Paladin Men win 4th straight as familiar hero JP Pegues ices Catamounts with late three
The Furman Paladins Men’s basketball squad played host to the Western Carolina Catamounts in Southern Conference action on Saturday afternoon in a packed Timmons Arena.
The Paladins (10-9, 4-2) have now won four straight games after starting 6-9 and 0-2 in the SoCon. The Catamounts (15-4, 4-2) on the other hand have now lost two straight contests, both of which came at the hands of conference opponents.
Furman controlled the majority of the first half, leading 36-26 heading into the break after the first 20 minutes of play. Quickly after the beginning of the 2nd half the Catamounts stormed back, leaping in front behind a 13-2 run in the opening minutes of the half.
It was a back and forth contest for the rest of the way, though Western Carolina seemed to control the pace as Furman went cold from the field for the majority of the half. WIth about 3 minutes remaining in the contest Furman retook the lead from Western Carolina off a three from Marcus Foster, and the Catamounts never led again.
Both teams traded baskets before Furman guard JP Pegues, a historically clutch player for the Paladins remembered for his shot to knock off Virginia in the NCAA Tournament a season ago, hit a layup to put the Paladins up 62-59 with 39 seconds remaining.
The Catamounts weren’t out of it yet, as Western Carolina’s DJ Campbell nailed a triple to knot the game at 62 with 17 seconds left. Furman cleared and left Pegues in one-on-one isolation with his defender, taking the game clock all the way down inside of one second before letting a jab step 3 fly.
The shot found the bottom of the net with 0.6 seconds remaining and the Western Carolina inbounds pass was tipped away allowing time to expire in the 4th straight Furman victory.
Pegues led the Paladins in scoring with 17 points while Marcus Foster added 14 points and 9 rebounds. Alex Williams also chipped in with a 13 point 11 board double double for Furman.
Vonterius Woolbright led the Catamounts with a whopping 27 points and 16 rebounds to go along with 6 assists, giving Woolbright a double-double and the WCU team high in every major statistical category.
Furman will look to keep their winning spurt going as they remain at home and face Samford on Wednesday evening. 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.
