Greenville, S.C. – The No. 5 seed Furman Paladins begin defense of their 2023 Southern Conference crown when they take on the No. 4 seed Western Carolina Catamounts in the quarterfinal round of the 2024 Ingles SoCon Men's Basketball Championship on Saturday night.
 
Tip-off at the Harrah's Cherokee Center – Asheville in Asheville, N.C., is set for 8:30 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+. Fans can listen to the action on The Fan Upstate at 97.7 FM and 1330 AM in Greenville, on 97.1 FM and 1490 AM in Spartanburg, or via the Audacy app. Links for the video stream, audio feed, and live statistics are available at FurmanPaladins.com.
 
This weekend marks the 71^st SoCon Men's Basketball Championship for the Paladins who sport a 57-63 all-time record in the tournament. Furman captured tournament titles in 1971, 73, 74, 75, 78, 80, and 2023 while reaching the league finals 12 times. Last season, the Paladins downed Mercer and topped Western Carolina in an overtime thriller before claiming their first SoCon Tournament crown since 1980 with an 88-79 victory over Chattanooga in a rematch of the 2022 finals.
 
Furman enters this season's postseason play at 16-15 overall and finished fifth in the SoCon with a 10-8 league mark. The Paladins dropped three of their final four regular season games, including an 82-75 home loss to Mercer in the regular season finale on March 2.
 
All-SoCon selections JP Pegues (1^st Team) and Marcus Foster (2^nd Team) lead the Paladins averaging 18.0 and 17.2 points per game, respectively. Pegues, the hero of last year's 68-67 victory over Virginia in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, has scored 19 or more points in five straight games and posted a career-high 35 versus the Catamounts on February 28. Foster missed nine games due to a knee injury before returning to the lineup to post five double-doubles during SoCon play.
 
Saturday's quarterfinal round clash marks the 87^th all-time meeting between Furman and Western Carolina with the Paladins boasting a 55-31 series lead and having won 18 of the last 21 encounters. Furman is 5-0 versus the Catamounts in the SoCon Men's Basketball Championship, including an 83-80 overtime win in last season's semifinals.
 
Furman claimed a 65-62 triumph over the Catamounts at Timmons Arena on January 20 when Pegues drained a go-ahead three-pointer from the top of the key with 0.8 seconds left. Western Carolina earned a split of the regular season series by rallying from a nine-point second half deficit to secure an 85-77 decision versus the Paladins in Cullowhee, N.C., on February 28.
 
The winner of Saturday night's quarterfinal will advance to Sunday's 4 p.m. semifinal to battle the winner of Saturday's game between No. 1 seed Samford and the winner of Friday's first round bout between Mercer and The Citadel. Monday's championship game is set for 7 p.m.
 
Click here to purchase tickets for the 2024 Ingles SoCon Men's Basketball Championship.