John Davis III postgame // Niko Medved postgame

Highlights

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Junior John Davis III poured in a career-high 24 points and added four assists as Furman cruised past Samford, 90-73, Saturday at Timmons Arena in Greenville, S.C. 

With the win, the Paladins improve to 18-8 overall and 11-2 in the Southern Conference and maintain the lead in the SoCon standings. Furman extended its winning-streak to eight games and pushed its SoCon home winning streak to 16 games. The loss drops Samford to 15-11 overall and 6-7 in league play.

Devin Sibley added 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting (5-8 from three), as well as a team-high six assists. Kris Acox and Daniel Fowler also scored in double-figures for the Paladins, with 17 and 16 points, respectively. The Paladins forced 21 Samford turnovers in the contest and outscored the Bulldogs 38-5 off turnovers. Furman shot 57.1% from the floor and 54.2% from three, while holding Samford to just 27.3% shooting from beyond the arc. 

Furman jumped out to an 8-0 lead to open the game and led wire-to-wire.  Samford cut the lead to two, 24-22, off a layup by Alex Thompson at the 6:57 mark of the first half before the Paladins went on an 18-6 run to end the half, going into the locker room with a 42-28 lead. The Paladins knocked down 10 threes in the first half, shooting a blistering 55.6% from beyond the arc, while holding Samford to just two threes in the game's first 20 minutes.

Furman pushed the lead to 16 on a 3-pointer by Davis at the 17:17 mark of the second half and held the 16-point advantage on consecutive dunks by Acox on back-to-back possessions at the 14:50 and 14:09 points in the second half. An Acox layup off a steal by Jordan Lyons gave Furman its largest lead of the night at 18 at the 7:59 mark. The Bulldogs never got closer than 12, and Samford's final basket of the game came on a jumper by Demetrius Denzel-Dyson at the 2:26 mark. Davis sank two free throws in the game's final minute to seal the 90-73 victory for the Paladins.

The Bulldogs were led by rookie Josh Sharkey, who tallied 23 points and a team-high nine rebounds. Denzel-Dyson added 18 points, and junior Christen Cunningham scored 11 points.   

Furman travels to VMI on Monday for a 7 p.m. tipoff.