Greenville, S.C. – Junior Emil Westling's win at No. 3 singles propelled the Furman men's tennis team to a 4-3 Southern Conference victory over the Mercer Bears on Senior Day, Thursday afternoon at Mickel Tennis Center.

With the win, Furman improves to 9-13 on the season and 3-3 in SoCon play. Mercer falls to 10-12 overall and 4-2 in the conference.

Westling, a native of Bjärred, Sweden, rallied in the third set to give the Paladins their 12^th win over the Bears in 14 all-time meetings. Facing Nemanja Stefanovic, Westling took the first set 6-4 before being edged in the second 7-5. Stefanovic won the opening three games of the third set before Westling came back to tie the score at 5-5. Westling completed the comeback by winning the next two games to secure the 6-4, 5-7, 7-5 triumph and give Furman a win in its final home match of the season. The win was Westling's fourth of the year.

The Paladins began the match by capturing the doubles point at No. 1 and No. 2 to take an early 1-0 lead. Thomas Kennedy and Elijah Poritzky, playing at No. 1, quickly topped Mariano Argote and Samuel MacLeod 6-1, and Westling and Ben Cahill followed in the No. 2 match with a 6-2 win against Samuel Barrow and Andrew Branicki.

In singles, Furman won the first two matches to increase its lead to 3-0. In the No. 1 contest, Barton defeated Argote in straight sets 6-0, 6-1 for his team-leading 10^th victory of the season. Playing at No. 2, Poritzky added his seventh win with a 6-3, 6-3 victory against Lucas Dini. The Bears would win at No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6 to even the match at 3-3.

Prior to the match, the Paladins held their Senior Day ceremony honoring Chad Nash and Jason Smith.

Furman closes out its regular season on Saturday afternoon traveling to Wofford for a 4 p.m. match.

Fans can follow the action on www.furmanpaladins.com via live stats. Updates will be posted on the Furman men's tennis Twitter page (@FurmanMTennis).