No. 5 Furman and No. 6 Wofford set to meet in the SoCon finals

No. 5 Furman 80, No. 1 Chattanooga 77

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – No. 5 seed Furman took the lead early in overtime and held on for an 80-77 upset win over No. 1 Chattanooga in the semifinals of the Ingles Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament at Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville on Sunday.

The Paladins, who won the conference tournament in 2023, will play Wofford for the title on Monday night at 7 p.m.

In overtime, Furman guard Nick Anderson scored on a short-range jumper with 3:21 remaining and teammate Cooper Bowser made 1-of-2 free throws 30 seconds later that pushed the lead to 75-72.

The teams then traded points until PJay Smith made a pair of free throws with 16 seconds remaining to give the Paladins a 79-76 lead. An errant inbounds pass from Chattanooga following Smith’s free throws was stolen and Anderson was fouled with 12 seconds remaining.

He made 1-of-2 free throws for a seemingly secure 80-76 lead, but Chattanooga had a chance when Trey Bonham was fouled while attempting a shot underneath with 3.6 seconds left. He made the first but intentionally missed the second, which was touched by Bowser before it went out of bounds, giving Mocs a chance at a tie, but Bonham missed a three-point attempt at the buzzer.

In regulation, Smith tied the game at 70 when he drove the lane and connected on a 10-foot jumper with 27.8 seconds remaining. After a timeout, Chattanooga’s shot attempt was blocked by Bowser at the buzzer.

The game had 16 lead changes, 10 ties and 23 made three-pointers -- 12 by Furman and 11 by Chattanooga.

The Mocs' Huff drained 8-of-11 threes and led all scorers with 28 points. Smith made 5-of-8 and led Furman with 25 points, while Anderson connected on 4-of-8 and added 23 points.

Records: Furman 25-8, Chattanooga 24-9.

STATS TO KNOW

- Furman outscored the Mocs 14-10 from the free-throw line and also won the rebounding battle 37-34. 

- Furman has made 29 three-pointers through its first two tournament games. 

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No. 6 Wofford 85, No. 7 VMI 65

ASHEVILLE, N.C. – No. 6 seed Wofford led from nearly start to finish, cruising to an 85-65 win over No. 7 VMI in the semifinals of the Ingles Southern Conference Men's Basketball Tournament at Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville on Sunday night.

The Terriers took the lead for good with 18:15 left in the first half and never looked back against a Keydet squad that made the semifinals one year after winning just four games.

Wofford will play rival and No. 5 seed Furman on Monday night at 7 p.m. for a berth into the NCAA Tournament. The teams are meeting for the SoCon championship for just the second time. The Terriers beat the Paladins in the 2015 title game 67-64.

Wofford will attempt to win its sixth tournament championship. The Terriers last won the SoCon tournament in 2019.

VMI, which upset second-seeded UNCG on Saturday and was playing for the third straight day, seemed to battle fatigue in addition to a hot-shooting opponent. The Terriers made 17-of-32 field-goal attempts in the first half (53.1 percent).

Corey Tripp drained a three-pointer to give the Terriers a 31-20 lead, and after a VMI free throw, Luke Flynn buried back-to-back threes, giving Wofford a 37-21 lead with 5:47 on the clock. The Terriers eventually led 44-29 at the half. 

Wofford led by as many as 25 points in the second half.

Four players scored in double figures for the Terriers led by Tripp with 20 and Dillon Bailey with 14. VMI was led by Rickey Bradley Jr., who finished with a game-high 21 points.

Records: Wofford 18-15, VMI 15-19.

STATS TO KNOW

- Wofford committed just two turnovers and scored 11 points off of 13 VMI turnovers.

- Wofford's bench outscored VMI's reserves 19-2.

- In addition to the 2015 title game, the only other time Furman and Wofford met in the tournament was in the 2020 quarterfinals. The Terriers won that game as well 77-68.

2025 Ingles Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship
Friday, March 7 (ESPN+/Nexstar)
Game 1 - (8) Mercer 67, (9) Western Carolina 66
Game 2 - (7) VMI 73, (10) The Citadel 62
 
Saturday, March 8 (ESPN+)
Game 3 - (1) Chattanooga 76, (8) Mercer 61
Game 4 - (7) VMI 64, (2) UNCG 57

Game 5 - (6) Wofford 72, (3) ETSU 60

Game 6 - (5) Furman 95, (4) Samford 78
 
Sunday, March 9 (ESPNU)
Game 7 - (5) Furman 80, (1) Chattanooga 77 (OT)
Game 8 - (6) Wofford 85, (7) VMI 65
 
Monday, March 10 (ESPN)
(5) Furman vs. (6) Wofford, 7 p.m.