Furman Falters Late, Loses to The Citadel, 84-79 - WSPA-TV

Furman Falters Late, Loses to The Citadel, 84-79

Greenville, S.C. – The Citadel rallied from an 18-point second half deficit by shooting 74.1% from the floor over the final 20 minutes to upend Furman, 84-79, in Southern Conference men’s basketball action Saturday afternoon on YP.com Court at Timmons Arena.

Freshman P.J. Horgan scored 17 of his career-high 23 points after the break as the Bulldogs (6-15, 3-8 SoCon) converted on 20-of-27 second half field goal attempts, including 5-of-9 from behind the three-point line, to claim their first triumph over the Paladins in the last six meetings between the schools.

Furman (6-14, 3-6 SoCon) stretched a 40-24 halftime lead to 18 points when Colin Reddick buried a jumper just 19 seconds into the second period, but the Bulldogs began to chip away at the Paladin lead with an Ashton Moore three-pointer on the next possession.  A 17-3 Bulldog run midway through the period pulled The Citadel to within three points with 9:13 remaining when Matt Van Syoc was fouled shooting a trey and buried all three attempts at the charity stripe to trim the lead to 56-53.

The Paladins increased the margin back to seven points on three occasions in the next two minutes of play before Van Syoc and Marshall Harris III buried back-to-back threes to pull the Bulldogs to within one point at 65-64.  Mike Groselle’s layup with four minutes left knotted the game at 70-70 and Horgan put The Citadel on top with a pair of free throws with 3:09 to play following a Paladin turnover.  

Moore and Groselle hit shots on The Citadel’s next two possessions and Dylen Setzekorn made a three from the corner following a pair of Charlie Reddick free throws.  After Furman missed a trey, Harris converted on two trips to the line to cap another 17-3 run that gave the Bulldogs an 81-72 lead with 51 seconds to play.

Horgan hit 9-of-13 field goal attempts and 5-of-6 free throws to pace five Bulldogs in double figures.  Groselle added 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds while Moore netted 14 points.  Van Syoc and Harris totaled 13 and 11 points, respectively.

The Citadel shot 56.6% from the floor, made 7-of-13 three-point attempts and 17-of-27 free throw attempts to score its second straight victory.  The Bulldogs committed just eight turnovers and scored 17 points off 12 Paladin miscues.

Charlie Reddick led Furman with a career-high 26 points to go with eight rebounds, while twin brother Colin Reddick added 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting and also grabbed eight boards.  Freshman Stephen Croone contributed 12 points and 12 assists.

The Paladins shot 48.4% from the field and hit 8-of-23 three-point attempts, but Furman converted on just 11-of-17 free throws.  

The game marked the second straight outing that Furman squandered an 18-point lead.  On Thursday night, Georgia Southern rallied from an 18-point deficit to take a late lead before Bobby Austin and Charlie Reddick’s shooting bailed out the Paladins.

Furman continues its four-game homestand on Thursday when it hosts SoCon North Division foe UNCG.  Tip-off versus the Spartans is set for 7 p.m.