 18 on 7-of-10 shooting, freshman Matt Rafferty had 15 and junior Kris Acox finished with 10.
 
Wofford got the crowd into it with nine of the first 11 points. Furman quickly responded to tie the game at 11 and the two upstate rivals went back and forth. Furman's largest lead was just four, 22-18. A 3-pointer by Jaylen Allen tied things at 26 and another by Gordon - just his eighth of the season -- put the Terriers back in front. Furman's Geoff Beans answered with a triple from the right baseline at the first half horn to level the score at 31.
 
Wofford and Furman swapped leads eight times in the first five minutes of the second half. Neither team led by more than one possession from the 18:43 mark all the way until Ryan Sawvell hit two free throws to make it a 61-57 game with just 5:43 remaining.
 
Collins scored eight points in the final 5 minutes and Neumann iced away the game by hitting a free throw with 9 tenths of a second left to make it a two-possession game.
 
The Terriers conclude the regular season with a road trip to Western Carolina and ETSU next Thursday and Saturday. The 2016 Southern Conference Tournament begins March 4 in Asheville, N.C.
 
Terrier Notes:
- Spencer Collins climbed to ninth on Wofford's all-time scoring list. He passed Willie Pegram (1964-68) – great uncle of current freshman Matthew Pegram – and now has 1,671 career points.
- C.J. Neumann grabbed five rebounds, increasing his streak to 19 straight games with at least five rebounds.
- Fletcher Magee extended his double-figure scoring streak to nine games.
- Wofford splits the season series with Furman. Each of the last four meetings have been decided by four points or less. Wofford leads the series 24-17 in the Div. I era (1995-present).
- Wofford finishes the 2015-16 season with a home record of 11-2. The Terriers are 72-17 (.809) at home since the start of the 2009-10 season.