Men's Basketball Upsets Furman, 97-93

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Mars Hill University's men's basketball squad beat NCAA Division I foe Furman University, 97-93 Tuesday night at Timmons Arena. Devonte Williams scored 20 points and added 10 assists to lead the Lions to victory. The 10 assists were a career high for Williams as a Lion.

Following Williams was Carter Wright with 18 points, Jalen Witherspoon with 17 while Thomas Anderson and Kevin Haynes recorded 14 points apiece. Witherspoon added eight boards. As a team MHU had their second best shooting performance hitting 52.9% (27-51) from the floor. The contest saw seven ties and nine lead changes.

Tonight's contest was only the second meeting between these two teams. The Paladins won the first meeting during the 1987-88 season, 95-65.

Larry Wideman led Furman scoring 20 points while Stephen Croone added 16 points. Kris Acox had a solid night for the Paladins scoring 13 points and pulling down eight boards.

After Croone put Furman up 12-8 with 15:42 left in the first half, the Lions went on a 13-2 run to take a seven-point (21-14) lead with 13:04 left in the first stanza after Williams hit a layup. The Paladins closed out the first frame outscoring the Lions, 31-23 to take a 45-44 lead into the locker room at the break.

Croone hit a free throw with 14:22 left in regulation to give the Paladins a 59-54 advantage. From that point on, the game belonged to Mars Hill. A shot from behind the arc by Will White with 10:07 left in the contest put MHU ahead by five points (67-62) and the Lions would never trail again. Williams connected on a pair of shots at the charity stripe to give the Lions their biggest lead of the contest of 10 points with 2:13 left in the contest. Furman could not manage a comeback after this point and the Lions left Timmons with the four-point victory.

Mars Hill will host new SAC member Coker College on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.