GREENVILLE, S.C. – Jalen Slawson scored 16 points, including six in a late 8-0 run, that powered the Furman men's basketball team to a 73-65 victory over the App State Mountaineers on Friday evening inside Timmons Arena.
Furman improves to 7-3 on the season while App State falls to 5-5 overall.
Slawson finished the game shooting 8-of-13 from the field to go with three rebounds, two assists and one steal. Mike Bothwell also contributed 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting, including three 3-pointers, while adding four rebounds and two assists. Alex Hunter poured in 11 points, six assists and five rebounds. Marcus Foster compiled nine rebounds and eight points, and Conley Garrison eight points and seven rebounds. Joe Anderson came off the bench and dished out a career high five assists.
Bothwell became the 49th member of Furman's 1,000-point club, joining Hunter who also entered the club on Nov. 12 at Louisville.
Justin Forrest and Adrian Delph both scored a game-high 17 points for the Mountaineers and were joined in double figures by James Lewis Jr. (12) and Michael Almonacy (10). Delph finished with a double-double after recording 10 rebounds.
The Paladins led for all but seven seconds in the contest, but App State had cut their advantage down to 61-60 with 4:22 remaining after Forrest made one of two free throws. Furman responded with its 8-0 run, highlight by six points from Slawson, over the next three minutes and extended its lead to nine, 69-60, with 1:23 remaining capped by Slawson’s jumper. Donovan Gregory trimmed the Mountaineers’ deficit down to six points, 71-65, with 11 seconds to go but Garrison sealed the win for the Paladins with two free throws. Garrison’s final free throw with nine seconds left put the final score at 73-65.
Furman opened the game on an 8-3 run and would build its lead out to 10-5 at the 17:56 mark on Bothwell’s layup. App State responded with a 6-2 run and trailed 12-11 with 16:11 remaining. The Paladins came back with a 16-4 run that covered eight minutes and took their largest lead of the game, 28-15, with 8:11 left following a 3-point play from Alex Williams.
The Mountaineers then outscored Furman 19-7 over nearly a seven-minute stretch and made the score 35-34 at the 1:40 mark after a jumper by Delph. Williams and Hunter combined for the Paladins’ next five points to increase their lead back to six, 40-34, with 44 seconds remaining. Furman held a 40-36 lead at halftime.
App State stayed within four points during the opening five minutes of the second half before a 7-0 run by the Paladins made it a nine-point game, 49-40, with 14:40 left on Hunter’s layup. The Mountaineers would tie the game five minutes later, 51-51, courtesy of an 11-2 run. Furman managed to push its lead back to six points, 59-53, with 7:04 to go before App State used a 7-2 run to make it a 61-60 game.
Slawson scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half on 5-of-8 shooting while Bothwell contributed nine.
The Paladins concluded the game shooting 49.1 percent (28-of-57) from the field and held the advantage in points in the paint (40-30), fast break points (10-4) and bench points (14-12).
Furman begins a two-game road trip on Tuesday, Dec. 14, traveling to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for a 7 p.m. tipoff against North Carolina on ESPN2.