Gamecocks Fall to Furman, 79-60, in Charleston Classic Finale

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) – Garrett Hien came off the bench and scored 13 of his career-high 20 points in the second half and Furman pulled away from South Carolina in the seventh-place game of the Charleston Classic on Sunday.

Hien made 8-of-12 shots, including 3-of-4 3-pointers and had five rebounds and three assists.

Both teams entered the Charleston Classic with 2-0 records. The Gamecocks lost to Colorado State 85-53 and Davidson 69-60. The Paladins fell to Penn State 73-68 and Old Dominion 82-77.

Jalen Slawson had 14 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two blocks for the Paladins. Tyrese Hughey added 12 points and Mike Bothwell had 11 points, five rebounds, eight assists and two steals.

GG Jackson II scored 19 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Gamecocks and Chico Carter Jr., added 17 points.

Hughey hit a 3-pointer with 12 1/2 minutes to play to put Furman ahead 56-45 and the Paladins were up by double figures the rest of the way.

Marcus Foster scored all eight of his points and three players had seven as the Paladins took a 38-31 halftime lead. Carter and Jackson both had 12 points for the Gamecocks on 5-of-7 shooting but their teammates were a combined 2 of 11.

Furman took the lead when Foster’s 3-pointer started a 15-0 run for a 30-18 lead. Six different players scored in that five-minute stretch that saw South Carolina miss three shots of commit three turnovers.

South Carolina shot 42% in the second half while Furman shot 58%, going 7-of-13 from 3-point range. The Paladins finished at 51%, including 12-of-27 behind the arc.

KEY STAT

• Furman capitalized on its 17 turnovers forced, scoring 23 points. The Paladins also knocked down 12 shots from behind the arc, going 7-of-13 (53.8 percent) from 3 in the second half. As a team, Furman shot 57.7 percent (15-for-26) the final 20 minutes of the game.

NOTABLES

• Two players scored in double figures for Carolina: Gregory “GG” Jackson II (19) and Chico Carter Jr. (17). Jackson has now scored in double-figures his first five games as a Gamecock.
• Meechie Johnson, who missed Carolina’s game vs. Davidson on Friday night, led the Gamecocks with a career-high five assists. He started today and played 26 minutes.

UP NEXT
South Carolina returns home to Colonial Life Arena for a Black Friday matchup vs. USC Upstate. Game time is set for 4 p.m. (ET) with Dave Weinstein (pxp) and John Williams (analyst) on the call for the SEC Network+ broadcast.

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