Furman hasn’t lost twice to The Citadel in the same season since 2012-13. The Bulldogs haven’t won in Greenville since 2014-15.

The Paladins conclude their 2025-26 home schedule and celebrate their senior class on Wednesday night when they entertain Southern Conference and rival in general The Citadel (9-20, 6-10) at Timmons Arena.

Wednesday’s home finale is scheduled for a 6 p.m. tip-off. 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.

Furman honors seniors Tom House, Charles Johnston, Thomas Tillman and Ben Vander Wal in their final home game. Along with leading Furman to 43 victories over the past two seasons, the foursome has combined for 731 points, 509 rebounds and 168 assists this season.

The Paladins enter the penultimate game of the regular season at 18-11 overall and 9-7 in SoCon play following a thrilling 76-67 win at Wofford on Saturday night. Asa Thomas connected on six three-pointers to score all of his team-leading 18 points in the first half, and the Paladins overcame a 21-1 Wofford run by outscoring the Terriers 21-11 over the final 10:30 to earn their second straight win in Spartanburg. Alex Wilkins, Furman’s leading scorer at 17.7 points per game, added 15 points and Johnston and Cooper Bowser tallied 13 points apiece.

Furman is tied for fourth place in the SoCon standings with Samford and is just one game behind Wofford and Mercer, who are in a second-place deadlock heading into the final week of the regular season.

It’s the 225^th meeting between the Paladins and Bulldogs with Furman holding a 135-89 series lead, including a 78-35 advantage in Greenville. The Citadel rallied from a 19-point second half deficit to force overtime and claimed a 77-75 victory over the Paladins in the first meeting of the year on Jan. 21 in Charleston. Furman had won the previous four meetings in the series and has claimed victories in 13 of the last 15 games versus The Citadel.

Furman head coach Clay Hendrix announced that Nicky Kuzemka has rejoined the Paladin program as outside linebackers coach.

 Kuzemka, a four-year football letterman for the Paladins and 2024 cum laude graduate, spent the 2024 season in charge of Furman’s defensive quality control.  He served as a defensive graduate assistant at James Madison for the 2025 campaign, helping the Dukes to a 12-2 campaign, highlighted by a Sun Belt Conference championship and appearance in the College Football Playoffs.

Kuzemka, who played linebacker and on special teams, registered action in 45 games during his Paladin career and totaled 110 tackles.  He was named to the Southern Conference All-Freshman Team and was a four-time SoCon Academic Honor Roll selection and three-time SoCon All-Academic Team pick.  He was also twice named to the Collegiate Sports Communicators All-District Team.
Furman qualified for the FCS playoffs twice during his tenure and claimed a 2023 SoCon championship as part of a second consecutive 10-3 campaign.
The Clifton, Va., native earned his bachelor’s degree in communication studies – rhetoric advocacy.

Graduate student Bryn Woodall and junior Chris Knight each ran a sub-4:00 mile Saturday at the Asics Last Chance Invite at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, N.C.

The milestones marked the 25th and 26th sub-4:00 miles run under Furman head coach Robert Gary. 

A native of Llanfairfechan, Wales, Woodall won the event with a personal-best time of 3:58.06, while Knight, who is from Signal Mountain, Tenn. finished second with a PR of 3:58.98.  The Paladin duo was paced by junior Brayden Seymour, who recorded his own sub-4:00 mile earlier this indoor season at Clemson. Graduate student Albert Velikonja placed third in the race with a time of 4:03.0urman will compete at the Southern Conference Championship Feb. 27-28 in Lexington, Va.

Freshman Olivia Hasselbach (+5) was tied for seventh after Monday’s opening two rounds of the Momentum Transportation UNF Collegiate at Jacksonville Golf & Country Club in Jacksonville, Fla.

A native of Tampa, Fla., Hasselbach led Furman with a 74, holing birdies on Nos. 4 and 16 in round one, then added a 75 with birdies on Nos. 7 and 17 in the day’s second round. She sits just three shots out of second place.  Leonie Wulfers (-4) of Florida Gulf Coast blistered the field at 4-under on Monday to take a six-shot lead entering Tuesday’s final round. 

Sophomore Audrey Ryu (+9) is tied for 23rd after two rounds.  She carded a 77 with a team-high three birdies in the opening round then notched a 76 with a birdie on No. 12 in round two.

No. 29 Oklahoma State (+15) led the tournament by one stroke over Florida Gulf Coast (+16).  Tulsa (+31) was in third, followed by Augusta (+35) in fourth and South Florida (+39) in fifth.  South Alabama (+42), host North Florida (+45) and Furman (+46) were in striking distance of the top five.

Troy belted three home runs en route to scoring 12 runs in five innings as the Trojans downed Furman, 12-4, in the finale of the Trojan Invitational Sunday afternoon at the Troy Softball Complex.

Kristyn Embler went 3/3 at the plate for the Paladins. Starter Jamison Noonan (0-5) suffered the loss

Nicholls claimed a 12-4 victory over Furman in the opening game on Saturday and Kennesaw State topped the Paladins, 16-7, in the second game of the day at Troy’s Trojan Softball Invitational.

Men’s tennis fell 4-0 to the Eastern Kentucky Colonels at Greg Adams Tennis Center in Richmond, Ky.
Furman drops to 2-7 overall while Eastern Kentucky improves to 7-9 on the year.
The Colonels clinched the doubles point, taking the early 1-0 lead over the Paladins, with wins at No. 1 and No. 3. In the No. 3 contest, Fernando Bulnes and Adrian Contreras defeated Walker Allen and Theophile Joly, 6-3. Marek Nano and Nuno Pinheiro secured the point with a 6-3 triumph at No. 1 over Nicolas Dispas and Nico Snyder.
The Colonels followed in singles action with three straight victories at Nos. 1, 2 and 3. Cazac posted a 6-2, 6-2 win over Duggal at No. 3 while Bulnes, playing at No. 2, topped Joly, 6-2, 6-1. Pinheiro captured the match for Eastern Kentucky at No. 1 with his 7-6(6), 6-2 victory against Snyder.
Three singles matches went unfinished with Dispas at No. 4, Allen at No. 5, and Ecarma at No. 6. Furman travels to Charlotte, N.C., on Friday to face Charlotte at 10:30 a.m.

Men’s tennis dropped a 4-2 decision to the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles Friday morning in non-conference action from Eastern Kentucky’s Greg Adams Tennis Center.
Furman falls to 2-6 on the season while Tennessee Tech improves to 3-4 overall.
The Golden Eagles captured both completed doubles matches to clinch the point and hold an early 1-0 lead over the Paladins. In the No. 1 match, Alex Alvarez and Davids Spaks topped Theophile Joly and Nico Snyder, 6-3, and Oliver Dao and Linus Rohlin secured the point at No. 2 with a 6-2 victory over Nicolas Dispas and Alex Han.
Playing at No. 3, Evan Duggal and Landon Ecarma were ahead in their match versus Murilo Burckhardt and Diego Munoz, 5-4, when Tennessee Tech won the doubles point.
The Golden Eagles claimed singles wins at No. 3, No. 4, and No. 5 to capture the 4-2 victory. Munoz earned a 6-4, 6-2 triumph against Dispas at No. 4 while Spaks, playing at No. 3, defeated Duggal in straight sets, 7-6(3), 7-6(4). Burckhardt won the match for Tennessee Tech following his 6-3, 6-2 victory versus Walker Allen at No. 5.
Furman picked up singles wins from Snyder at No. 1 and Joly at No. 2. The reigning SoCon Player of the Week, Snyder tied the match at 1-1 following his third consecutive win, and fourth of the season, 6-4, 6-4, against Dao. Joly added a three-set win over Alvarez, 6-4, 3-6, 7-5, for his second victory of the season.

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