Paladins to visit Tulane


(Monte Dutton photo)

Furman is off on the non-conference road for the final time as the Paladins take on Tulane on Thursday night at Fogleman Arena in New Orleans, La.

The 7 p.m. EST game will be streamed live on ESPN+ and can be heard on The Fan Upstate at 97.7 FM and 1330 AM in Greenville, on 97.1 FM and 1490 AM in Spartanburg, and via the Audacy app.

Furman (5-5) takes on the Green Wave for the first time ever. The men’s basketball team is coming off a 100-58 victory over Bob Jones University on Saturday.

Furman finished the game with a season-high 33 assists as Pegues (12.) and Carter Whitt (10) became the first Paladin teammates to register double digit-assists in the same game.

Furman is averaging 84.1 points per game this season. Redshirt senior Marcus Foster, who leads the Paladins averaging 19.8 points per game, suffered a knee injury on Dec. 2 at Princeton and is sidelined indefinitely.

Pegues ranks fifth in the league in scoring at 16.9 points per game while ranking second in the SoCon, dishing out 6.2 assists per game. Williams has contributed 16 points per game while shooting .439 behind the arc.

Tulane (6-2), a member of the American Athletic Conference, dropped a 106-76 decision to Mississippi State on Saturday.

Furman head coach Bob Richey was born in New Orleans, La., while his father was in medical school at Tulane.

Following Thursday’s game, Furman concludes the calendar year and non-conference schedule with home visits Presbyterian (Dec. 19) and Anderson (Dec. 30).

(Furman graphic)

Co-captains Jacob Johanning and cornerback Travis Blackshear are the 72nd and 73rd All-Americans in Furman football history.

Johanning, from Simpsonville, made the Associated Press FCS All-America first team, and Blackshear, from Savannah, Ga., made third team.

Johanning and Blackshear, team co-captains, were among key performers who helped Furman compile a 10-3 season, highlighted by the Paladins’ Southern Conference championship and quarterfinal appearance in the FCS playoffs.  Ranked among the FCS Top 10 since the preseason and as high as second in one three-week stretch, Furman finished the regular season ranked seventh.

 Johanning was honored as the Southern Conference’s top offensive lineman by capturing the Jacobs Blocking Award. He was a second team All-America in 2022 and registered 39 starts and 2,652 play participations in his career.  He was also named to the SoCon All-Academic Honor Roll four times and was a three-time SoCon All-Academic Team honoree.

A three-time All-SoCon honoree during his Paladin career, which spanned 58 games and a program record 51 starts, Blackshear helped headline a Furman defense that ranked among the best in the FCS, totaling 29 tackles, four interceptions and nine pass breakups.

(Furman graphic)

Alex Williams, who twice hiked his highest career scoring performance, is Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week.

The Xenia, Ohio, product averaged 25.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists while shooting .544 from the field and .548 from three-point range in the Paladins’ contests versus Arkansas and Bob Jones.

Williams, a junior, buried five triples to tally a career-high 20 pointsa 97-83 loss to the Razorbacks in Fayetteville, Ark. On Saturday, the 6- 5 sharpshooter once again posted a career-best by connecting on 12/19 shots, including 6/12 beyond the arc, to net 31 points in a 100-58 victory over the Bruins. He also added a season-high eight rebounds.

The NCAA Div. III national champion, Josh Hebrink, is joining the Furman men’s golf program as a graduate transfer from Piedmont University in Demorest, Ga.

Hebrink is a product of Elk River, Minn.

Also joining the Paladins in 2024-25 are Max Halflants of Brussels, Begium, Ludvig Josefsson of Hestra, Sweden, and David Oliver of Pageland.

“While graduating five seniors this spring will be tough to replace, these four, along with our current deep and talented roster, definitely give us a lot to be optimistic about and excitement for the future,” stated coach Matt Davidson.

Furman athletes achieved a 97-percent graduation rate in the latest NCAA Graduate Success Rate numbers.

Eleven of 14 sports posted perfect marks.

Sports earning perfect 100 graduation rates include men’s basketball, men’s cross country/track & field, women’s cross country/track & field, men’s golf, women’s golf, softball, men’s tennis, and women’s tennis.


The overall GSR of all NCAA Division I institutions is 90 for student-athletes who enrolled over the four-year period 2013-16.

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