ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Wofford basketball’s Corey Tripp drove to the basket with a minute and a half left and the Terriers trailing by two to Furman in the Southern Conference tournament championship game.
But Furman forward Cooper Bowser cut off his drive. Tripp pivoted and searched for an open teammate. He spotted guard Jackson Sivills standing near the top of the arc. Sivills caught the pass and rose for the 3-pointer.
Swish.
The basket gave No. 6 seed Wofford (17-15) a one-point lead and led the rest of the way for a 92-85 win over No. 5 seed Furman (23-9) at Harrah’s Cherokee Center on Monday and earned an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament. The last time the Terriers played in March Madness was in 2019.
“This is for everybody associated with Wofford College,” Wofford coach Dwight Perry said. “And I couldn’t be more proud of the group that we have.”
Things looked bleak for Wofford with two minutes left in the game. Furman guard Nick Anderson had just drilled a 3-pointer to give the Paladins an 83-79 lead.
Things shifted after Wofford forward Kyler Filewich made a layup and a defensive stop to set up the critical 3-pointer by Sivills.
Wofford’s defense also stepped up in the final minutes, allowing Furman only to hit one of its last seven attempts.
“There were plenty of times during this game, especially in the last two minutes, where a lot of people probably counted us out, and a lot of people thought we couldn’t get it done,” Perry said. “All this group did was get closer and closer together and stand on what we’ve believed in since day one.
“And we came out the other side champions.”
Sivills finished with 20 points. He was 6-of-9 from the field and made 4-of-7 3-pointers. Guard Justin Bailey added 19 points and seven rebounds.
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“Man, I was just trying to do my best to win,” Sivills said. “That was my main prerogative, my only prerogative.”
Wofford will learn its March Madness opponent and where it will play on Sunday (6 p.m., CBS).
Zachary Huber is a high school sports reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times and Hendersonville Times-News. Email him at [email protected] or follow him on X @zacharyahuber.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Wofford basketball top Furman in SoCon tournament for March Madness
