Greenville, S.C. – The Furman men's basketball team will open the 2025-26 regular season on Monday, November 3, versus defending Big South Conference champion High Point in the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon, it was announced on Tuesday morning.
 
The Paladins and Panthers will tip-off at 6:30 p.m. at the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center in Rock Hill, S.C., and the game will be streamed on the Field of 68's YouTube and X pages. Winthrop takes on Queens in the opening game of the marathon at 8 a.m. with St. Bonaventure and Bradley set for an 11 a.m. tip at the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center.  
 
"We are honored to be involved in this event, which has some of the elite programs in the country that exist outside the sport's traditional power structure," Field of 68 founder Rob Dauster said. "This is a great opportunity for us to be able to provide more coverage for these teams that frankly don't get enough. What we do at the Field of 68 is try and give teams at all levels the coverage they deserve."
 
The other half of the six-game marathon will be held at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D., with Murray State battling Omaha at 1:30 p.m., Drake tangling with Northern Arizona at 4 p.m., and South Dakota State squaring off against Merrimack at 9 p.m.
 
"For the health of college basketball, in November, you have to go and challenge yourself," said Paladin head coach Bob Richey. "The more games like this, where great programs that have won at a high level get together, there's no downside to it. To be here in Rock Hill, at this great facility, we are thrilled to be a part of it."
 
Furman returns five players with starting experience from a 2024-25 squad that posted a 25-10 record, reached the finals of the Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championship, and received an at-large bid to the NIT. High Point fashioned a 29-6 record a year ago and swept the Big South regular season and tournament title en route to a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
 
Tickets for the three games in Rock Hill will be available vis TicketReturn beginning on September 5. Along with the games being broadcast on The Field of 68's YouTube Channel and X feeds, the network's popular After Dark show will be broadcast live with a set at both venues.
 
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