Cullowhee, N.C. – Mike Bothwell and Alex Hunter both scored over 20 points on Wednesday evening as the Furman men's basketball team snapped its three-game losing streak with a 103-85 victory over the Western Carolina Catamounts in Southern Conference play from the Ramsey Center.

Furman improves to 18-10 on the season and 10-5 in conference play, while Western Carolina drops to 9-19 overall and 3-12 in the league.

Bothwell scored a game high 25 points to lead the Paladins offensively on 6-of-12 shooting while making 11-of-13 free throw attempts. Hunter provided 23 points after knocking down eight field goals including seven 3-pointers. JP Pegues came off the bench to score 15 points and Conley Garrison provided 13. Jalen Slawson contributed eight points and eight rebounds.

Garrison reached a career milestone on Wednesday by scoring his 2,000^th career point. The graduate student from Bolivar, Mo. finished the game shooting 5-of-9 overall and made two 3-pointers.

The Catamounts had five players score in double figures led by Marlow Gilmore's 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Tyler Harris and Vonterius Woolbright added 13 points while Marvin Price scored 12. Cameron Bacote tallied 11 points and seven assists. Marcus Banks pulled down five rebounds.

A 10-0 run to start lifted Furman to a 16-point lead less than eight minutes into the contest while holding Western Carolina to less than 10 points during that stretch. The Paladins, who led wire-to-wire against the Catamounts, built out a 42-15 lead at the 7:15 mark when Bothwell connected on a pair of free throws. Furman led by 20 or more points for most of the first half until Western Carolina used a 14-2 run, covering nearly five minutes, to cut the lead down to 48-34 with 1:24 to go. The Paladins held a 51-36 lead at halftime.

Furman extended its lead back out to 18 points to begin the second half when Hunter's 3-pointer with 17:39 to go made the score 59-41. The Catamounts got to within 11 points twice after back-to-back possessions and trailed 64-53 at the 14:48 mark on Bacote's jumper. The Paladins held off Western Carolina's rally and took an 89-65 lead at the 7:31 mark after Hunter scored six of their eight consecutive points.

Furman led by at least 16 points over the final 5:01 and reached the century mark with 2:02 left when Bothwell gave it a 101-81 advantage with his layup. Garrett Hien sealed the win for the Paladins after his dunk with 21 seconds remaining put the final score at 103-85.

Furman concluded the game shooting 47.9 percent (34-of-71) from the field and made 20-of-23 (87.0 percent) attempts at the free throw line. The Paladins outrebounded the Catamounts 41-28 highlighted by a season high 20 offensive boards. Furman held a 38-30 advantage in points in the paint, 22-16 in second chance points and 18-11 in fast break points.

The Paladins play their final home game of the regular season on Saturday afternoon, returning to downtown Greenville to host Wofford at 12 p.m. from Bon Secours Wellness Arena.