Jalen Slavson and Mike Bothwell scored 17 points to lead the second-seeded Furman men's basketball team to a 71-68 victory over No. 3 seed Samford at the Cherokee Center in Harrah on Sunday evening since 2015. ,
The Paladins are making their 11th championship game appearance in the program's history and seeking the school's seventh SoCon title and first since 1980. Furman (22-11) will face top-seeded Chattanooga, who defeated No. 4 Woford in the first semi-final game on Monday. at 7 p.m. on ESPN and Westwood One Radio.
Slavson was 4-of-8 off the field and 7-of-9 at the free throw line and finished with 17 points, seven rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block. Bothwell tied for a 6-of-12 field goal and matched three assists and three steals. Conley Garrison posted 10 points and shies away from tying his career high with five steals.
Quess Glover led Samford (21-11) with 23 points shooting 7-for-14 at the free throw line and four assists at 7-for-10. Jermaine Marshall contributed a double-double of 22 points and 12 rebounds. Jaden Campbell made all four of his field goal attempts and finished with 14 points.
There were seven major changes in the final 11:30 of the game and neither team led by more than four points. The Bulldogs took a 50-43 lead with 11:51, before the Paladins came back with eight consecutive points and led 51-50 almost two minutes later on Slavson's layoff. The teams traded baskets over the next eight minutes until Slavsson made two free throws and a layup to give Furman a 66–64 lead with 1:24.
Glover scored a 1-of-2 free throw with 30 seconds behind the Bulldogs 66-65. The team finished the competition with four straight runs for nine free throws combined with Slawson. Campbell made his first free throw attempt with two seconds to spare and missed the second, but the Bulldogs got an offensive counterattack. Samford put the ball into his next possession and Alex Hunter sealed the win with a free throw and a steal.
In all, there were a total of eight major changes to the game, with the score being tied three times.
The Paladins finished the game shooting 42.9 percent (56 out of 24) from the field. Furman took the lead in points of turnover (20-11), points in paint (30-24), second chance points (9-5), fast break points (6-1) and bench points (10-2).