SPARTANBURG, S.C. – After seven lead changes throughout the final 10 minutes of the contest, freshman Morgan Safford was able to corral his own miss on a floater to finish a crucial layup with 7.0 seconds left to play, as the Terriers successfully defended a last-shot look from the Paladins to come away with a 74-73 senior night victory in Wofford's regular season home finale at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium on Saturday night.
 

MORGAN. SAFFORD. GAME. WINNER.#GoTerriers | #ConquerAndPrevail pic.twitter.com/t0uawJjaXx

— Wofford Basketball (@WoffordMBB) February 28, 2021

 
Wofford finishes the regular season 15-8 overall and 12-5 in the Southern Conference, as the Terriers secured the No. 2 seed for next weekend's Ingles SoCon Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament presented by General Shale.

The tournament begins Friday, March 5, with a pair of first-round games. Four quarterfinal games follow on Saturday, with the semifinals on Sunday and the title game on Monday at 7 p.m. The semifinals will air national television for the first time, on ESPNU, while the championship game will air live on ESPN. The other six games will air on ESPN+, with Saturday's quarterfinals also appearing on select Nexstar affiliates.
 
Prior to tonight's contest, the Terriers recognized seniors Storm Murphy and Tray Hollowell for their commitment and contributions to the program over the past four years, combining for 127 career starts and 85 wins in old gold and black – good for third-best among senior class wins in program history.
 
"Very proud of my team. Very proud of the collective effort we had and obviously for our seniors to go out the way they did tonight," said head coach Jay McAuley of the senior night victory. "Couldn't be more happy and thrilled for those two guys that have meant a lot to our program. We told them it wasn't going to be easy and it was going to get ugly at times … but great execution down the stretch, after two timeouts to execute, and great job out of the press offense there to get the touch we needed to win the game."
 
The win marked the 10th consecutive home victory over the Paladins and sixth overall in the past seven meetings, as Furman is win-less in Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium since its opening in 2017 and hasn't claimed a home victory over the Terriers since January 24, 2011 in Benjamin Johnson Arena.
 
A consistent tightly-played matchup between the two programs, tonight's contest saw 14 lead changes and was tied nine times throughout the course of the game. Wofford led for 21:27 of the contest, including 17:08 of the second half. 
 
Four Terriers finished in double figures, led by sophomore Messiah Jones with a team-high 19 points, on 9-of-11 from the field, game-high seven rebounds and a block in 27 minutes. Senior Storm Murphy followed with a solid 15 points, hitting two threes and three free throws, to go along with a team-best four assists and a steal in his final game in Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium.
 
"A lot of emotions. I feel like I just went through a memory, a moment I won't forget that I'll look back on years from now," said Murphy of his last home game. "Really thankful and appreciative of that one-point victory over our rivals in such an intense game, with a lot of fans here finally in an odd year. Man, what a moment, especially for Tray and I, and just super glad and happy about it."
 
Senior Tray Hollowell finished with solid 13-point performance, nailing 3-of-6 shots from beyond the arc to go along with two assists and a steal in a game-high 36 minutes.
 
"Emotions were high even before the start of the game and before the tip," said Hollowell of his sentiment heading into tonight's game. 'Senior night … always a special night, but playing Furman on senior night makes it even more special – our rivals. So, I think everybody was just riding around me and Storm and wanted to make it the best night for us, and it worked out in the end the way we wanted it to."
 
Freshman Morgan Safford rounds out the double-figure scorers for Wofford, finishing with 12 points, including two threes and the winner, and three rebounds and an assist in 27 minutes.
 
Sophomore B.J. Mack gave solid contributions with seven points, including 3-for-3 from the line, and one block in seven minutes, while first-year Max Klesmit and junior Ryan Larson finished with five and three points, respectively. Klesmit added four rebounds, an assist and block, as Larson tallied five rebounds to go with three assists and a steal.
 
The first half saw six lead changes, as both teams battled neck-and-neck up until the Paladins held a five-point edge at the under-eight media timeout, 25-20 (7:46).
 
Wofford then came out the brief break scoring seven of the next nine points, as Klesmit dimed Tray Hollowell for a big three prior to a Jones finish in the paint deadlocking the score at 27-27. Messiah Jones answered a Paladins' floater with a consecutive finish, off the helper from Murphy, as B.J. Mack free throws and a clutch 3-pointer from Ryan Larson extended a 34-29 advantage in Wofford's favor with 1:19 left. A Furman alley-oop from Bothwell to Mounce concluded the half at 34-33.
 
Both teams shot over 50 percent in the first half, while Wofford held the slight edge from beyond the arc, hitting 3-of-10 through the opening 20 minutes (30%), while holding Furman to just 23.1 percent from deep (3-for-13).
 
The Terriers opened the second half, busting a 9-0 run to open a 10-point spread and steal the momentum within the opening 1:05 of the frame, forcing a Furman timeout up 43-33. Storm Murphy would hit a three with contact to open the half, converting the four-point play at the line, as Larson grabbed a rebound to go coast-to-coast and dime Messiah Jones for a finish to go up 40-33. A consecutive stop on the defensive end then set up a wide-open Morgan Safford three, as Safford drilled the trifecta to force the Paladins to talk things over by the 18:55 mark.
 
Furman quickly erased the deficit, bringing it back within two points (46-44), as five points from Tray Hollowell and a Jones finish extended a nine-point margin, 53-44 (13:04). A 7-0 Noah Gurley run reclaimed a Paladins lead before extending it to two points after a pair of Furman free throws made for a 59-57 spread.
 
The lead would change twice before a B.J. Mack finish on the left block and step-back corner trey for Storm Murphy reclaimed a four-point edge with 3:34 left, 65-61. Both squads exchanged baskets over the ensuing two-minute span, seeing Furman knot the margin two times before Messiah Jones found Morgan Safford on a cut for a two-hand slam that allowed a one-possession lead for the Terriers with 41 seconds left at 72-70.
 
Furman's Mike Bothwell would find Gurley, who led the Paladins with a game-high 29 points, on the next trip down for a daggering three to again reclaim a one-point edge, 73-72, with 26 seconds to play. Wofford would talk things over with a 30-second timeout, as Safford found himself a lane coming out the timeout, driving inside the paint for a soft-touch floater that bounced off the back iron. Safford skied to collect the rebound off his own miss, as the Columbus, Ohio native went up strong again to score the final lead for Wofford, 74-73, with 7.0 seconds left on the clock. 
  
The Paladins wouldn't exhaust a timeout, as Alex Hunter dribbled down court to find Gurley for a contested three from the left wing that fell off the mark, ultimately seeing Wofford come away with its third straight victory over the Paladins at the horn.
 

Wofford finished 59.2 percent from the field (29-of-49) and connected on 8-for-18 from 3-point range (44.4%) and 8-of-10 from the free-throw line on the night. The Terriers edged Furman in points insde the paint (38-36) and bench points (12-5), though, the Paladins narrowly won the battle on the boards, 26-25. 

Next, Wofford (15-8, 12-5 SoCon) will await the winner of Friday's second game, including a matchup between No. 7 seed Mercer and No. 10 seed Samford, as the Terriers will face the victor on Saturday, March 6, at 5:30 p.m. at the Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C.