Asheville N.C. – Cooper Bowser scored 21 points and Furman used hot shooting and a dominant rebounding effort to defeat East Tennessee State, 76-61, to claim the 2026 Ingles Southern Conference Tournament Championship Monday evening in front of a crowd of 6,111 at Harrah's Cherokee Center-Asheville.
 
The victory gave Furman (22-12), the tournament's No. 6 seed, its eighth SoCon tournament championship and second league crown in the last four seasons. Furman earned the SoCon's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, the school's eighth trip to the Big Dance. The Paladins will find out their opponent and first round destination when the field of 68 is announced on Sunday, March 15, at 6 p.m. on CBS.
 
Furman shot 60% from the field in the opening half to build a 42-35 halftime lead and answered ETSU's first bucket of the second half with an 8-2 run to take a 50-38 advantage on Tom House's three free throws with 16:13 to play. The Buccaneers trimmed the margin back single digits, but Furman used another 8-2 spurt, highlighted by three-point baskets from Asa Thomas and Eddrin Bronson to push the lead out to 61-46 with under 10:30 remaining. ETSU (23-11) got no closer than nine points the rest of the way.
 
Bowser, a 6-foot-11 junior who missed 10 games this year due to injury, connected on 9-of-12 shots from the floor and 3-of-4 free throws for his 21 points, which he complemented with a game-high 11 rebounds and three steals. House netted 13 points and freshman Alex Wilkins, the tournament's most outstanding player, added 12.
 
Furman shot 50.9% from the field, including 10-for-26 from three-point range, and converted on 12-of-15 trips to the foul line to finish 51-of-61 (83.6%) at the charity stripe in three tournament games. The Paladins managed a 36-24 edge on the glass, boosted by 11 offensive boards, as they outscored the Bucs 11-2 on second chance points.
 
Brian Taylor scored 16 points to pace the Bucs. Blake Barkley and Jaylen Smith scored 14 and 10, respectively. ETSU shot 48% from the field but managed just an 18.8% effort behind the arc and 10-of-18 performance at the foul line.
 
Wilkins was joined on the All-SoCon Tournament First Team by Cooper Bowser while House received second team honors. A native of Mattapan, Mass., Wilkins averaged 21.7 points per game for the tournament. Bowser added 16.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game while House contributed 12 points per game on 5-of-9 shooting behind the arc.

All-Tournament Team
First team
Blake Barkley, ETSU
Brian Taylor II, ETSU
Cooper Bowser, Furman
Alex Wilkins, Furman (MOP)
Justin Neely, UNCG
 
Second team
Sola Adebisi, The Citadel
Jaylen Smith, ETSU
Tom House, Furman
KJ Younger, UNCG
Jadin Booth, Samford

Knight Commission Pinnacle Award (highest GPA on championship-winning team)
Ben VanderWal, Furman
 
2026 Ingles Southern Conference Men's Basketball Championship
Friday, March 6 (ESPN+/Nexstar)
Game 1 - (9) The Citadel 88, (8) Chattanooga 85
Game 2 - (7) UNCG 84, (10) VMI 70
 
Saturday, March 7 (ESPN+/SCETV)
Game 3 - (1) ETSU 83, (9) The Citadel 76
Game 4 - (7) UNCG 75, (2) Wofford 72
Game 5 - (6) Furman 86, (3) Samford 81
Game 6 - (5) Western Carolina 77, (4) Mercer 73
 
Sunday, March 8 (ESPNU)
Game 7 - (1) ETSU 69, (5) Western Carolina 67 
Game 8 - (6) Furman 81, (7) UNCG 75 

Monday, March 9 (ESPN)
(6) Furman 76, (1) ETSU 61 
 


 
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