It’s likely too late for Furman to track down East Tennessee State in the Southern Conference men’s basketball standings.

Since it’s the March 5-8 conference tournament that determines the SoCon bid to the NCAAs, Wednesday night’s game at Timmons Arena plays an important role in tournament seedings.

The game is set for a 6:30 p.m. tip-off. In addition to being streamed on ESPN+, the contest will also be televised live throughout the state of South Carolina on Palmetto Sports and Entertainment Network, which is available locally on WHNS 21.2 and Spectrum 703. Fans can also listen to Dan Scott and Tom Van Hoy call the action on The Fan Upstate at 97.7 FM and 1330 AM in Greenville, 97.1 FM and 1490 AM in Spartanburg, and via the Audacy app. 

The Paladins (17-10, 8-6 SoCon) are in fourth place in the SoCon after claiming a 90-72 victory at VMI on Saturday afternoon. Redshirt sophomore Asa Thomas matched a career-high with 25 points while Cooper Bowser and Charles Johnston contributed 14 and 11 points, respectively. The 6- 11 tandem helped the Paladins outscore the Keydets 32-12 in the paint and manage a 42-30 rebounding margin.

Furman and ETSU enter the midweek matchup having split the previous 72 meetings between the schools 36-36. The Paladins won five straight meetings before downing ETSU captured a 72-69 decision last season and edged Furman 75-71 in overtime in the first meeting this season on Feb. 4 in Johnson City.

ETSU (19-8, 11-3) is looking to bounce back from an 82-72 overtime loss versus Samford on Saturday. Four regular-season games remain.

Furman downed Memphis, 4-2, Sunday at Mickel Tennis Center.

The Tigers’ Natalie Koppova and Clemence Thouard eked out a 7-6(6) win over freshmen Bianca Ceroni and Elle Warren at flight-t2 doubles to claim the opening point.  Furman junior Macy Hitchcock and freshman Molly Robinson defeated Rebecca Frant and Marina Lubsheva, 6-3, at No. 3, then Emma Dvorackova and Sofiia Mykhailets of Memphis beat freshmen Sasha Dimitrov and Lillie Murphy, 6-4, at flight 1 to even the slate and set up the decisive flight two match. 

Ceroni posted a quick 6-0, 6-4 win over Thouard at flight 4 singles to even the score at 1-all before Mykhailets topped Warren, 6-2, 6-2, in the top-seeded contest to give Memphis a 2-1 edge.  Murphy recorded a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Koppova at flight 2 to knot the score at 2-2, then Paladins took their first lead of the day, 3-2, when Dimitrov stormed past Dvorackova, 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-1, with a strong third set.  

After dropping the first set in both of the remaining matches, Furman answered with second-set victories at flights five and six to force a decisive third set at each flight.  Freshman Lily Doherty prevailed at number six, topping Lubsheva, 4-6, 6-0, 6-1, to clinch the match for the Paladins.

The flight five match was unfinished, with Hitchcock leading Frant, 6-7(6), 6-2, 1-0.

Memphis drops to 0-7 with the loss. 

Furman (4-3) travels to Atlanta next weekend for two matches.  The Paladins square off at Georgia State on Saturday at 11 a.m. then face Kennesaw State Sunday at 11 a.m.

Harris Barth (+4) tied for 30th to lead the Furman men’s golf team Sunday in the final day of the 49th Gators Invitational at Mark Bostick Golf Course in Gainesville, Fla. 

Barth, a senior from Atlanta, Ga., finished round two with a birdie on No. 10 to card a 72 then shot a 1-over 71 with a team-high four birdies in Sunday’s final round.  

Seniors Clark Akers (+7) and Zach Frazer (+7) tied for 48th.  Akers led Furman with a 1-under 69 after adding a birdie on No. 11 to finish out round two then recorded a 74 with three birdies in round three.  Frazer notched a 73 in round two and a 72 with three birdies in round three.  He birdied three of his last four holes, including consecutive birdies on Nos. 11 and 12, to finish the tournament.  

Freshman Cameron Reed (+16) shot a 75 with birdies on Nos. 7 11 in Sunday’s third round, tying for 87th, while freshman Benton Manly (+22) posted a 75 with birdies on Nos. 4 and 12 in the second round and a 68 with a birdie on No. 9 in round three, tying for 95th.  

Auburn’s Jackson Koivun (-9) won the individual championship by two strokes at 9-under. 

Host Florida (-27), which ranks 10th nationally, won the tournament by a whopping 14 strokes over second-ranked Auburn (-13). No. 12 Oklahoma State (-2) finished third, followed by UCF (+4) in fourth and 20th-ranked Charlotte (+12) in fifth. The Paladins (+30) tied for 13th, which featured the last three national champions, eight teams that qualified for last season’s NCAA regionals, including three regional championship from 2025, and four teams that reached the 2025 national championship.  

Furman competes at the Michael A. Marino Championship in Myrtle Beach, March 15-17.

Indoor track and field recorded multiple personal bests at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational, which was contested Friday and Saturday at Boston University’s Track and Tennis Center and at Saturday’s Asics Sound Invite at JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, N.C.

In Boston, sophomore Claire Cook made her 1,000 meters debut, turning in a time of 2:48.83 for 10th place.  Senior Camryn Wennersten won her heat and placed fifth overall in the mile open with a 4:41.57, while sophomore Jais Ward placed 38th in the invitational mile at 4:40.01.  Freshman Annie Miller made her mile debut in the invitational event and finished 46th at 4:43.05.  Freshman Tessa Walter placed 42nd with a PR of 9:25.05 in the 3,000m, and Zoie Lamanna also posted a personal best, clocking in at 9:44.87.  

For the men, graduate student Bryn Woodall posted a 7:52.63 to finish 17th in the 3,000m, while four Paladin men recorded bests in the 5,000m, led by junior Chris Knight in 46th place with a time of 13:55.56.  Graduate student Albert Velikonja finished at 14:00.08, then senior Luke Taylor crossed the line with a time of 14:00.29.  Senior Colton Kempney finished with a 14:09.48, followed by junior Owen Shifflett in 14:15.13.

At the Asics Sound Invite, all seven Paladin women finished among the top eight.  Freshman Kate Bannigan won the mile with a time of 5:04.95, while senior Clair Garret finished third at 5:05.40.  Sophomore Katie Sobieraj was sixth with a 5:08.39, and sophomore Joiner Evans turned in a time of 5:11.25 for seventh place.  

Sophomore Delaney Vickers finished sixth in the seeded 800m, posting a time of 2:10.58, while sophomore Anna Graves placed eighth in the open 800m at 2:26.63.  Freshman Tara Watkins crossed the line in 1:02.73 in the 400m, taking eighth place. 

Select members run at the USC Invite next Saturday in Columbia, as a final tune-up before the SoCon Championship, which is Feb. 27-28 in Lexington, Va.

Lipscomb scored seven runs in the top of the first inning and cruised to a 14-4 victory over Furman in the final game of the Purple & White Classic Saturday afternoon at Pepsi Softball Stadium.

Elizabeth Martin powered the Bisons’ offense, going 3/4 with a double, homer and 6 RBI, while leadoff hitter Chapel Cunningham went 2/3 with a two-run double in the first inning. After Martin drove in two runs in the top of the first and doubled to plate another in the second as Lipscomb (4-5) built a 9-0 lead before Katie Peeler scored on Rachel Hawkins’ double to get the Paladins on the board in the bottom of the frame.

 Furman’s Eden Frederick went 3/3 at the plate while Peeler finished 2/3 with a pair of runs. Kate Stoltzfus launched her second homer of the season, a two-run shot, in the bottom of the fifth.

 Furman (1-8) is back in action next weekend at the Trojan Invitational in Troy, Ala.

Sophomore Nico Snyder is SoCon Men’s Tennis Player of the Week.
A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, Snyder earns his first career weekly honor after combining to go 3-1 at the top singles and doubles positions as Furman posted a 1-1 record last week highlighted by a 4-2 victory over William & Mary.
In a 6-1 team setback at Coastal Carolina on February 13, Snyder got the Paladins’ only point after defeating Christopher Norlin, 6-2, 6-3, at No. 1 singles. Snyder’s win marked Norlin’s first singles loss of the season. In Furman’s 4-2 victory over William & Mary the following day, he combined with Nicolas Dispas for a 6-2 win at No. 1 doubles, before getting a 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 win over Gur Trakhtenberg at No. 1 singles.
The Paladins remain on the road this weekend, February 20-21, traveling to Richmond, Ky., for non-conference matches versus Tennessee Tech and Eastern Kentucky.

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