Macon, Ga. – The Furman men's basketball team captured its fourth consecutive Southern Conference victory on Saturday evening after cruising to an 80-50 win over the Mercer Bears inside Hawkins Arena.

Furman improves to 16-7 on the season and 8-2 in conference play, while Mercer falls to 12-10 overall and 5-4 in the league.

The Paladins had five players score in double figures led by Garrett Hien's 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Marcus Foster, Jalen Slawson and Tyrese Hughey all finished with 11 points. Conley Garrison added 10 points. Slawson also provided eight assists and seven rebounds. Hughey's 11 points, scored on 5-of-8 shooting, and seven rebounds are both career highs. Mike Bothwell and Joe Anderson each had eight points.

Kamar Robertson was the only Bear to score at least 10 points in the contest with a game high 13 on 5-of-10 shooting. Jordan Jones grabbed five rebounds while Shawn Walker Jr. dished out two assists.

Trailing 12-11 less than three minutes into the contest, Furman would go on a 19-8 run over the next 6:20 and push its lead out to 30-20 with 7:09 remaining when Anderson connected on a 3-pointer. The Paladins closed out the final 4:31 of the first half on a 12-1 run and held a 44-25 lead going into halftime. Furman took its largest lead of the opening half, 44-24, less than a minute earlier following a layup by Hien.

The Paladins continued their run into the second half, outscoring Mercer 10-5 to start and extended the lead to 54-29 with 16:35 remaining after Bothwell's layup. The Bears answered by going on an 11-5 run and cut their deficit down to 59-40 at the 10:31 mark. That would be as close as Mercer would get with Furman responding the next possession when two free throws by Slawson pushed its lead back over 20 points, 61-40. The Paladins would lead by 20 or more points the remainder of the contest.

The Paladins closed out the game on a 16-6 run and led by 30 or more points for the last 3:36. Jaylon Pugh gave Furman its largest lead of the game with 1:25 to go when his 3-pointer made the score 80-46. The Bears scored the game's last four points to put the final score at 80-50.

The Paladins concluded the game shooting 47.5 percent (29-of-61) from the field and held a 34-29 advantage in rebounding. For the second straight game, Furman registered double-digit offensive rebounds after finishing with 13, which led to 12 second chance points. The Paladins also limited Mercer to just 3-of-16 (18.8 percent) behind the 3-point line and forced 22 turnovers.

Furman held a 34-10 advantage in points off turnovers, 12-11 in second chance points, 34-28 in points in the paint, 15-6 in fast break points and 34-25 in bench points.

The Paladins begin a two-game homestand on Wednesday, February 2 when they host The Citadel at 7 p.m. from Timmons Arena.

Tickets for Wednesday'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. Fans can watch the game on ESPN+ and listen to the "Voice of the Paladins" Dan Scott on 97.7 FM/1330 AM in Greenville, 97.1 FM/950 AM in Spartanburg, and thru Audacy.com.