ASHEVILLE, N.C. — When Furman takes on Samford on Saturday night in the Ingles SoCon Basketball Championships, this much is certain.
It’s going to be aggressive.
The Bulldogs are the reigning champions. They are seeded fourth, the Paladins fifth. Furman (23-8) won both regular-season games. Both were testy. In both, the Paladins hung on as Samford (22-9) applied relentless pressure, came from behind and fell short.
Saturday’s game, the final of four quarterfinal-round contests, tips off at 8:30 p.m. at Harrah’s Cherokee Center Asheville and will be streamed live on ESPN+. Fans can listen to the action on The Fan Upstate at 97.7 FM and 1330 AM in Greenville, 97.1 FM and 1490 AM in Spartanburg.

The winner of the Furman-Samford matchup will advance to face top seed Chattanooga or Mercer in semifinal round action Sunday at 4 p.m. on ESPNU. Monday’s SoCon Championship Game is at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
Furman enters the postseason riding a four-game winning streak. The Paladins are led by guards PJay Smith Jr. and Nick Anderson, who averaged 17.2 and 14.1 points per game, respectively, during the regular season. Smith was named first-team All-SoCon on Wednesday while Anderson earned third-team honors. Sophomore forward Cooper Bowser, who has swatted a league-leading 50 shots this season, was selected to the league’s all-defensive team.

The 23-win season marks the seventh time in the last nine years that Furman has reached at least 22 wins and the sixth time in eight seasons under head coach Bob Richey. The Paladins also rank among the nation’s leaders with nine true road wins.
Saturday’s quarterfinal marks the 41st meeting in the all-time series between Furman and Samford (22-9) with the Paladins holding a 28-12 head-to-head advantage. Furman has won 11 of the last 14 meetings versus the Bulldogs and swept the regular season home-and-home series between the schools with a 72-70 triumph in Greenville on January 29 and an 80-72 victory in Birmingham, Ala., to begin the current four-game winning streak on Feb. 19.

Smith matched a career-high with 32 points in Furman’s road win over the Bulldogs, while Anderson and Bowser averaged 18.5 points apiece in the two previous meetings.
Furman and Samford have met seven times in postseason play with the Paladins boasting a 4-3 edge. The combined 45 wins between the Paladins and Bulldogs are the most in a SoCon quarterfinal-round matchup in league history.

The end of Furman’s women’s basketball road was Friday afternoon.
Karsen Murphy scored 18 points, and Chattanooga used an early fourth quarter run to take command on the way to a 63-55 victory over Furman at Harrah’s Cherokee Center.
The victory moved Chattanooga (16-13) into Sunday’s noon championship game against regular-season champion UNC Greensboro (24-6). The loss concludes the season for Furman (16-16).

Leading 36-33 late in the third quarter, Chattanooga tallied the final three points of the period and got back-to-back 3-pointers from Sigrun Olafsdotter and Murphy to fuel a combined 10-1 run and take a 46-34 lead following a Frode Flos van der Schans free throw with 7:09 to go.
Furman twice got to ithin six points, the final time at 54-48 following a Raina McGowens free throw at the 3:09 mark, but could get no closer.
Tate Walters led Furman with 19 points in her final game as a Paladin, but the purple and white couldn’t overcome erratic shooting, finishing at .377 from the field and just 2/9 from 3-point range.

UTC was more successful shooting, hitting on 22/48 chances, including 6/15 from beyond the arc.
Caia Elisadez followed Murphy in the scoring column with 16 points.
Walters, a two-time All-SoCon performer, finished her career with 1,268 points, good for 14th in program history, and with 453 assists, which ranks second all-time at Furman.
Jada Session, a 2023-23 All-SoCon pick who tallied seven points and claimed 10 rebounds, completed her Paladin career with 902 points and 677 rebounds — the latter placing her 10th on Furman’s career ledger.
Furman senior forward Kate Johnson finished her career with 725 points.
Take a look at the stats here.

I love a college-basketball tournament. In January, when I spent most of my time lying in a hospital bed, I dreamed of being ready for this. Presbyterian played Radford in the Big South tournament. On Saturday night, Furman plays Samford in the Southern Conference. I swung by Asheville at 9 a.m. to pick up credentials. I got to Johnson City in time to find Freedom Hall and watch High Point pound Gardner-Webb.
Never has Gardner-Webb’s moniker, Runnin’ Bulldogs, been more apt. They ran too much. The Panthers played fast, too, but there was more method to the madness.

Words can ill express my appreciation for the assistance I’ve been getting from lifelong friends and acquaintances in regard to my recent health struggles. I am deeply touched at the concern of people I’ve known for most of my life.
The coming months will bring more change, and I don’t know yet what shape it will take.
From time to time, I have thought it a shame that people don’t often know what others think of them while they are alive. I’ve had a rough go of it recently, but I know that uothers respect, appreciate and support me.
Thanks for reading my stories, overlooking my flaws and indulging our differences.

My books, most of them fiction, are available at Amazon and on other bookseller sites. I’ve written two novels about stock-car racing, Lightning in a Bottle, and the sequel, Life Gets Complicated, both about fictional young driver Barrie Jarman.
Thanks for putting up with me.