GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Asa Thomas scored 18 points and Furman used hot shooting to down Harvard, 79-69, in Saturday afternoon basketball action at Timmons Arena.

The win was the fifth in the last six games for Furman (6-4).  Harvard falls to 5-6 on the campaign.

Thomas tallied 12 of his 18 points in the second half and connected on 6-of-11 shots in the game, including 5-of-9 attempts from 3-point range, to headline Furman's season best 57.1 percent (28-of-49) shooting performance.

Joining Thomas in double figures were Alex Wilkins with 16 points, Cooper Bowser with 12, and Eddrin Bronson with 11 points.

Harvard's Robert Hinson claimed game high scoring honors with 26 points.

The Paladins led 37-30 at the break and opened the second half with a 15-4 run, spiced by a 3-pointer by Bronson, who followed the trey with a layup at the 13:57 to go to give Furman a 52-24 lead.

Harvard regrouped to cut Furman's advantage to 57-48 on a Thomas Batties II layup with 10 minutes to go and got within seven at 59-52 on Hinton jump shot at the 8:39 mark.  Furman, however, blunted the Crimson run over the next minute on Wilkins' three-point play and a Bowser layup for a 64-52 lead.

Furman's hot shooting covered halves as the Paladins connected on 15-of-25 attempts (60.0%) over the game's first 20 minutes and converted 54.2 percent (13-of-24) in the second period.

The Paladins posted a 33-25 rebounding advantage, led by Bowser and Ben Vander Wal's six caroms each. 

Ben Wisendrath and Austin Hunt joined Hinton in double figures with 10 points apiece for the Crimson.

Furman plays host to Bob Jones on Tuesday in a 6:30 p.m. contest.