Samford rallies from 10-down to beat Furman 75-73

Jan 27, 2019, 12:33 am

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Robert Allen's go-ahead 3-pointer with five seconds left capped Samford's comeback from 10-down in the final five minutes to beat Furman 75-73 on Saturday.

The Bulldogs (13-9, 3-6 Southern Conference) trailed 71-61 with 4:21 to go and closed to within one when Josh Sharkey's jumper capped a 9-0 run with 2:06 left.

The Paladins (16-5, 5-4) still looked to be in good shape with 21 seconds left when Matt Rafferty made two free throws after Sharkey was called for an intentional foul. Samford fouled again on the ensuing inbounds play, but Jordan Lyons missed the front end of one-and-one that would have made it a two-possession lead.

Samford grabbed the rebound off Lyons' miss and scored on the run out to cut the deficit to one with 14 seconds left. Then, Lyons stepped out of bounds while receiving the inbounds pass, gifting Samford the opportunity for Allen's winner. Furman did not get a final shot off.

Josh Sharkey had 21 points and 12 assists, including a dish to Allen on the winning shot. Allen had 14 points and nine rebounds, and Myron Gordon and Brandon Austin scored 12 points each.

Rafferty had 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for Furman. Noah Gurley added 15 points, Clay Mounce chipped in 13 and Alex Hunter 11.

The Paladins missed their final seven shots from the field.