Furman vs. Wofford (DNP), February 26, 2011

Graham and roommate Rich Brown look on as senior
point guard Darryl Evans is introduced for his last
home game in Timmons Arena. Photo by MIKE BONNER
for the Spartanburg Herald Journal at GoUpstate.com.

The Paladins (20-9, 12-6) dropped consecutive games for the first time this season in losing to the Terriers (18-12, 14-4) by a score of 79-65. With the loss, Furman finished third in the SoCon South Division and failed to earn a bye for next weekend's Southern Conference tournament in Chattanooga. The Paladins begin play Friday against Samford, the lowest-seeded team in the North Division but a team whose slow-down offense and match-up zone defense has given Furman fits in its two wins over Bulldogs this season. Since the Southern Conference began the four-day format for the tournament in 1993, no team without a bye in the first round has won it.

Photo by Eddie Burch for The Greenville News at www.greenvilleonline.com.

Furman at UTC (DNP), February 21, 2011

The Paladins (20-8, 12-5) turned in subpar shooting and rebounding efforts in Chattanooga to lose to the SoCon North Division leading Mocs (15-14, 11-5) by a score of 75-59. Furman fell a half game behind Wofford in the race for second place in the SoCon South Division heading into Saturday's showdown in Timmons Arena.

Furman at Samford (DNP), February 19, 2011

The Paladins (20-7, 12-4) battled back from a 14-point first-half deficit to take the lead briefly in the second half only to fall back down by seven points and then scratch out a hard-fought 70-63 win over the Bulldogs (12-16, 4-12). The victory gave the Paladins their first 20-win season since 1990-91, and it set up a head-to-head show-down with Wofford next Saturday with second place in the SoCon South Division on the line and a first-round bye in the conference tournament awaiting the winner.

Furman vs. Davidson (DNP), February 12, 2011

Two nights after scoring only 54 points in a win over Georgia Southern, the Paladins (19-7, 11-4) used a 51-point second half to power past the Wildcats (13-13, 7-8) and break an 11-game losing streak against Davidson in an 88-79 victory. Senior point guard Darryl Evans scored a career-high 24 points; sophomore Colin Reddick recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds; and senior Jordan Miller tallied 14 points (and two crowd-pleasing blocks in the final minute) after scoring a total of 14 points in three games since returning from a bout with pneumonia. Furman hit 13 consecutive free throws down the stretch to hold Davidson at bay in the closing minutes. Two of them were by Graham's roommate, freshman guard Rich Brown, who entered the game at the 1:33 mark and hit nothing but net twice with 1:13 left to push Furman's lead from five to seven points.

Photo by Richard Shiro for The Greenville News.

Furman vs. Georgia Southern (DNP), February 10, 2011

The Paladins (18-7, 10-4) survived subpar shooting from the field and from the free-throw line to scratch out an unimpressive 54-45 win over the hapless Eagles (4-22, 0-13). Furman's regular season sweep of Georgia Southern (the first since 1997) tied the series at 22-22 and moved the Paladins back into a tie for second place in the South Division of the Southern Conference.

Furman at The College of Charleston (DNP), February 5, 2011

The Paladins (17-7, 9-4) were mauled by the Cougars (17-7, 10-2) as Charleston swept the season series from Furman for the third straight year on the strength of a 73-54 drubbing that was not as close as the final score might suggest. The Paladins, who lost to the Cougars by only four points in Greenville, went down by nine in the first four minutes and never really recovered. Graham got very little CT on the CSS television broadcast and no PT.

Furman at The Citadel (DNP), February 3, 2011

The Paladins (17-6, 9-3) swept the season series from the Bulldogs (9-14, 5-6) by grinding out a 59-55 victory in Charleston. Coupled with Wofford's blow-out loss across town at the College of Charleston, the win moved Furman back into a tie for second place in the SoCon South Division, a half-game behind the Cougars whom the Paladins face Saturday at 4 p.m. with the division lead on the line.