GREENVILLE, S.C. – The Wofford men's basketball team could not get the last-second shot to drop at Furman, falling to the Paladins 67-66 at Bon Secours Wellness arena on Saturday.

"Nothing I could say to the team right now is going to make them feel better, said Wofford head coach Jay McAuley. "It was just a tough one. Our guys fought so hard and deserved better, we just didn't make the plays at the end of the game."

The game, which was back-and-forth down the stretch, came down to the last minute of play. Storm Murphy scored a pair of buckets to give Wofford a one-point lead before a second-chance opportunity put Furman ahead by a point, as Nathan Hoover's last-second shot rattled out to send the Paladins away with the one-point victory.

"It came down to a possession where we stopped them twice and just couldn't come up with the loose ball," McAuley said. "We didn't call a timeout there because they (Furman) only had two fouls and they would have just kept fouling and fouling and the clock would have run out."

Murphy led Wofford with 17 points, going 7-for-11 from the field and handing out five assists in the process while Hoover and Chevez Goodwin each totaled 15 points. Goodwin, who recorded a double-double, was a force in the second half, scoring 14 points while hauling in seven rebounds to finish with 11 for the game. As a unit, Wofford shot 43.1 percent from the floor and outrebounded Furman 38-33, but attempted just 10 free throws while the Paladins totaled 19.

"Chevez had a really good second half," McAuley said. "And Storm had some flashes in there where he really helped us with the pressure they were putting on us."

Wofford now drops to 16-13 and 8-8 in the Southern Conference, with Furman improving to 23-6 and 13-3 in the SoCon. The Terriers return to the court on Wednesday, hosting ETSU at 7 p.m. for senior night.  

"Coach keeps telling us we are really close," Murphy said. "All of these recently losses have been really close. We are doing a lot of things at a high level, but there are other areas that we need to improve on and that includes me. We control certain things, and the other team controls certain things, so we have to get better at the controlables."

Both teams started slow offensively, with Murphy scoring in the lane and knocking down a three to put Wofford ahead 11-5. After the Terriers made the score 14-7, Furman responded with a 9-0 run to take its first lead of the game before Donovan Theme-Love found Hoover to put Wofford back ahead by one.

With the teams trading points at the line, Murphy converted a 3-point play, Hoover hit a fadeaway and Goodwin swatted a shot that led to a Stumpe three in transition as the Terriers pushed the lead to eight (29-21). Theme-Love knocked down a pair of free throws and Messiah Jones laid the ball in under the basket to send Wofford into the half with a 33-26 lead.

Goodwin opened up the second with three buckets down low as Wofford jumped ahead 43-32. Like the first half, Furman rallied with an 11-0 run to knot the game up at 43 apiece to force a Wofford timeout. Goodwin continued to be a factor down low, scoring again and grabbing a rebound that would lead to a Hoover trey. Moments later, Murphy found Tray Hollowell on the wing for a 3-pointer that gave the Terriers a 57-54 lead with just under six to play.

The Paladins chipped away and took a 60-59 lead, with Hollowell scoring just before the shot clock buzzer to put Wofford back ahead by one. After Furman scored a pair of buckets to go ahead 65-61, Murphy knocked down a mid-range jumper to cut the lead to two. The next trip down the court, Murphy rose up for a three as Wofford pulled ahead by one with 57 seconds to play. Furman would miss its first shot attempt but would get another opportunity, this time with Mike Bothwell converting. The Terriers had one last chance, with Murphy getting double teamed and kicking it to Hoover who could not get the shot to fall.

"We got the right guy and the right shot," said McAuley of Hoover's shot. "Hit back iron and it just wasn't meant to be. Some things aren't going our way right now, but we are playing really hard and we are getting better and I think we'll be a tough team down the stretch."