Greenville, S.C. – The Furman men's basketball team, winners of six straight games, moved up to No. 3 in this week's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25, which was released on Monday evening.
 
The Paladins downed VMI and then No. 5 ETSU this past week to improve to 13-3 overall and take over first place in the Southern Conference at 3-0. Gonzaga, also first place in the Associated Press Top 25, holds first place in the mid-major top 25 with Liberty ranked second. Following third-ranked Furman are Saint Mary's, Northern Iowa, Yale, ETSU, Stephen F. Austin, UNCG and BYU.
 
Furman currently ranks 69^th in the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET) and 65^th in the the Pomeroy Ratings (KenPom.com). Both rankings have Furman as the highest rated team in the SoCon and in South Carolina.
 
On Saturday, Furman ran its winning streak to six games with a 65-56 triumph over ETSU at Timmons Arena. Senior Jordan Lyons paced the Paladins with 14 points and Furman managed a 41-28 rebounding edge against the Bucs, who entered the weekend as the league's top rebounding team.
 
The Paladins, who haven't tasted defeat since an 81-78 overtime loss at No. 5 Auburn on December 5, return to action Wednesday night with a 7 p.m. tip-off versus Chattanooga at McKenzie Arena in Chattanooga, Tenn. Furman returns home to host the UNCG Spartans as part of a men's and women's Weekends at the Well doubleheader presented by Ingles and Healthy Blue at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on Saturday, January 11. The women's team will take on Samford at 4:30 p.m. before the men entertain the Spartans at 7 p.m.
 
Fans can purchase tickets for Saturday's game by logging onto FurmanPaladins.com or by visiting the Timmons Arena Box Office. Fans can also find out all information about the "Downtown Dins" on the Weekends at the Well page.
 
CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25
 

		RECORD	POINTS	PREVIOUS
1.	Gonzaga (31)	16-1	775	1	West Coast
2.	Liberty	16-1	731	2	ASUN
3.	Furman	13-3	684	9	Southern
4.	Saint Mary's	14-3	647	3	West Coast
5.	Northern Iowa	12-2	634	4	Missouri Valley
6.	Yale	10-4	589	6	Ivy League
7.	ETSU	13-3	584	5	Southern
8.	Stephen F. Austin	13-2	549	8	Southland
9.	UNCG	12-4	525	7	Southern
10.	BYU	12-4	479	10	West Coast
11.	Wright State	14-3	426	13	Horizon
12.	Santa Clara	14-2	423	15	West Coast
13.	Kent State	11-3	375	11	Mid-American
14.	Harvard	11-4	373	14	Ivy League
15.	Vermont	10-5	356	17	America East
16.	Pacific	14-4	236	NR	West Coast
17.	Belmont	10-5	219	12	Ohio Valley
18.	Colgate	10-4	198	20	Patriot
19.	Akron	11-3	194	NR	Mid-American
20.	Delaware	11-5	155	18	Colonial
21.	UCSB	11-4	147	NR	Big West
22.	New Mexico State	10-6	106	25	Western Athletic
23.	Drake	11-4	73	22	Missouri Valley
24.	Bowling Green	9-5	71	19	Mid-American
25.	William & Mary	11-5	65	NR	Colonial

 

OTHERS RECEIVING VOTES:San Francisco 61, Penn 55, Loyola 48, Toledo 43, Bradley 35, Charleston 27, Wofford 25, Georgia State 22, Hofstra 18, Rider 18, Buffalo 13, Southern Utah 13, Western Carolina 13, Northern Kentucky 9, Sacramento State 7,Ball State 6, Hawaii 6, Murray State 6, Little Rock 5, Montana State 5, Arkansas State 4, Eastern Michigan 4, Eastern Washington 3, Northern Colorado 3, UC Irvine 3, Appalachian State 2, UTA 2, Georgia Southern 1, Grambling 1, Indiana State 1, North Florida 1, Pepperdine 1. VOTING PANEL: Casey Alexander (Belmont), Kevin Baggett (Rider), Mike Balado (Arkansas State), Randy Bennett (St. Mary's), Will Brown (Albany), Jon Coffman (Purdue Fort Wayne), Billy Donlon (UMKC), Jim Engles (Columbia), Steve Forbes (ETSU), Derrin Hansen (Omaha), Jason Hooten (Sam Houston State), Donte' Jackson (Grambling), James Jones (Yale), Mike Jones (Radford), Robert Jones (Norfolk State), Greg Kampe (Oakland), Danny Kaspar (Texas State), Brian Katz (Sacramento State), Tod Kowalczyk (Toledo), Greg Lansing (Indiana State), Jim Les (UC Davis), Bob Marlin (Louisiana), Ritchie McKay (Liberty), Joe Mihalich (Hofstra), Rob O'Driscoll (Drexel), Ryan Odom (UMBC), Brett Reed (Lehigh), Todd Simon (Southern Utah), Damon Stoudamire (Pacific), Jay Spoonhour (Eastern Illinois), Willis Wilson (Texas A&M Corpus Christi)     * Columbia head coach Jim Engles is the chairman of the Top 25 voting panel for the 2019-20 season. NOTE: The Mid-Major Poll is made up of teams from the following conferences: America East, Atlantic Sun, Big Sky, Big South, Big West, Colonial, Horizon, Ivy, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern, Missouri Valley, Northeast, Ohio Valley, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern, Summit, Sun Belt, West Coast, Western Athletic.