I had never heard of Ohio Christian University except that it has a Wikipedia page and 1,600 students, and it brought a good NAIA record into Wednesday night’s visit to Furman.
It stood to reason that the Trailblazers would hang in for a while, then the Paladins would pull away, and that’s what happened in Furman’s 79-44 victory.
Redshirt sophomore Asa Thomas, making his first college start, posted career highs with 22 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
The Lake Forest, Ill., product and Clemson transfer connected on 9/16 shots, including 4/1 behind the arc, to pace three Paladins in double figures. Senior Charles Johnston scored 15 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to record his fourth double double in five games, while freshman Alex Wilkins scored 10 points to reach double figures for the fifth time this season. Junior Cooper Bowser added eight points, eight rebounds, and a team-high four assists.
Furman missed its first 13 shots behind the arc before Wilkins and Tom House connected on triples in the final 3:12 of the first half to send the Paladins into the locker room with a 32-23 lead. After Ohio Christian connected on a three to open the second half, Furman hit six of its first seven second-half shots, including 5/6 from three-point range, to fashion a 22-3 run to open a 54-29 lead. The Paladins held the Trailblazers without a point for a stretch of over seven minutes to pull away.
Furman (2-3) is developing. It happens virtually every season as head coach Bob Richey tinkers with his recipe.
Furman connected on .525 of its field goal attempts and compiled a 53-23 rebounding advantage highlighted by 19 offensive rebounds, which led to a 19-2 margin in second-chance points. The Paladins also outscored Ohio Christian 46-12 in the paint.
Parker Penrod hit three triples to lead the Trailblazers with 13 points. Ohio Christian (5-2) shot just .296 from the floor and made only 5/1 free-throw attempts.
The Paladins return on Sunday to host the Queens Royals as part of a men’s and women’s doubleheader at Timmons Arena.The Furman women’s team entertains Clemson at 2 p.m. before the men host Queens at 5 p.m.
Take a look at the stats here.
On the road, Joi Williams scored 14 points, and Radford took advantage of cold first-quarter shooting by Furman to claim a 68-50 victory in women’s college basketball action on Wednesday evening at Dedmon Center.
Williams, a junior guard, connected on 4/9 three-pointers and drained a pair of free throws to lead the Highlanders (3-3), who got 13 points from Angelina Nice and 10 from Georgia Simonsen.
Lauren Bailey’s 12 points paced the Paladins (2-4), who fell behind 10-0 and were held scoreless over the first eight minutes of the contest to trail 18-4 after one period.
Furman found the mark on just 2/14 shots in the first period and finished the game shooting only .295 (18/61) from the field.
Radford, meanwhile, converted 7/13 shots in the first quarter and 14/29 attempts in the first half to take a 37-22 lead into halftime. The Highlanders finished the game shooting .404 (21/52).
Furman was never able to cut the Highlanders’ lead to single digits.
Radford also won the rebounding battle, 46-36, getting a game-high eight from Simonsen.
Take a look at the stats here.
Furman, ranked second in the Top Drawer Soccer Top 25 and 14th in the NCAA RPI, hosts a second-round match at Stone Stadium on Sunday against Western Michigan (8-9-4).
Furman is making its 13th appearance in the tournament and hosting for the first time since a 2-0 victory over Campbell in the opening round of 2007. The Paladins, who advanced past North Carolina last November to reach the NCAA second round before falling to eventual national runner-up Marshall, are 5-10-6 all-time in the tournament and have advanced in seven of their previous 12 appearances in the field of 48.
In 1999, Furman knocked off North Carolina and Wake Forest before falling to Connecticut in the NCAA quarterfinals. Head coach Doug Allison’s 2002 squad, led by Clint Dempsey and Ricardo Clark, reached the round of 16 before being eliminated in overtime at Stanford.
The Paladins (14-1-4) punched their ticket to the tournament on Sunday afternoon with a 1-0, double-overtime victory over nationally-ranked UNC Greensboro in the SoCon championship match at Stone Stadium. Freshman Ryan Reid netted the lone goal in the 107th minute to lift Furman to its 16th SoCon Tournament crown and 11th under Allison, who is in his 31st and final season as the program’s head coach.
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