With the departure of multiple star players from last year’s team, the Paladins men’s basketball team regrouped via the transfer portal to configure their roster for the 2024-25 season. Notable additions include senior transfer guard Nick Anderson, junior transfer guard Tom House and junior transfer forward Charlie Johnston. There are, however, better changes for the Dins this season — they are scheduled to play all of their home games at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in downtown Greenville due to Timmons’ Arena renovation.

Furman took care of the Division ll school Columbia International 104-46 in their opener, but a Nov. 8, road game at Belmont posed the first early season test for Furman. Senior guard PJay Smith Jr. and Anderson both knocked down five 3-pointers a piece, including a go-ahead three by Smith with three seconds left, giving Furman the victory.

Back at Bon Secours on Monday, Nov. 11, Furman hosted Jacksonville as a part of the Southern Conference (SoCon)/Atlantic Sun Conference challenge. The game had a competitive start, with both teams exchanging leads early on. Jacksonville stretched their first-half lead to as many as six points before House connected on a three from the left side.

The Furman guards turned the ball over numerous times in the first half, leading to Jacksonville fast break buckets. Jacksonville’s defense ensured Anderson did not shoot the ball the way he did against Belmont — Anderson was held scoreless in the first half. The Dins went into the halftime break down 36-33.

For most of the second half, Furman played well defensively, while also finding consistency at the three-point line. Multiple steals by Smith Jr. led to transition points and Johnston began to heat up from three-point range, hitting four of his five attempts. Johnston also dominated in the paint, including a slam dunk with 13 minutes to go in the game. He would go on to finish the game with a team-high 25 points.

Jacksonville extended the game in the last three minutes by fouling, pressing and calling timeouts, but the Dins cemented a 78-69 win in the end to move to 3-0 on the young season.

So far this season, the new Paladins have accounted for 113 of the 258 total points scored, a remarkable 43.7% of the team’s points. On Friday, Nov. 16, the Dins continued their winning ways, defeating the Tulane Green Wave 75-67 at Bon Secours to move to 4-0. The Paladins will be in action next on Wednesday, Nov. 20 at Legacy Early College against Oglethorpe University, a member of NCAA Division III.