Win over Villanova: Furman men's basketball believes it is onto something special

Myron Hosea | Special to The Greenville News

In welcoming home the Furman men’s basketball team Sunday from its upset victory against defending national champion Villanova, a large group of Paladis fans showed their support for a program that has started the season 5-0.

Coach Bob Richey believes more victories – and more fans – are in the future.

“I continue to believe that we’re going to have more people getting on this thing, we’re going to get the city on this thing, and we’re going to continue to push this thing forward,” Richey told the crowd.

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The coach also expressed a great deal of belief in his players.

“I see how they work. I see how close they are. I see how connected they are," Richey said. "So when you go up against all these challenges, you don’t have all this fear residing in you.”

From Chicago to Greenville to Philadelphia, the Paladins had a productive eight days. Their four wins in that stretch included Saturday’s 76-68 overtime win at No. 8-ranked Villanova and the Nov. 9 victory at Loyola-Chicago, another Final Four team from this past March. Also, junior guard Jordan Lyons tied the NCAA record for most 3-point field goals in a game, hitting 15 on Thursday night against North Greenville.

“This is something we’ll cherish forever as a team,” said Lyons, who led five Paladins in double figures Saturday with 17 points. “We had an expectation and a belief that we could go up there and do this. We knew that a lot of people wouldn’t believe that we could, but we believe in each other.”

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The victory against Villanova was Furman's first against a Top 10 opponent since a win at Greenville Auditorium against then-No. 10 ETSU in 1991. Villanova is the highest-ranked team to fall to the Paladins since No. 5 Davidson in 1965.

Senior forward Matt Rafferty, who had 15 points and 17 rebounds Saturday, said the win over Villanova “is a big step for our program. Helps with recruiting. Helps with getting more fans out to our games. It helps with everything.”

Richey and his staff not only invest time in preparing players for the schedule but also in developing them as men off the court.

“This program is going to be about growing people,” he said. “And as we grow people, the player’s going to develop. As a by-product, the program’s going to develop.

“I think that’s a big gap between childhood and manhood, right? Learning how to deal with the hard. Leaning into it and saying, "You know what, we’ve got to keep fighting.' I do think this is a by-product of what we do off the court. Every single person in this program had an impact in getting this thing done.”

Now, the Paladins — 5-0 for the first time since the 1987-88 season -- have to show the focus to go past the celebrations and notoriety to prepare for a lot of games still to come.

“I think throughout the season, we’re going to have a bunch of ups and downs, this being obviously one of our biggest highlights for this year,” Rafferty said. “We’ve got to move on quickly. Celebrate a little more today and then move on.”