What started off as an explosive game for the Paladins turned into a second half run away and a 75-67 win for Wofford on Saturday night. The Terriers’ win at Timmons Arena broke Furman’s 19-game home winning streak and dropped the Paladins to 5-3 in conference play and 11-6 overall. 

A fast-paced start seemed to favor Bob Richey’s core five, who controlled the game for more than 30 minutes. Clay Mounce collected his third double-double on the season to lead Furman’s offensive stand with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Noah Gurley followed with his first double-double of the season, grabbing 12 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Garrett Hein and Joe Anderson also created key scoring opportunities for the Paladins to balance some of Wofford’s post half-time power. 

Wofford closed on Furman’s lead with under 10 minutes to play in the second, taking advantage of a slower Paladin offense. The Terrier’s Storm Murphy collected a majority of his season high 24 points in the second half, broken up shortly by a breakaway dunk and an easy three point shot by Hein and Mounce respectively. Murphy’s later three points at the eight-minute mark flipped the lead in favor of Wofford who began a 17-2 run that would secure their win. Furman came within five more than once in the final two minutes, but sloppy play caused a collection of missed three-point shots and fouls against Wofford to seal the loss. 

Mike Bothwell, last season’s sudden star and current leading scorer, was far off his 18-point game average, contributing just two points after going 0 for 4 on three-point attempts. As a whole, Furman hit only 12 of their 40 attempted three-point shots and were far outscored on rebound opportunities. 

Furman hosts current Southern Conference leader UNCG Monday night and travels back to Greensboro with the Spartans on Wednesday to make up last month’s postponed game. A split for the series would keep Furman alive on the table, but two underdog wins would push them back into a spot for serious post-season consideration.