SPARTANBURG, S.C. - The Wofford men's basketball team hosted Furman on Friday night, scoring the first 12 points of the game and never looking back as the Terriers downed the Paladins 66-52 in Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.

Wofford shot 49.1 percent from the floor, outrebounding Furman 29-25 while forcing 15 turnovers and committing just 11 all night. Chevez Goodwin and Nathan Hoover shined in the win, totaling 18 (8-for-13) and 17 (7-for-10) points, respectively, while senior Trevor Stumpe made key buckets late, finishing with 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting. As a team, the Terriers held the Paladins to 25 percent shooting from 3-point range and 39.2 percent from the floor, limiting Jordan Lyons to three points.

"It all started with the leaders of our team," said Wofford head coach Jay McAuley. "On our bus ride home the other night (Chattanooga), we had a lot of time to reflect and what we said is we were going flush the first half and focus on what we did in the second half, and that carried over and for the last 48 hours our mentality has been defense and rebounding."

The win improves the Terriers' record to 12-7 and moves their conference record to 4-2, dropping Furman to 15-5 overall and 5-2 in the SoCon. Wofford remains home for its next contest, welcoming VMI on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. tip. 

"They are a great offensive team," Hoover said of Furman. "But to be able to do what we did defensively as a team, I can't be more proud of this team."

"It's a rivalry game," McAuley said of Wofford and Furman. "But every game is important. It's an emotional game. It's always been that way. We lost our poise for a little in the second half, but at the end of the day we made enough plays and it started with Chevez (Goodwin) and the older guys."

After Stumpe scored the opening bucket, it was the Chevez Goodwin show, as the junior reeled off 10 consecutive points before Furman finally connected from downtown. After the Paladins cut the lead to seven, Hoover, Stumpe and Tray Hollowell all knocked down 3-pointers to make the score 26-10 Wofford.

"We are so much better when we move the ball and we play inside-out and spray that ball out for open shots," McAuley said. "I thought that's what broke open the game."

Goodwin closed out the half just as he opened it, scoring twice more down low to take the Terriers into the break ahead 34-18.

Furman came out in the second and trimmed the deficit to eight but a pair of buckets from Goodwin and two 3-pointers from Stumpe pushed the lead to 19. The Paladins turned to the 1-3-1 press and trap, but it was too little, too late as Messiah Jones put the finishing touches on the game with a slam from a Storm Murphy feed. 

"The students were up, the Spartanburg community was going crazy," McAuley said. "How loud did it get in here the last five minutes? That's a huge home-court advantage and we have to take advantage of it every time like we did tonight."