Greenville, S.C. – The fifth-seeded Furman Paladins will open play in the 2025 Ingles Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championship Saturday night with a quarterfinal round showdown against No. 4 seed Samford in Asheville, N.C.
 
Saturday's game, the final of four quarterfinal round contests, is slated to tip-off at 8:30 p.m. at Harrah's Cherokee Center Asheville and 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, 97.1 FM and 1490 AM in Spartanburg, and via the Audacy app. Links for the broadcast, live audio, and live statistics are available at FurmanPaladins.com.
 
The winner of the Furman-Samford matchup will advance to face top-seed Chattanooga, Mercer, or Western Carolina in semfinal round action Sunday at 4 p.m. on ESPNU. Monday's SoCon Championship Game is slated for 7 p.m. on ESPN.
 
Furman enters the postseason riding a four-game winning streak and sporting a 23-8 overall record. The Paladins are led by guards PJay Smith Jr. and Nick Anderson, who averaged 17.2 and 14.1 points per game, respectively, during the regular season. Smith was named first team All-SoCon on Wednesday while Anderson garnered third team honors. Sophomore forward Cooper Bowser, who has swatted a league-leading 50 shots this season, was selected to the league's all-defensive team.
 
The 23-win season marks the seventh time in the last nine year that Furman has reached at least 22 wins and the sixth time in eight seasons under head coach Bob Richey. The Paladins also rank among the nation's leaders with nine true road wins.
 
Saturday's quarterfinal marks the 41^st meeting in the all-time series between Furman and Samford (22-9) with the Paladins holding a 28-12 head-to-head advantage. Furman has won 11 of the last 14 meetings versus the Bulldogs and swept the regular season home-and-home series between the schools with a 72-70 triumph in Greenville, S.C., on January 29 and an 80-72 victory in Birmingham, Ala., to begin the current four-game winning streak on February 19. Smith matched a career-high with 32 points in Furman's road win over the Bulldogs while Anderson and Bowser averaged 18.5 points apiece in the two previous meetings this season.
 
Furman and Samford have met seven times in postseason play with the Paladins boasting a 4-3 edge. The combined 45 wins between the Paladins and Bulldogs are the most in a SoCon quarterfinal round matchup in league history.
 
Tournament tickets are available by clicking here. Fans are encouraged to show their support for the paladins at the team hotel send-off gathering, beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday at the Kimpton Hotel Arras in downtown Asheville. Follow Furman men's basketball's social media accounts throughout the weekend for updates on the Paladins and events surrounding the tournament.