By MONTE DUTTON

On Tuesday night at Timmons Arena, Furman exceeded 100 points for the first time, outscored Bob Jones, 60-12 inside and won for the sixth time in its last seven men’s basketball games.

No surprise there. The Bruins didn’t start shooting hoops until 2002. They’ve done all right in Division II.

Junior Cooper Bowser poured in – mainly dunked in — a career-high 24 points on 11/14 shooting, and Furman won, 105-57.

Bowser went 8/8 from the floor in the first half to help the Paladins to a 47-30 halftime advantage. Furman (7-4) outscored the Bruins 58-27 over the final 20 minutes to pile up its largest margin of victory to date.

Tom House caught fire in the second half to post a season-high 16 points with a 4/7 effort from three-point range, and Ben Vander Wal hit 6/7 shots to finish with 15 points. Charles Johnston netted 12 points and eight rebounds, while Asa Thomas added 10 points. Alex Wilkins dished out a career-best nine assists and Owen Ritger added career highs with six points and seven rebounds off the bench.

It was quite exciting, not competitive. Competitive would have been disappointing.

The Paladins shot .594 (41/69) from the field and managed a 26-5 margin in points off turnovers by feasting on 17 Bob Jones miscues. A 46-24 rebounding advantage that included 13 offensive boards led to a 22-1 edge in second-chance points.

Justin Skelton led the Bruins with 16 points and five rebounds. Bob Jones shot just .339 (20/59) from the field, but the Bruins (2-5) connected on 9/25 three-point attempts.

Furman is idle for exams before returning to action with a trip to New York City on Dec. 18 to face the Manhattan Jaspers.

Take a look at the stats here.

Junior Diego Hernandez was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-South Region First Team, and Furman freshman Braden Dunham was selected second team all-region.

Hernandez has paced the Paladins with 10 goals and nine assists this season while capturing Southern Conference Player of the Year and SoCon Tournament Most Outstanding Player honors. The Mesquite, Texas, native and team captain led the Paladins to the SoCon regular season and tournament titles before guiding Furman to its first NCAA College Cup appearance.

Dunham, a native of Peachtree City, Ga., earned SoCon Freshman of the Year honors and garnered national attention this week when his chip from 40 yards out propelled the 16^th-seeded Paladins past No. 8 seed Portland, 1-0, and into the College Cup. Dunham has netted seven goals this season and was tabbed Top Drawer Soccer National Player of the Week on Tuesday, following his heroics at Portland in Friday’s Elite Eight victory.

Furman opens play in the NCAA College Cup on Friday at 6 p.m. when it faces Washington in the first of two semifinal matches in First Horizon Stadium in Cary, N.C. Furman-Washington and the second semifinal between Saint Louis and No. 15 seed N.C. State will be televised live on ESPNU.

The winners of Friday’s semifinal matches advance to the national championship match, which is set for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff on Monday, Dec. 15, at First Horizon Stadium.

Freshman Leland Bishop established a new school record in the men’s 200 meters, and sophomore Claire Cook won the 600 with a program-record time to lead the Paladin indoor track and field teams at the Clemson Opener Friday.

Bishop, a native of Concord, N.C., posted a time of 22.27 in the 200m, breaking a 33-year-old record of 22.30, set by Brad Stephens in 1992.  Bishop finished 22nd in the event. 

A native of Austin, Texas, Cook took gold in the 600 with a time of 1:30.92, taking almost four seconds off her own previous school record of 1:34.28, which she set at the same meet last year.

Senior Camryn Wennersten won the women’s mile with a time of 4:49.87, while senior Clair Garrett turned in a time of 5:16.47 for second place in the event. 

Select members of the Paladin team will compete at the Boston University Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in Boston, Mass., on Saturday. On Sunday, various members of the men’s team will run at the JDL Early Bird Invitational in Winston-Salem, N.C.

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