The Furman men's basketball team returns to the court for the first time in four days Saturday afternoon when it hosts the league-leading Chattanooga Mocs at 2 p.m. from Timmons Arena.
The Paladins look to break their two game league losing skid and snap Chattanooga's 3 game win streak in Southern Conference play. Furman sits in 2nd place in the league standings, two games behind the 1st place Mocs. A win Saturday would keep Furman in contention for the regular season crown. A loss would put Furman down three games with just four to go, reducing Chattanooga's "magic number" to 1.
Furman University has now moved to a "masks optional" policy in non-academic buildings such as Timmons Arena. As masking and other requirements are adjusted in continued expectation of improvements in campus and community COVID cases, the Furman Public Health and Safety Group strongly recommends that students, faculty and staff continue to mask indoors when in high-density settings to curtail the cycle of transmission.
Fans can listen to the "Voice of the Paladins" Dan Scott on 97.7 FM/1330 AM in Greenville, 97.1 FM/950 AM in Spartanburg, through the Audacy App and on the live streaming player below.
Tickets for Saturday's contest and all Furman home games at Timmons Arena are on sale now at the Timmons Arena Box Office and online at www.furmanpaladins.com. The Paladins (17-9, 9-4 SoCon) suffered a 75-71 setback on Monday at East Tennessee State. Furman concluded the game shooting 51.9 percent from the field including a 60.7 percent mark, and seven 3-pointers, in the second half.
Jalen Slawson and Mike Bothwell both registered 15 points to lead the Paladins offensively. Slawson was 7-of-14 from the field to go with six rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Bothwell connected on 6-of-9 field goal attempts and dished out a team high four assists. Conley Garrison contributed 14 points, six rebounds and three assists. Marcus Foster and Garrett Hien each had 10 points.
Bothwell paces Furman on offense this season averaging a team high 15.4 points per game while Alex Hunter and Garrison add 13.7 and 9.6, respectively. Slawson contributes 15.0 points and a team best 7.6 rebounds per game.
Chattanooga is currently 21-5 overall and 11-2 in the SoCon following a 65-47 victory over Western Carolina on Wednesday. The Mocs are led on offense by Malachi Smith with 20.5 points per game. David Jean-Baptiste averages 14.9 points and Silvio DeSousa 11.5 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. Chattanooga is under the direction of fifth-year head coach Lamont Paris.
The Paladins and Mocs are meeting for the 93rd time in program history with Chattanooga leading the all-time series 55-37. You can hear every Furman game, all season long on ESPN Upstate.
