Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Winning Sophomores

It has been more than 30 years since a sophomore class has seen more wins in a Furman uniform than Richard Brown, Charlie Reddick (R-Soph), and Graham Rogers.

This year's 15-win campaign following last year's 22 wins (totalling 37 victories) tied the current sophomores with those of 1991-92 (20 in 1990-91, 17 in 1991-92) behind the sophs of the 1979-80 season who totalled 43 wins when Furman tallied 23 victories following a 20-win season in 1978-79.

The Paladins' all-time winningest sophomore class played in 1974-75, the second of back-to-back 22-win seasons under Coach Joe Williams (44 victories).

A winning record next season would make Brown, Reddick, and Rogers Furman's winningest junior class in more than 35 years.

GO PALADINS!

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Davidson 73 Furman 54

Asheville, NC. The Paladins (15-16) closed out the 2011-2012 season with a quarterfinal loss to their SoCon nemesis Wildcats (23-7) who have won 30 of the last 32 meetings.

Brothers Charlie and Colin Reddick led Furman in scoring with 10 points each in the last appearance in a Paladin uniform by Bryson Barnes, Brandon Sebirumbi, and Chris Toler. Provided Bobby Austin's medical redshirt is approved by the NCAA, four of tonight's starters and seven of tonight's ten players will return next season. It is still not known whether Graham's roommate Rich Brown will return or transfer.

Graham did not play.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Furman 75 Samford 66

Asheville, NC. The Paladns (15-15) topped the Bulldogs (11-19) to survive a SoCon Tournament first-round game for two consecutive years for the first time in more than a decade.

Senior Bobby Austin and sophomore Charlie Reddick led Furman in scoring with 15 points each, and senior Brandon Sebirumbi added 12 points.

The Paladins will take on SoCon South Division top-seeded Davidson Wildcats at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Frustrating News

In a frustrating development from the Paladin heartland, Graham learned on Friday that his 48 seconds of playing time at the end of the UTC game Thursday night invalidated his opportunity to apply to the NCAA for a medical redshirt year after having been sidelined for the first three months of the season with a neck injury. Had the 48 seconds of playing time come before the injury instead of after, he would be eligible.

When Coach Jackson called the redshirts to go to the scorer's table with just over a minute left in the game Thursday night, he asked Graham if he was sure he wanted to do go in. Graham didn't realize he was asking him if he wanted to give up a fifth year of eligibility in return for 48 seconds on the court.

Nuts.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Furman 65 Tennessee-Chattanooga 55

Timmons Arena. Graham logged his first playing time of the season in the Paladins' (14-14, 8-9) win over the Mocs (10-20, 4-13) in Furman's final home game of the 2011-2012 campaign. Walk-on time came with 48 seconds remaining in the contest. The Paladins built a 21-point lead before UTC scored the last 11 points of the game.

On Senior Night in Timmons, Senior Brandon Sebirumbi tallied a double-double by leading all scorers with 19 points and all rebounders with a career-high 14 boards. Freshman Jordan Loyd added 10 points.

The Paladins played without second-leading scorer Charlie Reddick (wrist) and point-guard Richard Brown (inactive).

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Furman 80 Western Carolina 66

Timmons Arena. The Paladins (13-13, 7-8) let the Catamounts (10-17, 4-10) reduce a 27-point second-half lead to seven before securing the regular-season sweep.

Charlie Reddick led all scorers with 16 points. Bryant Irwin added 14 and Bobby Austin 12. Graham's roommate Richard Brown tallied all eight of his points in the last 3 minutes as the Paldins stretched the lead back out to 18 before winning by 14.

Graham did not play.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Furman 93 UNCG 85

Timmons Arena. Posting their highest scoring total of the season, the Paladins (12-11, 6-6) put a stop to the SoCon North Division leading Spartans' (9-15, 7-4) seven-game winning streak.

Senior Brandon Sebirumbi led six Furman scorers in double figures and tied his career high with 20 points. Graham's roomie Rich Brown came off the bend to score a career-high-tying 16 points in 24 minutes of action after not practicing all week and missing five of the last six games with back spasms. Charlie Reddick pitched in 14, 10 from the foul line. Bryant Irwin tallied 12 points off the bench, and Bobby Austin and Jordon Loyd both scored 11. All ten Paladins who played scored.

Graham did not play.