Furman Men’s Basketball wraps up road trip with wild overtime win at the Citadel
The Furman Paladins Men’s basketball squad finished off a two game road trip in style on Wednesday evening, knocking off the Citadel Bulldogs dramatically in a game that required overtime to decide a winner.
The Paladins (12-10, 6-3) have now won 6 of their last 7 games and currently sit in 4th place in the Southern Conference heading into the all-important month of February. On the flip side, the Bulldogs (9-13, 1-8) have settled comfortably into a tie for last place in the SoCon and have lost 8 out of their last 9 games.
Shockingly, the Citadel controlled the majority of the contest, grabbing an early lead and stretching it to as much as 15 points early on in the second half. Not to be done away with quietly, the Paladins stormed back in the second half, taking their first lead of the game with around 7 minutes to play in regulation. It was a back and forth affair from there as both teams traded gut punches and knockout blows for nearly 7 minutes. When the dust cleared, the Bulldogs had a 72-69 lead with mere seconds to play.
Who else better to take the clutch shot than JP Pegues? The junior guard with a penchant for knocking down the big shots did just that, tying the game with a wild off-balance 3 point shot with one second remaining.
In overtime the Paladins ground the life out of the disheartened Bulldogs, outscoring the Citadel 10-7 in a defensive slugfest of an overtime period to escape with an 82-79 victory.
Marcus Foster led the way on the stat sheet for the Paladins, pouring in 17 points along with 15 rebounds and 7 assists. J.P. Pegues (Mr. Clutch himself) added 16 points while Alex Williams had contributed 12 points of his own. Pjay Smith came in clutch off the bench, scoring 15 points as he continues to adjust and get more comfortable at the division 1 level after transferring to Furman this offseason.
AJ Smith and Elijah Morgan each dropped 24 points for the Citadel while Kenyan Davis added 15. In total, all but 2 of the Bulldogs 79 points were scored by the starting 5, as Tony Carpio scored the only points for the Bulldogs bench for the evening.
When all was said and done, 4 Citadel starters played over 40 minutes, while only two Furman players saw the similar minutes.
The Paladins will next make their return home to face UNC-Greensboro in Timmons Arena on Sunday afternoon. For more coverage of Furman Paladins athletics, be sure to follow the Furman Joust Podcast on Twitter/X or explore our website at furmanjoust.com.
