Asheville, N.C. – Nick Anderson, Tom House, and PJay Smith Jr. combined to score 71 points on 16-of-25 shooting from three-point range to power No. 5 seed Furman to a 95-78 victory over fourth-seeded Samford in the quarterfinal round of the Ingles Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championship Saturday night at Harrah's Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C.
 
The Paladins (24-8) advance to face top-seed Chattanooga in the first of two semifinal round matchups on Sunday at 4 p.m. No. 7 seed VMI battles No. 6 seed Wofford in the second semifinal at 6:30 p.m. Tournament tickets are available by clicking here.
 
Furman led 65-62 with under 10 minutes remaining when Anderson's triple ignited a 10-2 run to help the Paladins open a 75-64 advantage when Smith nailed a triple and Anderson followed with a pair of free throws with 6:32 remaining. Samford (22-10) trimmed the lead back to 10 points, but the Paladins responded with a 13-4 spurt, capped by House's sixth triple of the night with 2:18 to play, to push the cushion to 88-69.
 
Anderson paced the Paladins with 26 points on 6-of-9 shooting behind the arc while Smith added 24 points to go with four boards and a game-high nine assists. House drilled six of his seven three-point tries to total 21 points and Ben VanderWal led all players with 10 rebounds.
 
The Paladins shot 59.2% from the field and converted on 17-of-29 three-point attempts to post its highest shooting percentage (58.6%) from long range versus an NCAA Division I opponent this season. The 17 three-point baskets established a new program-high for the Paladins in postseason play.
 
Josh Holloway led Samford with 21 points while Jaden Brownell and Trey Fort added 16 and 11 points, respectively. The Bulldogs shot 46.8% from the field and 12-of-15 at the foul line but converted on just 8-of-24 triples.
 
Furman never trailed and led for 38:25 of the 40 minutes en route to its third victory of the season versus Samford and 12^th in the last 15 series meetings. With the win, Furman reached the SoCon semifinals for the fourth consecutive year and recorded 24 victories for the fourth time in program history.
 
Sunday's semifinal matchup will air live on ESPNU and 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.