Middle Tennessee couldn’t bounce back in this one, as they got down early in the 76-61 loss and were never able to climb back in it.

Furman didn’t play exceptionally well, committing 26 fouls and turning the ball over 18 times, but they dominated the boards 40-28 and shot a season high 53.1 percent from the field.

Raider forward JT Sulton scored 16 of 27 points for Middle in the first half, but didn’t score at all in the second half for the team. Shawn Jones put up career highs for the Raiders with a 13 point, 10 rebound double-double.

“It’s very disappointing to us,” MTSU coach Kermit Davis said. “I don’t think anyone works on rebounding as much as us.

After the 12:41 mark in the first half the Raiders were never able to pull any closer than 12 to their opponent.

“Give all the credit to Furman,” Davis said. “They were the tougher team.”

Four of Middle’s starters were held scoreless in the first half, two were scoreless for the game. Outside of Sulton, the starters only totaled nine points and three rebounds.

“Probably of any team I’ve coached here we’ve struggled in motivating the physicalness,” Davis said. “It goes back to your coach, back to your senior leadership, and it just wasn’t good enough.”

Meanwhile, Furman’s Noah States continued an impressive streak, making Sunday his third straight game with at least 18 points. States’ previous career high in scoring was 17.

“Fortunately for us we kind of got into a lead where we never really looked back,” Furman coach Jeff Jackson said.

Furman’s head coach and players made it clear that rebounding was important for them coming into the game and they were able to execute on the boards the way they wanted to.

“A road win is always good,” Furman’s Colin Reddick said. “Especially against a good team."