Furman Upsets Mercer to Advance to Monday’s Championship Game
ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Behind a furious 19-7 second-half run, tenth-seeded Furman upset third-seeded Mercer, 52-49, in the last semifinal game in the 2015 Men’s Southern Conference Championship, presented by General Shale. The win moves the Paladins to 11-21 on the season, while the loss drops Mercer to 18-15. With the victory, Furman will face Wofford in Monday’s championship game, the Paladins’ first title-game appearance since 2002.
Stephen Croone anchored Furman, with 17 points and a career-high 14 rebounds, while SoCon Freshman of the Year Devin Sibley added 14 points. Kris Acox turned in a 12-point, 10-rebound performance, while Geoff Beans hit key free throws down the stretch to secure the Furman victory.
Mercer was led by Ike Nwamu with 15 points, while T.J. Hallice and Stephon Jelks each added 11. Phillip Leonard pulled down a team-high nine rebounds and dished out a team-high five assists.
The teams traded baskets in the early going, before Mercer used a quick 6-0 run to take a 16-11 lead with 12:29 remaining. A pull-up three by Stephen Croone ended the Furman scoring drought and pulled the Paladins to within two. Out of the under-12:00 media timeout, Stephon Jelks nailed a three to push the Mercer lead to five, but a free throw by Croone cut the lead to four with 10:13 remaining. Furman used free throws to cut the Mercer lead to one, while the Paladins held the Bears scoreless for a period of nearly three and a half minutes heading into the under-8:00 media timeout.
Out of the timeout, Furman continued its stingy defense, continuing to hold Mercer scoreless until a three by Ike Nwamu pushed the Mercer lead to four with 6:10 remaining. The Bears continued to add to their lead, stretching it to seven with 4:09 remaining, while holding the Paladins without a basket for nearly five minutes. Furman used a free throw by Croone to end the scoring drought, but the Bears continued to hold the momentum, pushing the lead to 12 with 1:24 remaining. The Paladins scored the final two baskets of the half, however, and the teams went to the half with Mercer leading 31-23.
The teams continued to trade baskets to open the second half, before Mercer used five quick points to stretch the lead to 11 at 38-27 with 13:19 remaining. A layup by John Davis III ended Furman’s three and a half minute scoring drought and cut the lead back to nine heading into the under-12:00 media timeout.
A jumped by Devin Sibely cut the lead to seven, before Stephen Croone knocked down two free throws to cut it to five with 10:19 remaining. Furman forced a turnover and Sibley got a layup on the other end to cap off an 8-0 Furman run and cut the lead to three at 38-35. A Mercer tip-in on the other end pushed the lead back to five, before two free throws from Daniel Fowler again cut the lead to three with nine minutes remaining. Stephen Croone then completed the three-point play to tie the game at 40, before Geoff Beans made two free throws to push Furman’s run to 15-2 and take a 42-40 lead with 7:19 to go.
Back-to-back baskets by Mercer gave the bears a 44-42 lead, but a free-throw-line jumper by Sibley tied the game at 44 with 5:00 to go, before a Kris Acox put-back dunk gave Furman the 46-44 lead with 4:02 on the clock.
Out of the final media timeout, Phillip Leonard sank two free throws to tie the game at 46, before an Acox rebound and put-back regained the lead for the Paladins at 48-46 with 2:30 to go. Leonard again drained two free throws to tie the game at 48, but another layup by Acox gave Furman the 50-48 lead. Jelks sank 1-of-2 free throws to cut the Furman lead to one with just over a minute remaining, forcing the Paladins to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, Mercer missed a three-pointer that would have given the Bears the lead and Geoff Beans made 1-of-2 on the other end to give Furman the two-point lead. Stephen Croone then pulled down his 14th rebound of the game and made 1-of-2 free throws on the other end to give Furman the three-point advantage with eight seconds remaining.
Out of another timeout, Mercer had a look at a three that would have sent the game to overtime, but the try fell short and Furman held on for the 52-49 semifinal upset.
Wofford Outlasts Western Carolina to Advance to Championship Game
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Fueled by key rebounding and solid defense, Wofford defeated Western Carolina, 73-61, in the first semifinal game of the 2015 Men’s Basketball Southern Conference Championship, presented by General Shale, in a rematch of the 2014 title game. The win moves Wofford into Monday’s championship final for the second-straight year, while the loss drops Western Carolina to 15-17 on the season.
Spencer Collins paced Wofford offensively with 17 points, going 10-of-13 from the free throw line and adding five rebounds. Lee Skinner chipped in 14 points and six rebounds, while SoCon Player of the Year Karl Cochran was held scoreless in the first half, but finished with 11 points, including three three-pointers. Jaylen Allen finished with 10 points for Wofford on 2-of-2 shooting, as well as going a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line.
James Sinclair led Western Carolina offensively, finishing with 16 points and seven rebounds, while Torrion Brummitt added 12 points. Mike Brown tallied nine points and pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds for the Catamounts, who grabbed 34 rebounds in the contest.
Both teams came out strong on the defensive end of the floor, combining for just nine points heading into the game’s first media timeout. The teams traded baskets in an early back-and-forth affair, before back-to-back threes opened Wofford’s largest lead of the contest at 15-10 heading into the under-12:00 media timeout. Western Carolina used a quick four points out of the timeout to cut the Wofford lead to one at 15-14, but a basket by Skinner pushed the Terriers lead back to three with just under ten minutes to go in the half.
The teams traded three-pointers before Skinner finished off the three-point play to give Wofford the six-point advantage, before Kenneth Hall cut the lead back to four before the teams went to the bench for the under-8:00 timeout. Wofford extended its lead to eight with 5:24 left in the half after four points by Collins, before pushing it to 10 on a layup by Skinner. Western Carolina ended a three-minute scoring drought with a basket by Brown to cut it back to eight with 4:24 remaining, but Wofford pushed the lead back to ten at 31-21 heading into the final timeout of the half.
The teams then traded baskets until the end of the half, with Wofford holding on to the 35-24 halftime lead. The Terriers shot 57.9 percent in the half while using solid defense to hold Western Carolina to just 32.4 percent in the first. Wofford also went 10-of-12 from the free throw line in the half, compared to just 1-of-2 for Western Carolina.
A three right out of the gate by Rhett Harrelson cut the lead to eight, but a layup by Collins followed by SoCon Player of the Year Karl Cochran’s first basket of the game pushed the lead back to 13 with just under three minutes gone. Wofford made three of its next three shots to open its largest lead at 15 points, before a basket by Brummitt cut the lead back to 13. Wofford continued to push on the offensive end, out-scored Western Carolina 10-6 to take a 50-36 lead heading into the under-12:00 media timeout.
The teams traded baskets before a three by Devin Peterson cut the lead to 12. Wofford responded on the other end with a three by Cochran to again push it back to 15. The teams continued to trade baskets, allowing Wofford to hold on to a 14-point lead heading into the under-8:00 timeout.
Western Carolina then held Wofford to a scoring drought of 4:08, forcing three Terrier turnovers, and used a 7-0 run capped off by a three from Harrelson to cut the Wofford lead to 61-52 with 3:53 remaining. The teams then combined for 21 points in the game’s final minutes, but Wofford grabbed three offensive rebounds over the last two minutes to stretch out its possessions and used five free throws by Collins to seal the 73-61 victory.