Furman concludes the regular season and looks to improve its seeding for next week’s Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship when the Paladins travel to Cullowhee, N.C., to battle Western Carolina on Saturday.

Tipoff between the Paladins and Catamounts is slated for 5:30 p.m. at the Liston B. Ramsey Center and will be streamed live on ESPN+. Fans can 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.

Furman, 19-11 overall overall, enters the regular-season finale in a three-way tie for third place in the SoCon standings with Mercer and Samford at 10-7. The Paladins have secured a top-six finish in the league and a first-round bye in next week’s tournament but could be seeded anywhere from No. 2 to No. 6 depending on the outcome of Saturday’s five league games. The Catamounts (13-15, 9-8 SoCon) are tied for the sixth and final first-round bye with UNC Greensboro but could leapfrog the Paladins by completing a sweep of the regular-season series between the schools.

Western Carolina claimed an 80-77 overtime victory in the first meeting of the season on Jan. 3 in Greenville. The Catamounts shot .500 (10/20) from three-point range and managed a 48-35 rebounding advantage to escape Timmons Arena with the victory. The first meeting marked the third overtime contest in the last four meetings between the Paladins and Catamounts. Furman holds a 58-32 lead the all-time series against Western Carolina and won three straight over the Catamounts prior to the loss in Greenville last month.

 The bracket for the Ingles SoCon Men’s Basketball Championship will be released Saturday night following the completion of all five league games. This year’s tournament is set for March 6-9 at Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C. The championship game will take place on Monday, March 9.

Grayson Kline has been named Furman’s new tight ends coach, head football coach Clay Hendrix announced.

Kline, who spent the past two seasons in charge of offensive quality control at Dartmouth, replaces Nick Verna, who accepted a similar position at Towson State.

 He began his coaching career in 2023, assisting with special teams and defensive quality control at Long Island University.

 Kline was a five-year member of Penn State’s football program, beginning his Nittany Lions career as a quarterback before transitioning to tight end.

A native of Sinking Spring, Pa., he was awarded a bachelor’s degree in criminology from Penn State in 2022.

The indoor track and field teams will compete at the Southern Conference Indoor Track & Field Championships Friday and Saturday (Feb. 27-28) at the Corps Physical Training Facility in Lexington, Va.  The meet marks the 91st annual indoor track & field championship for the men and the 39th for the women.

Friday’s running events will begin at 1:05 p.m. with the men’s 3,000 meters, with Friday’s final event, the women’s distance medley relay, set to begin at 4:35 p.m. to cap the first day of competition.  Saturday’s running events begin at 11:45 a.m. with the men’s 5,000m. The final event of the day, the women’s 4x400m relay, is slated for 2:58 p.m., followed by the awards ceremony.

Saturday’s events will air live on ESPN+. 

The Paladins captured gold in nine events at last year’s meet.  Returning winners on this year’s Paladin squad include Claire Cook, who took the title in the women’s 800m, and Carly Wilkes, who won the women’s 5,000m, marking Furman’s 11^th consecutive win in the event.  On the men’s side, the Paladins took gold in each event from the 800m to the 5,000m.  Returnee Evan Guzman won the 5,000m championship last season, while Chris Knight took the title in the 3,000m.  

Both Furman distance medley relay teams won gold last year.  Zoie Lamanna, Claire Cook, Jais Ward, and Nysa Males crossed the line in 11:50.12 to win the Paladins’ ninth straight women’s DMR title, while the Furman men’s team, which included current Paladin team members Owen Delaney and Tripp Roemer, posted a time of 10:02.18.

Furman leads the SoCon in seven events this season.  Ward holds the top spot in the women’s mile (4:40.61), while Sierra Bower leads the league in the women’s 3,000m (9:24.65).  Carly Wilkes is atop the league in the women’s 5,000m at 16:08.55, and the Paladin DMR team of Ward, Cook, Delaney Vickers, and Camryn Wennersten leads the league at 11:24.01.

On the men’s side, Bryn Woodall paces the field in the mile at 3:58.06 and in the 3,000m at 7:52.63, while Knight holds the best time in the 5,000m (13:55.56).

Furman’s Bryn Woodall is Southern Conference men’s track indoor athlete of the week.

A native of Llanfairfechan, Wales, Woodall ran his first sub-4:00 mile on Saturday, placing first with a time of 3:58.06 at the ASICS Last Chance Invitational. His time leads the league this season.  Woodall also leads the conference in the 3000m after running a sub-eight 7:52.63 on Feb. 13.

Sam Melville recorded 14 saves and three different players combined for 10 goals on Wednesday evening to lead the Furman lacrosse team to a 14-10 road victory over the Queens (N.C.) Royals at Dickson Field.

Furman picks up its first road win of the season, improving to 2-1 overall. With the loss, Queens (N.C.) drops to 0-5 overall.
Shae Insinga paced the Paladin offense with four goals, while Caroline Smith and Lily Mosser both scored three. Skylar Hilmer won six draws and caused a team-high two turnovers. Lilly Dyer and Avery Adeli each picked up two ground balls.
Making her first collegiate start, Melville finished with 14 saves in goal and added two ground balls. Her 14 saves are tied for fourth most in a game in school history. The last time a Furman goalie totaled 14 or more saves in a contest was Lily Rathbun’s 16 at Old Dominion on March 11, 2023.
Kayleen Favreau had a game-high eight points for the Royals on five goals and three assists. Lexy Stevenson added three goals and Michela Paterson two assists. In goal, Devan Maready and Gianna Coburn combined for 11 saves.

Furman outscored the Royals 5-1 in the third quarter to take a 12-3 lead heading into the final 15 minutes of play. The Paladins reeled off four consecutive goals in the quarter from Smith, Insinga, and Mosser. Emily Muir’s goal with 3:17 to go in the period extended Furman’s advantage to 12-3.
The Paladins begin a stretch of three games in five days on Monday, hosting Campbell at 6 p.m. in Paladin Stadium. Admission is free.

USC Upstate scored five runs in the first inning of game one and nine in the opening inning of game two on its way to an 8-0, 12-1 doubleheader sweep of Furman in non-conference softball action on Wednesday at Cyrill Stadium.

Katie Peeler and Christina McCoy had the only hits for the Paladins.

In the nightcap, the Spartans sent 13 batters to the plate in the bottom of the first and scored their nine runs with the help of six hits, three walks and a pair of Paladin errors.

USC Upstate (12-3) added a run in the second inning before Emily Stern and Thomas batted in runs in the bottom of the fourth to up the margin to 12-0. Furman pushed across a consolation run in the top of the fifth on Hope Marshburn’s sacrifice fly to avoid the shutout.

Starter Taylor Miller (0-3) took the loss for Furman. The junior conceded seven runs on four hits and two walks while retiring just one batter. Shortstop Kate Stoltzfus collected two hits and scored Furman’s lone run.

Furman (1-15) hosts the Paladin Invitational this weekend at Pepsi Stadium. The Paladins are in action on Friday against George Mason at 6 p.m. Admission is free.

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