By MONTE DUTTON

A season ago, head coach Bob Richey was fond of referring to his men’s basketball team as “Find a Way Furman.”

Same characteristics. Different players. Furman, fighting off injuries, moved into a tie for first place in the Southern Conference with Wednesday night’s 77-73 victory over Samford at Pete Hanna Center in Homewood, Ala.

“We’ve got a lot of high-character kids who just continue to get better,” Richey said later on radio with Dan Scott and Tom Van Hoy. “Through a hard start and guys learning to deal with new roles and stepping up.

“It’s fun to come to work and fun to travel with these guys and go to the arena and go compete. You know these guys are going to give you all they’ve got.”

Freshman Alex Wilkins scored a career-high 28 points, and Furman held Samford without a field goal over the final 4:32.

Meanwhile, in Cullowhee, Western Carolina defeated East Tennessee State, 72-68, and in Spartanburg, Chattanooga upended Wofford, 76-67. Furman (13-5, 4-1 SoCon) is now tied with ETSU (12-6, 4-1), a game ahead of the Terriers (11-7, 3-2), who visit Timmons Arena on Saturday for a sold-out 5 p.m. game.

Furman is 4-1 in true road games and has won 78 such games in the past 11 seasons.

Tied at 40-40 at the half, Furman used a 10-2 start to the second half to grab the lead and never trailed afterward. The Bulldogs clawed to within one point at 67-66 with 4:33 to go before Charles Johnston splashed a triple.

Cole Bowser hit his first two collegiate free-throw attempts with 18 seconds left to give the Paladins a 76-71 lead. Keaton Norris answered with two free throws for the Bulldogs, but Wilkins connected on 1/2 at the line with 1.8 seconds on the clock.

Wilkins finished 11/20 from the field and dished out five assists. Johnston added nine points and 14 rebounds while Ben Vander Wal, Eddrin Bronson, Bowser and Abijah Franklin added eight points apiece. Mason Smith pulled down a career-high 11 rebounds.

Johnston fouled out with 24 seconds to play, and two others, Wilkins and Bowser, were playing with four at the end.

Wilkins said, “It’s all a matter of trusting my teammates. Just blend out and let the floor open up. I’m trying to work on reducing my turnovers. I just keep getting the ball to the team.”

Not to mention in the basket. The freshman from Mattapan, Mass., seems to get better every game.

Furman shot .433 and converted on 11/16 free-throw attempts. The Paladins were outscored 38-30 in the paint but managed a 43-32 advantage on the glass and outscored Samford 9-2 on points off turnovers after the Bulldogs scored the first 14 points off Paladin miscues.

Furman’s three pointers (8/31) were subpar, but it didn’t doom the Paladins.

“We did a really good job by taking 10 more shots than [Samford],” Richey noted. “That was a big key to the game. We created a lot of extra possessions.”

Dylan Faulkner led Samford (9-9, 2-3) with 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Will Shaver scored 15 points off the bench. Jadin Booth added 12 points and Isaiah Campbell-Finch totaled 10.

The Wofford rivalry is nightcap of a Saturday twinbill that begins at 2 p.m. with the Furman women playing their SoCon home opener against Western Carolina.

It’s early and unpredictable in the SoCon so far. Citadel’s lone victory was over Western Carolina, which has itself upended Furman and ETSU.

Take a look at the stats here.

Much is going on in my life. Things should lighten a tad by the end of next week. For now, I apologize for losing in a game of catch-up. I’ll soon have more time to devote to my modest craft.

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