GREENSBORO, N.C. – Not to be outdone after falling to Anderson with its two leading scorers sidelined, Furman played its Southern Conference debut with the top three unavailable for duty on Wednesday night.

Not surprisingly, UNC Greensboro, the team picked to finish second to the Paladins in preseason coaches’ rankings, shot the Paladins down, 79-68, led by Keshaun Langley and Donovan Atwell with 17 points apiece. Mikael Brown-Jones, who, unlike the Furman trio, returned to the lineup after an absence, posted 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Furman (6-8, 0-1 SoCon) shot .323 from the floor. UNC Greensboro (10-4, 1-0) hit half its shots from beyond the three-point line, where the Paladins were 7/31 (.226).

Facing a Furman team missing its top three scorers and playing with just seven available scholarship players, UNCG hit six of its first seven three-point tries in the second half and held the Paladins without a field goal for a stretch of five minutes to fashion a 12-4 run and open a 51-40 lead.

Atwell hit 5/9 three-point attempts, and the Spartans connected on 7/10 from beyond the arc in the second half to maintain at least an eight-point advantage throughout the final 15 minutes.

 UNCG’s Joryam Saizonou added 13 points on 5/8 shooting.

The Spartans outscored Furman 20-3 on points off turnovers despite both teams committing 12. Furman posted a 42-37 edge on the glass, including 20 offensive boards that led to 21 second-chance points.

Junior Carter Whitt, 12/13 at the foul line, provided a career-best 23 points and passed out six assists for Furman. Fellow junior PJay Smith added 19 points on 5/13 shooting from three while Tyrese Hughey pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.

 The injury-riddled Paladins played the game without Marcus Foster, J.P. Pegues and Alex Williams, who average a combined 52.8 points per game.

Shooting problems plagued almost everyone. Only Cooper Bowser (3/4) and Ben VanderVal (1-2) hit as many or more than they missed. Whitt was 5/20 from the field en route to his 23. He was 1/9 from beyond the bonus line.

Following a trip to Chattanooga on Saturday, Furman returns home to host The Citadel in its SoCon home opener on Jan. 10.

Pegues (ankle) and Williams (knee) are expected to play against Mocs. Then again, they were expected to play on Wednesday.

Take a look at the stats here.

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