Samford’s Southern Conference winning streak ended at eight on Wednesday night as Furman hit key 3-pointers at the end of regulation and the overtime period in a 91-84 victory over the Bulldogs at Timmons Arena in Greenville, South Carolina.
Samford (14-8 overall, 8-1 SoCon) battled foul trouble throughout with Jermaine Marshall and Bubba Parham fouling out in overtime. Ques Glover drew his fourth foul with 11:54 left in regulation but was able to play until the end. Logan Dye was whistled for his fourth foul in overtime. Overall, Furman (16-6 overall, 7-2 SoCon) was 27 of 34 from the free throw line, including 8 of 10 in the second half and 10 of 13 in overtime. Samford was 13 of 19 overall, 3 of 3 in the second half and 4 of 7 in overtime.
Yet, the Bulldogs still found a way to nearly scratch out the win.
Samford started slowly, falling behind by as many as 12 points, but found a way to get close at halftime. Glover’s 17-foot jumper at the first-half buzzer, his only basket of the first half, cut Furman’s lead to 38-34. The Bulldogs opened the second half with an 11-0 run that featured a 3-pointer by AJ Staton-McCray and four points by Logan Dye.
Furman answered with a 9-2 run and the teams settled into a second-half battle. Samford head coach Bucky McMillan was forced to sub for Marshall, Parham and Glover when his team was on defense as much as he could to combat the foul trouble. Dye kept the Bulldogs in the mix with 13 second-half points, hitting 5 of 6 from the field, 1 of 2 from outside the 3-point arc and 2 of 2 free throws.
Samford took a 66-63 lead with 5:59 left on a three-point play by Glover. The Bulldogs never trailed again in regulation but couldn’t close out the win. Parham’s 3-pointer with two minutes left gave Samford a 73-68 lead. Furman scored five straight points, including a 3-pointer by Alex Williams with 1:03 left, to tie the game.
Staton-McCray hit a 3-pointer with 38 seconds left to give Samford the 76-73 left. Twenty seconds later, Slawson made a 3-pointer to tie the game. Samford had one more chance but Parham’s wild 3-pointer wasn’t close.
Samford lost Marshall quickly in overtime. He fouled out less than a minute into the final period, and Parham quickly followed. Furman dominated the offensive glass, grabbing six offensive rebounds with five second-chance points and did the bulk of the scoring at the free throw line. But the Bulldogs fought their way to an 83-82 lead on a pair of layups by Glover. The second one came with 1:44 remaining.
Furman outscored Samford 9-1 the rest of the way, with the key bucket being a 3-pointer by Marcus Foster with 30 seconds left, to pull out the win.
Samford falls into a first-place tie with UNC Greensboro with Furman sitting a game back at the conclusion of the first half of SoCon play. The Bulldogs stay in South Carolina for Saturday afternoon’s matchup at Wofford.
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