By MONTE DUTTON
One thing about Alex Wilkins. You’ve got to use him as much as you can.
Furman’s fantastic freshman was in foul trouble all night long. He fouled out with 3:59 to play. Ben Vander Wall followed with 33.5 seconds left.
Tom House scored 21 points and Wilkins added 20 to lead Furman to a 78-73 victory over Samford in Southern Conference men’s basketball action Thursday at Timmons Arena.
“I think we’re just getting into a better rhythm as a team,” House said. “We’re finding what works and finding what spots to go to. When you start hitting threes, everybody plays you a little differently. It gives you more room to attack and take what the defense is giving you. Our team’s getting into a better rhythm.”
Wilkins scored 21 points of playing time. He was 7/9 from the floor and hit 3/4 three-pointers.
With the victory, Furman completed a regular-season series sweep of the Bulldogs and improved to 15-7 overall and 6-3 in the SoCon. Samford dropped its fifth game in its last six outings to slip to 10-12 overall and 3-6 in conference play.
Wilkins scored 10 points to key an 18-5 Paladin run in the opening eight minutes of the second half that extended the Furman advantage to 55-41 on Ben Vander Wal’s layup with 12:22 to play. Samford chipped away at the Furman lead and trimmed the margin to 66-64 with 2:58 remaining when Jadin Booth scored six straight points for the Bulldogs. Eddrin Bronson found Charles Johnston for a layup on the next Furman possession and converted a jumper of his own the following trip down the court to push the lead back to six points before House splashed a triple with 1:11 left to up the margin to 73-64.
Booth buried another three and answered Cole Bowser’s free throws with his fourth triple of the night to trim the Paladin advantage to 75-70 with under a minute play. The Bulldogs forced a turnover that led to a 1/2 effort at the line by Kam Martin, who was fouled attempting a three-pointer after Collin O’Neal missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity for Furman. Martin made 2/3 attempts at the line, but Bronson converted on both of his free throws following a foul on the inbounds pass, and Furman got a stop of the defensive end and an O’Neal free throw to seal the verdict.
House finished 8/14 from the floor and 3/4 at the foul line to top 20 points for the second straight game while Wilkins went 7/9 from the field and 3/3 at the charity stripe before fouling out with 3:59 left. Vander Wal added 11 points, six board, and three assists while Johnston scored eight points. Johnston’s 16 rebounds marked a season-high and his most during his two-year career at Furman.
The Paladins shot .538 from the floor, including .640 over the final 20 minutes, and finished 15/20 at the foul line.
“We played eight guys, and four of them are freshmen,” noted head coach Bob Richey. “They continue to battle. Not perfect. A lot of room for improvement.
“Our guys did an unbelievable job managing foul trouble. Alex (Wilkins) was unbelievably efficient. He scored 20 points off nine shots. The last two games, he’s been very efficient. In the second half, he started putting on a show.”
Samford forced 14 turnovers to outscore the Paladins 13-0 on points off turnovers and netted 17 second-chance points despite Furman holding a 35-33 edge on the glass. The Bulldogs reached the foul line 22 times but went 12/22 at the stripe. Booth led the Bulldogs with 23 points and Dylan Faulkner posted a double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Martin finished with 14 points.
Furman is scheduled to host its second straight nationally televised game at Timmons Arena when it entertains defending NIT champion Chattanooga for a 1 p.m. tip-off on Sunday.
“Give our guys a lot of credit. They’ve been through a lot, and they just keep battling,” Richey said.
Take a look at the stats here.
Furman announced a challenging home football schedule with six home games, including a night home opener, and a matchup against Tennessee.
The slate features eight Southern Conference matchups.
The Paladins, coming off a 6-6 season, expect to return 11 starters, led by defensive end, consensus All-American and FCS Defensive Player of the Year Joshua Stoneking.
The Paladins kick off the season at home on Aug. 29 with a night contest against NCAA Division II Anderson in a matchup of former Commerce (Ga.) High School and Paladin teammates Clay Hendrix and Bobby Lamb. The contest will be Furman’s first gridiron meeting with Anderson, which started its football program in 2024 under Lamb, who served as the Paladins’ head coach from 2002-10 and later the head mentor at Mercer (2013-19). Hendrix claimed victories in 2017, ’18, and ’19 contests during Lamb’s tenure at Mercer.
Furman’s early-season schedule includes challenges at both Tennessee (Sept. 5) and defending SoCon champion Mercer (Sept. 12), a home date against 2025 Celebration Bowl champion South Carolina State (Sept. 19) and a road contest versus Richmond (Sept. 26).
Furman last played Tennessee in 1942 and will look to turn the tables on Mercer, which had its way with the Paladins last fall in Greenville.
South Carolina State makes its first appearance on the schedule since 2015, marking the start of a two-game set between the Paladins and Bulldogs in a series Furman leads 12-5.
Furman and Richmond, for many years Southern Conference rivals, last clashed in NCAA FCS playoff action in 2005 in a contest the Paladins won, 24-20, in Richmond. The Paladins sport a three-game series winning streak against the Spiders.
Wofford pays a visit to Paladin Stadium on Oct. 3 for Family Weekend and the 100th meeting of the Deep South’s oldest football rivalry that began in 1889. Furman holds a 56-36-7 lead in the series.
An Oct. 10 road matchup will follow against Tennessee Tech, which begins SoCon play this fall. Furman blanked the Golden Eagles, 26-0, in 2021 in its last trip to Cookeville and rolled to a 45-10 win in 2023 in Paladin Stadium.
Following an Oct. 17 bye week, Furman will play the remainder of its regular-season schedule over the final five weeks, beginning with home games versus Samford (Oct. 24), which will highlight Furman’s Bicentennial/Homecoming Weekend, and Western Carolina (Oct. 31).
The Paladins have gone 5-1 in their last six clashes against Samford, including a 31-13 triumph last year, and own a 36-15-2 all-time series record versus Western Carolina despite dropping the last two meetings.
Three games dot the November schedule beginning with a Nov. 7 contest against The Citadel in Charleston in the 106th renewal of the SoCon’s oldest and most played football rivalry. Furman, which has claimed the last five meetings with the Bulldogs, leads the all-time series 65-37-3.
The Paladins conclude their home campaign versus Chattanooga (Nov. 14) and wrap up the regular season at VMI (Nov. 21).
Furman will not play East Tennessee State following the SoCon’s addition of Tennessee Tech as the league’s 10th football playing member institution and planned eight-game league schedule this fall.
Take a look at the schedule here.
Softball senior Sylvia Burroughs has been selected Preseason All-Southern Conference First Team in voting by the league’s head coaches.
Burroughs, a native of Melbourne, Fla., earned all-league honors as a DP/Utility (non-pitcher) last season after batting .324. She totaled 14 doubles and led the Paladins in home runs (6), RBI (29), slugging percentage (.541), and walks (28) while earning playing time behind the plate, as the designated player, and as a right fielder. A computer science major, Burroughs also earned a spot on the 2025 College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team.
The men’s tennis team plays its first home match of the season Friday afternoon when it hosts the North Greenville Trailblazers in non-conference action at 3 p.m. from Mickel Tennis Center.
Furman was slated for a trio of matches Friday and Saturday but have adjusted its schedule for the weekend. Saturday’s originally scheduled doubleheader versus Presbyterian and Emmanuel (Ga.) has been canceled with the match versus the Blue Hose rescheduled for March 31 at 3 p.m. at Mickel Tennis Center.
The Paladins (0-3) opened their season January 17-18 dropping three road matches against SEC opponents, Ole Miss and Alabama.
Women’s tennis travels to Charlotte Friday to take on the 49ers. First serve is set for 9 a.m. Due to predicted cold temperatures, the match has been moved indoors to Life Time at 11220 Golf Links Dr., Charlotte, N.C.
The Paladins enter the match with a 3-1 overall record after blanking Wake Forest, 4-0, on Friday. Furman won the doubles point with victories at flights two and three, then scored in the top three singles flights. Freshman Elle Warren was honored as the SoCon Player of the Week after clinching the match with a 7-6(5), 6-3 win at flight one singles.
Charlotte is 4-2 with victories over Queens (5-0), Elon (7-0), S.C. State (6-0) and Columbia (4-2).
Furman leads the all-time series with Charlotte, 26-3, but the 49ers have won the last three meetings, including last year’s match, 4-1, in Greenville.
The indoor track and field teams will begin competition Friday at the Bob Pollock Invitational at the Clemson University Indoor Track Complex. The meet is scheduled to run through Saturday, weather permitting.
Earlier this month at the Vanderbilt Invitational, sophomore Joe Womack set a new program record of 49.69 in the men’s 400 meters, and junior Brayden Seymour broke the Paladin record in the 1,000m after winning the event with a time of 2:21.91.
In December, freshman Leland Bishop established a new school record of 22.27 in the men’s 200m, and sophomore Claire Cook won the 600m with a program-record time of 1:30.92 at the Clemson Opener. Graduate student Bryn Woodall won the 3,000m with a time of 7:59.52, crushing the previous meet record of 8:14.47 at the JDL Early Bird Invitational at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, N.C.
Skylar Hilmer and Lily Toole were named Big South Preseason All-Conference on Tuesday while the Paladins were picked to finish in third place by the league’s head coaches in the preseason lacrosse poll.
Hilmer and Toole both earn the first preseason accolade of their careers.
Furman picked up a total of 62 points in the preseason poll for the third-place projection. The Paladins finished in a three-way tie for first in the conference standings last season along with High Point and Mercer.
Elle Warren is Southern Conference Women’s Tennis Player of the Week. The award is selected by the league office.
A freshman from Canton, Ohio, Warren clinched the winning point in the Paladins’ 4-0 victory over Wake Forest on Friday by defeating Nevena Carton, 7-6(5), 6-3, in the top-seeded singles contest. In doubles, she teamed with freshman Bianca Ceroni for a 6-3 advantage over Kystal Blanch and Evie Oxford at flight two.
I’ll be out and about again soon. I’m living in a small camper-trailer, and it seems like I’m a character in one of those old movies about city folks moving to the country. Everything’s now working. Knock on wood.
By the way, Furman, Presbyterian, and Wofford were all on TV Thursday night.
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