As the stretch drive unwinds toward the Southern Conference tournament, Furman may be its most dangerous underdog, and Virginia Military could be its greatest overachiever. The most significant item on the agenda at The Well on Saturday was a first-round bye for one of the two.
Furman can wrap that up with a victory over The Citadel on Wednesday night, thanks to a workmanlike 75-71 victory over the Keydets.
The Paladins trailed only at 3-2 and led by as many as 12 in the first half but couldn’t shake the pesky Keydets and their switching defenses. Neither team shot well, and Tom House led the Furman (21-8, 9-7 SoCon) scoring with seven points.

“We defended better,” head coach Bob Richey said later to radio voice Dan Scott. “Then we kind of sputtered offensively. [VMI] does a unique zone. It’s a zone, but they pressure out of it.”
Furman found some breathing room in the first 10 minutes of the second half, due in no small part to Nick Anderson and Ben Vander Wal. The Paladins, however, could never quite put VMI away.
Anderson scored 22 points to lead Furman on the Paladins’ Senior Day.

A 3-pointer by PJay Smith at the 7:29 mark gave Furman a 13-point lead, 57-44, but the Keydets went on a 14-5 run to cut the Paladin advantage to 62-58 with 2:43 to play.
Furman stretched the lead to eight, 66-58, off a layup by Anderson with a minute and a half remaining, but again VMI (13-16, 7-9) chipped away at the margin and got as close at two points off a T.J. Johnson 3-pointer with three seconds left in the game. Furman connected on seven of eight free throws in the final minute, including two by Smith with three seconds remaining to seal the victory.

Anderson made 8/9 at the foul line and added four assists to pace the Paladins, while Smith posted 17 points, eight rebounds, and three steals. Vander Wal scored nine points and pulled down six rebounds, and Garrett Hien totaled eight points. Sophomore Cooper Bowser had eight rebounds and six points.
Furman shot .472 and sank 17/22 free throw attempts (.773).
Johnson totaled a led the Keydets with 21 points, while Tan Yildizoglu added 20. VMI held a 38-30 advantage in points in the paint, but the Keydets were held to .418 shooting.
Furman concludes its home schedule on Wednesday night when it hosts The Citadel at The Well.
Take a look at the stats here.

Claire Johnson poured in 25 points and Samford used solid first-half shooting to take command on the way to a 73-62 win over Furman in Southern Conference women’s action Saturday evening at Hayes Gymnasium on the campus of North Greenville University.
The win was the fifth straight for Samford (12-16, 7-5 SoCon) and gave the Bulldogs a season sweep of Furman (14-14, 4-8 SoCon) in the Paladins’ final home game.
Johnson, a freshman guard from Paducah, Ky., drained 8/15 shots, including 4/9 from 3-point range, and went 5/6 at the free-throw line.

Sierra Godbolt was the only other Bulldog in double figures with 12.
Johnson scored 19 of her 25 points in the first half as Samford used effective dribble penetration to get to the glass and find open 3-point shots on the wing.
The Bulldogs grabbed an 18-15 edge after one quarter and tallied 24 points in the second period, hitting on 8/15 field-goal attempts (.533) to take a 42-31 lead into halftime.

Samford opened the second half with three straight baskets, part of an 8-2 run that stretched their advantage to 50-32 following a basket by Annie Ramil a little over a minute into the third quarter.
Samford’s lead grew to as many as 21 points in the frame after Goldbolt bottomed out a pair of free throws with 4:11 to give the Bulldogs a 59-38 advantage.
Furman never managed to cut Samford’s lead to single digits the rest of the way.

Jada Session paced three Paladins in double figures with 18 points and 11 rebounds. She was followed by Clare Coyle with 13 points and 10 rebounds, and Sydney Ryan finished with 11 points.
The Paladins were outscored 21-9 from 3-point range and shot just .319 from the field (22/69), while Samford finished the contest hitting .422 from the field (21/50) while converting 24/32 free throws.

Furman’s cold shooting undercut the Paladins’ 52-32 rebounding advantage. The Paladins were whistled for 29 fouls, a season high.
Take a look at the stats here.
Words can ill express my appreciation for the assistance I’ve been getting from lifelong friends and acquaintances in regard to my recent health struggles.
I am deeply touched, though, at the concern of people I’ve known for most of my life.

The coming months will bring more change, and I don’t know yet what shape it will take.
From time to time, I have thought it a shame that people don’t often know what others think of them while they are alive. I’ve had a rough go of it recently, but I know that others respect, appreciate and support me.
Thanks for reading my stories, overlooking my flaws and indulging our differences.
My books, most of them fiction, are available at Amazon and on other bookseller sites. If you’d like to sample my fiction, try Longer Songs, a collection of short stories, all derived from songs I’ve written.
Thanks for putting up with me.