December 2, 2020
 
Furman Dominates Paint To Down Southern Wesleyan, 89-49
Greenville, S.C. – Furman outscored NCAA Division II Southern Wesleyan by 30 points in the paint and grabbed 55 rebounds en route to an 89-49 victory over the Warriors on Wednesday evening at Timmons Arena.

With the victory, Furman improved to 3-0 on the season and extended its Timmons Arena winning streak to 15 games. Southern Wesleyan, who had knocked off NCAA Division I USC Upstate in its season opener, slipped to 1-1.

A stingy Furman defense limited SWU to 32.1% shooting from the floor on the night, including just 25.8% in the second half, and used its 55-29 edge on the glass to post a 26-4 advantage in second chance points. The Paladins shot 51.5% from the field and forced 19 turnovers to outscore the Warriors 27-7 on points off of turnovers.

Junior Mike Bothwell, who reached double figures in the first half for the third straight game, paced the Paladins with 17 points and four steals, while fellow junior Jalen Slawson notched his second career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Forwards Noah Gurley and Clay Mounce each finished with 11 points apiece, and freshman Marcus Foster contributed a career-best nine points.

Leading 24-23 with 4:30 to play in the opening half, Furman ended the period on a 13-3 run behind nine points from Bothwell to carry a 37-26 lead into the break. The Paladins' defense allowed only eight points over the first 9:30 of the second half to extend the spurt to a 39-11 run as Furman upped its advantage to 63-34 when Gurley capped a 9-0 run on a two-handed slam with 10:42 to go.

Furman finished with a 54-24 edge in scoring in the paint and converted on 14-of-21 trips to the foul line. SWU made just eight field goal in the second half as the Paladins outscored the Warriors 52-23 over the final 20 minutes. The Paladins 55 rebounds marked the most by a Furman team since grabbing 57 in a victory over Bluefield on December 16, 2015.

Arusha Hunter led SWU with 13 points.

Furman is scheduled to travel to Richmond, Va., to face the 19^th-ranked Richmond Spiders on Saturday at the Robins Center. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. and the game can be seen on NBC Sports Washington and on ESPN+. Fans can listen to the "Voice of the Paladins", Dan Scott, on ESPN Upstate at 97.7 FM/1330 AM in Greenville, 97.1 FM/ 950 AM in Spartanburg, and thru the Radio.com app. Links for the video live stream and ESPN Upstate broadcast will be posted at FurmanPaladins.com.