Southern Conference
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The first game of the semifinals of the SoCon tournament would put (5) Furman vs(1) UT Chattanooga. These 2 teams know each other very well as UTC took the season series by winning both games. However, in the SoCon tournament anything can happen. Furman is coming off an amazing performance against Samford last night which saw this team drain 17 three point shots in a huge 95-78 victory. UTC would sruggle in the beginning against the 8th seed Mercer but would pick it up in the 2nd half and hang on to win 76-61.
Furman would control the opening tip and score immediately. Huff would follow up with an amazing step back three which would give UTC the early 3-2 lead. However, Furman would go on a 5-0 with 2 buckets but Hein and the pro Paladins crowd was erupting. Honor Huff would follw up with two more three pointers which would take us to our first media timeout with both teams tied at 9.
After the first media timeout Furman would continue to struggle and the next media time couldn’t come at a better time for Furman as UTC would open up a 16-9 lead by more three point shooting from Mulholland and Keeslar. UTC was smoking hot starting out 4-5 from the three point line which was a big cause for them to open up this lead.
Furman would bounce back as the heroes from last night’s game Pjay Smith and Nick Anderson would drain back to back threes and Hien would slam a fast break dunk to put Furman up 22-18. The action would slow down a little until the three points fest would start back with three’s from Smith of Furman and UTC’s Huff. These teams would battle for every point but with 3:44 left in the half UTC would take a 28-27 lead. The crowd was ready to erupt as both continued to trade blows all the way till the end of the half. With Pjay Smith hitting a buzzer beater at the half. This would take us to half time with UTC up 35-34.
Furman would continue their hot streak with a three from Hien.to put the Paldins on top 37-35. Both teams would trade buckets but Cooper Bowser would bring the roof off the building converting an alley-oop dunk. To tie it up at fourty-one. This was a spectacle to watch as both teams were shooting 50% from three and 48% from the field. Both teams would pick up the defense but Nick Anderson would continue his antics with a step back three which would take us to the media timeout with Furman up 46-41. The crowd for both sides was electric because they both knew what was hanging the balance and that was a trip to finals of the SoCon tournament and possible automatic bid to March Madness. As the game went on the intensity would pitck up. Mulholland would score a 2 but a Charles Johnsston would help Furman extend their lead to 51-43. Bash Wheeland would folw up with back to back buckets of his own with an and one to but that lead to 53-47 with 12:11 left to play. Leading into the media timeout Jack Kostol would put up a three point shot to cut the lead to 55-50 in favor the Paladins
Following hte media timeout it would be UTC’s time to shine as they would go on a 7-0 run to take a two point lead with &:15 left in the game. This game was shaping up to be a thriller with neither team being ready to go home.The scoring drought for Furman would continue and they would then commit a foul to send Trey Bonham to the line to make it a two possession game Johnston would finally end the drought with a beautiful layup to score his 9th point of the game and a steal would lead to a NIck Anderson three to bring hte lead to 60-59 in favor of The Paladins. This would lead to both teams trading three’s. This was the Nick Anderons/Honor Huff show. With 3:58 The Moccs would be hanging on to a one point lead. The bands were battling and the fans were going at it. This was SoCon basketball at it’s best. The duel between Huff and Anderson was like a heavyweight fight with neither player refusing to lose. Honor then would come out with another three following a Furman shot clock violation. The crowd for Furman got quiet but Pjay would light them up with a three of his own and with 1:10 left UTC was up 70-68. Pjay with a fade away jumper to tie the game with 22 seconds left. UTC took an immediate timeout. The band was playing Final Countdown and both crowds were trying to will their team to a victory. UTC would play for the final shot but great defense by Furman would stop that from happening and we were heading into OT
Overtime would start with both teams still trying to break loose but neither team would go away quietly. This where s tars step up and make plays. A trip to the finals on the line and Nick Anderson would come up big with Pjay grabbing two more free throw to give The Paladins a 74-72 lead with just 2:51 left in OT. The Paladin came out with the gameplan to make sure that everytime Huff had the ball there was someone in his face and that became evident in the very next possession as UTC would commit a shot clock wiolation. However, a costly turnover by Furman would make it intresting but they were still hanging on for dear life with a 75-74 lead. With ice water in his veins Nick Anderson would calmly step up and knock down two free throw go up by three points. Anderson would eventually ice the game with more free throws and The Paladins would punch their ticket to the conference finals to face the winner of VMI and Wofford. Could it be an 864 finals? Furman was powered by PJay Smith’s 25 and Anderson’s 23. Huff would finish with an amazing 28. Furman wins 80-77.
