ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The seventh-seeded Wofford men's basketball team knocked off the No. 2 seed Furman Paladins 77-68 in the Southern Conference Tournament at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville on Saturday night, advancing to the semifinals on Sunday.
The win moves Wofford's record to 18-15, with Furman falling to 25-6 overall. The Terriers await the winner of No. 3 UNCG and No. 6 Chattanooga for a semifinal matchup at 6:30 on Sunday.
"What an effort by our guys," said Wofford head coach Jay McAuley. "Another game where it was collective belief and togetherness and I thought from the jump, we had an energy about us that got us through."
As a team, Wofford shot 48.0 percent from the floor and 40.9 percent from 3-point range, holding Furman to just 27.6 percent from downtown, outrebounding the Paladins 40 to 24 for the game.
"Before I say anything else, losing is not easy in the tournament," McAuley said. "We've got a lot of respect for the Paladin program. I want to give credit to them. It was a heck of a ball game and it could have gone either way, but I'm really proud of our guys."
Chevez Goodwin led the Terriers with 19 points and nine rebounds, going 8-for-9 from the floor and 3-for-4 from the free throw line. Trevor Stumpe totaled 18 points, going 5-for-7 from 3-point range, grabbing five rebounds and knocking down three free throws in the process. Storm Murphy totaled 15 points and dished out four assists while going a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line.
"We want to go out the right way," Stumpe said. "My mentality is just to play like you don't want it to end. I've been trying to bring the young guys along with that mindset that we don't want it to end."
Goodwin established his presence down low right away, slamming home a pair of dunks as the Terriers jumped in front 8-2. Isaiah Bigelow knocked down a three to make the score 12-6, but Furman rallied to tie the game at 14-14.
With the momentum hanging in the balance, Ryan Larson drew a charge and put Wofford ahead by three after knocking down his first trey of the game. Minutes later, Murphy worked his way through the defense and found Stumpe for a three that made the score 23-18.
"He's been an x-factor in this tournament," McAuley said of Larson. "Taking charges, setting the tone defensively, but now he's made some timely steals and some open threes. He just gives his whole heart and soul out there and that's infectious. Our guys love playing with him."
Goodwin started the second much like the first, getting a pair of tip-ins as the Terriers extended their lead to nine. Murphy knocked down a pair of free throws and Larson swiped the ball and took it in for the score as Wofford went ahead 38-27.
The Paladins charged back, hitting three straight 3-pointers and going ahead 41-40 with just under 13 minutes to play. Larson would continue to impact the game, feeding Goodwin inside before stealing the ball and dishing it to Stumpe for a transition three that made the score 54-45 in favor of the Terriers.
"A lot of experience," Goodwin said of Wofford's resiliency. "The guy next to me (Stumpe) has a lot of experience and our coaching staff has a lot of experience as well. We're just a tough-minded team. It's basketball, everybody makes runs but it's how you handle them. We responded well and here we are."
Moments later, Stumpe would feed Jones to put Wofford ahead 10 with four minutes remaining. Goodwin, Larson and Hollowell all hit free throws down the stretch and Murphy found Messiah Jones for a slam that put the exclamation point on the game.
"We all have jobs to do and as much as there's momentums or swings, that's basketball. That's life," said McAuley. "Just to stay the course and lean on each other and trust each other. We haven't always done that the last month of the year, but I know this – the last couple of days has been pretty fun watching these guys lean on each other."
