Greenville, S.C. – Tom House poured in 21 points and Alex Wilkins added 20 to lead Furman to a 78-73 victory over Samford in Southern Conference men's basketball action Thursday evening at Timmons Arena.
 
With the victory, Furman completed the regular season series sweep of the Bulldogs and improved to 15-7 overall and 6-3 in the SoCon. Samford dropped its fifth game in its last six outings to slip to 10-12 overall and 3-6 in conference play.
 
Wilkins scored 10 points to key an 18-5 Paladin run in the opening eight minutes of the second half that extended the Furman advantage to 55-41 on Ben Vander Wal's layup with 12:22 to play. Samford chipped away at the Furman lead and trimmed the margin to 66-64 with 2:58 remaining when Jadin Booth scored six straight points for the Bulldogs. Eddrin Bronson found Charles Johnston for a layup on the next Furman possession and converted a jumper of his own the following trip down the court to push the lead back to six points before House drained a triple with 1:11 left to up the margin to 73-64.
 
Booth buried another three and answered Cole Bowser's free throws with his fourth triple of the night to trim the Paladin advantage to 75-70 with under a minute play. The Bulldogs forced a turnover that led to a 1-for-2 effort at the line by Kam Martin, who was fouled attempting a three-pointer after Collin O'Neal missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity for Furman. Martin made 2-of-3 attempts at the line, but Bronson converted on both of his free throws following a foul on the inbounds pass and Furman got a stop of the defensive end and an O'Neal free throw to seal the verdict.
 
House finished 8-for-1414 from the floor and 3-of-4 at the foul line to top 20 points for the second straight game while Wilkins went 7-for-9 from the field and 3-for-3 at the charity stripe before fouling out with 3:59 left. Vander Wal added 11 points, six board, and three assists while Johnston scored eight points. Johnston's 16 rebounds marked a season-high and his most during his two-year career at Furman.
 
The Paladins shot 58.3% from the floor, including 64% over the final 20 minutes, and finished 15-of-20 at the foul line.
 
Samford forced 14 turnovers to outscore the Paladins 12-0 on points-of-turnovers and netted 17 second chance points despite Furman holding a 35-33 edge on the glass. The Bulldogs reached the foul line 22 times but went 12-of-22 at the stripe. Booth led the Bulldogs with 23 points and Dylan Faulkner posted a double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Martin finished with 14 points.
 
Furman is schedule to host its second straight nationally televised game at Timmons Arena when it entertains defending NIT champion Chattanooga for a 1 p.m. tip-off on Sunday, February 1, on ESPN2. Tickets are available for purchase on Furman's TicketMaster page.
 
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