NCAAB Game Recap - Charleston Southern at Furman
Tue Dec 11, 2018 7:00 PM EST

Vill
75
Penn
78
F
ChaSo
69
Furm
77
F
(N/A)
47
USM
81
F
SCSt
55
Lib
79
F
GaSo
88
UCF
95
F
UMassL
69
StFNY
75
F
LoyMD
71
MD
94
F
Albany
63
Yale
71
F
Tows
80
UMBC
76
F(2OT)
Miles
47
ArkLR
67
F
MsVl
80
LaTec
96
F
(N/A)
56
JackSt
77
F
Gram
67
ULM
72
F
Savan
72
SDSt
139
F
(N/A)
46
WIGB
112
F
PVAM
90
UL
122
F
NJIT
53
Ford
50
F
Denv
90
Wyo
87
F(OT)
JWCO
52
N CO
118
F
Colora
78
NM
75
F
NFla
71
Minn
80
F
(N/A)
56
Sac
81
F

Dec 11, 2018, 7:00 PM EST

Final

1

2

T

Charleston Southern

34

35

69

(23) Furman

37

40

77

No. 23 Furman tops Charleston Southern 77-69, stays unbeaten
Tue Dec 11, 2018 10:17 PM

GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) No. 23 Furman took another step in its remarkable early-season journey, one coach Bob Richey expects will benefit his team the rest of the way.

The perfect Paladins (11-0) used a late run to pull away from Charleston Southern for a 77-69 victory Tuesday night in their first-ever home game as a Top 25 team.

Richey felt the jitters of his young team before the game, the desire to show the home crowd their rise was legitimate.

"The fear of if we lose, does all this go away," Richey said. "And I think that's normal for a young player - `Man, we want to keep this going."'

Noah Gurley scored 17 points, and Alex Hunter and Andrew Brown had 16 points apiece to lead Furman in a game where leading scorer Jordan Lyons had zero points.

"We've got to continue to keep our pulse on these players," Richey said. "We've got to continue to help them out."

So far, so good.

The Paladins have been one of college basketball's biggest surprises with their school-record run to start the season - a stretch that included defeating defending national champs Villanova and a second Final Four team from last year in Loyola-Chicago.

It took a late charge to break away from the Buccaneers (4-5).

Charleston Southern trailed 54-52 on Dontrell Shuler's layup with less than 10 minutes left. After that, the Paladins went on a 14-4 run. Tre Clark had four points during the surge and when Gurley nailed a 3-pointer with 5:51 to go, Furman was up 68-56.

Charleston Southern could not respond and college basketball's feel-good story of the season remained on track.

Lyons, averaging 20.2 points a game, missed all seven of his shots.

Matt Rafferty had 14 points and 14 rebounds for Furman.

"We've got to stay even-keeled," Hunter said. "That's something we've been practicing every day."

Deontaye Buskey and Duncan LeXander had 13 points each for Charleston Southern.

Buccaneers coach Barclay Radebaugh said his team made too many mistakes to hang in at the end.

"You can't do that against a team like Furman," he said.

Furman, which joined the AP Top 25 last week for the first time in school history, had to wait another week - and make it through road wins at Elon and South Carolina Upstate - before it could celebrate its achievement on its home court. And it looked like the Paladins would have plenty to cheer about after they used a 17-8 run midway through the opening period to build a 26-18 lead.

But Furman went cold after that, missing seven straight shots as the Buccaneers of the Big South Conference tightened things up.

BIG PICTURE

Charleston Southern: The Buccaneers are nearing the end of a brutal opening stretch with seven of their first 11 games on the road. Those have included losses at Florida, Middle Tennessee and Marquette. Charleston Southern's run ends with games at North Florida and Clemson in the next week. Radebaugh hopes the time away from home toughens the Bucs for Big South play.

Furman: The Paladins looked edgy in their first home appearance as a ranked team. They looked ready to take charge with a 51-42 lead before helping Charleston Southern's comeback with four straight turnovers. Furman probably won't win many games where Lyons struggles as he did against the Bucs.

STREAKING PALADINS

Furman is off to its most consecutive wins since winning 11 in a row in 1979. That's back when the Paladins were one of the Palmetto State's most successful teams, going to six NCAA Tournaments between 1971 and 1980. Furman has not played in the tournament since then.

RICHEY'S START

Richey was grateful to Radebaugh, who hired Richey as a 23-year-old and gradually gave him control of the Bucs' offense. "Without Barclay, I wouldn't be here today," Richey said.

UP NEXT

Charleston Southern is at North Florida on Saturday.

Furman finishes a two-game homestand by hosting UNC Wilmington on Saturday.

---

More AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/Collegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25

Leaders

Charleston Southern PTS +/- AST REB ST BLK
D. LeXander 13 0 2 3 2 0
D. Buskey 13 0 2 1 1 0
Furman PTS +/- AST REB ST BLK
N. Gurley 17 0 0 3 1 1
A. Brown 16 0 0 5 0 1

Team Comparison

ChaSo Furm
Points For 69 77
Field Goals 25/62-40% 28/59-47%
Three Pointers 10/22-45% 12/27-44%
Free Throws 9/12-75% 9/15-60%
Offensive Rebounds 13 14
Defensive Rebounds 22 26
Rebounds 37 43
Blocks 4 7
Steals 8 11
Turnovers 17 18
Personal Fouls 15 14
Technical Fouls 0 0
Ejections 0 0

2018-19 Reg Season - Furm Leads Series 1-0

Date Result Away Pts Ldr Home Pts Ldr
Tue Dec 11 ChaSo 69 @ Furm 77 D. LeXander 13 N. Gurley 17

Game Information

Stadium: Timmons Arena, Greenville, South Carolina
Attendance: 2,210
Game Time: