The Furman Paladins faced off against the University of North Carolina Greensboro Spartans for the first home game of the 2023 Spring semester on Jan. 14 at Timmons Arena, hoping to beat one of the top three ranked Southern Conference teams and establish themselves early in the conference season. 

The UNCG Spartans took the early lead within the first half, but the Paladins quickly began to make numerous successful three-pointer attempts and lay-ups. The fans and commentators noted that the Paladins began to rack up fouls faster than they ever had in the SoCon season, with a heavy percentage of UNCG’s points coming in from free throws. The Paladins evened out the score to 38-40 with UNCG only having a narrow two-point lead to start the second half. 

During the second half, the student section came to life. With about 12 minutes left for the second half, the Paladins showed repeated successful lay-up attempts and defensive maneuvers, with a high success rate for most of their defensive rebounds. Timmons Arena exploded with energy and enthusiasm. UNCG’s scoring began to falter, and the Paladins built up a lead as high as 12 points with roughly 10 minutes remaining in the game. 

As the game progressed, there was a noticeable shift in the attitudes of both the players and the fans: the energy for both became drastically lower. UNCG would gain momentum and tie the game 77-77, forcing the Paladins into overtime. The result was a heartbreaking loss for Furman, with the Paladins losing 80-88 at home to UNCG. 

While the attitude within the student fan section was muted after the match, Bob Richey’s post-game interview had a generally optimistic tone. He noted that Furman’s offense and defense remained generally sound throughout the game, but the biggest shortcoming that cost Furman the win was the number of fouls called on Furman. Throughout the game, UNCG threw 41 free throw attempts, and Furman had many players called out due to being fouled five times, such as Garret Hien (forward) and Alexander Williams (forward). If the Paladins can work on their fouling and improve their defense, their performance on Saturday proved that Furman remains one of the best Southern Conference teams despite the loss.