Furman (3-9)
| Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. | Hometown | PPG | RPG |
| G | 15 | Marcus Dilligard | 6-4 | 190 | Fr. | LaBelle, Mo. | 4.0 | 2.0 |
| G | 24 | Bubba Smith | 6-4 | 190 | Jr. | Hendersonville, Tenn. | 10.7 | 3.1 |
| F | 22 | Andre Kerr | 6-6 | 220 | So. | Augusta, Ga. | 10.1 | 5.1 |
| F | 31 | Chuck Vincent | 6-7 | 235 | Sr. | Durham, N.C. | 16.3 | 8.8 |
| C | 32 | Daniel Quigley | 6-7 | 205 | Jr. | Tipton, Ind. | 8.8 | 5.7 |
East Tennessee State (5-6)
| Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. | Hometown | PPG | RPG |
| G | 11 | Kyle Keeton | 5-11 | 170 | Jr. | Huntsville, Tenn. | 10.0 | 1.3 |
| G | 3 | Troy Seymour | 6-3 | 180 | Sr. | Columbia, S.C. | 7.4 | 3.3 |
| F | 45 | Greg Stephens | 6-3 | 194 | Jr. | Adrian, Mich | 15.5 | 4.9 |
| F | 34 | Adrian Meeks | 6-6 | 205 | Fr. | Lexington, Miss. | 5.6 | 7.5 |
| C | 23 | Reggie Todd | 6-7 | 190 | Jr. | Columbia, S.C. | 13.8 | 9.0 |
Furman: Larry Davis (Asbury '78)
East Tennessee State: Ed DeChellis (Penn State '82)
Monday's Furman-East Tennessee State basketball game will mark the 37th meeting between the Paladins and Buccaneers. The series is tied 18-18.
Furman enters Monday's game having claimed two straight wins over East Tennessee State, including a 67-54 decision last year in Johnson City. The last time the Paladins and Buccaneers squared off in Greenville, Furman took an 89-88 overtime decision during the 1994-95 campaign at Greenville Memorial Auditorium.
In Greenville, Furman holds a 9-7 series lead over East Tennessee State. In Johnson City, the Buccaneers stand 10-7 against the Paladins. The two schools have split a pair of Southern Conference Tournament games over the years.
Monday night's contest will mark Furman head coach Larry Davis' first meeting against East Tennessee State. Ed DeChellis is 0-1 versus Furman in a little over one season as head coach at East Tennessee State.
TIMMONS ARENA OPENER A SUCCESS...Last Tuesday night Furman knocked off Northeastern Illinois 72-69 in the inaugural game in Timmons Arena, the school's new, 5,000-seat, on-campus facility. Furman's move into Timmons Arena followed a little over a season of play in Herman W. Lay Physical Activities Center. Prior to returning Paladin basketball to campus, Furman played downtown for 38 years (1958-96) in the now razed Greenville Memorial Auditorium. The Paladins will officially dedicate Timmons Arena prior to a Jan. 17 contest against Davidson.
PALADINS SNAP HOME LOSING SKID...Furman's 72-69 win over Northeastern Illinois last Tuesday night was not only significant from an historical standpoint, but it also snapped an embarrassing seven game home losing streak dating back to the middle of last February. The seven game skid, the program's longest since Furman lost seven straight at home during the 1984-85 season, included losses in the final four home games of the 1996-97 season and defeats in the first three home contests of the current campaign. Eight of Furman's first 12 games this year were on the road, but nine of the remaining 16 contests are scheduled for Timmons Arena.
DAVIS HAS ETSU ROOTS...On Monday night, Furman first year head coach Larry Davis will coach against the school that gave him his first collegiate coaching job when his Paladins square off against East Tennessee State in the 1997-98 Southern Conference opener for both schools. Davis, a 1978 graduate of Asbury (Ky.) College, took his first coaching job at the collegiate level in 1979 when he accepted a position as a graduate assistant at East Tennessee State under then-Buccaneer head coach Jim Halihan. Following a three-year stay at ETSU, where he earned an M.A. in physical education in 1982, Davis coached for three years at the prep level before later serving as an assistant coach at Delaware (1986-89), Wake Forest (1990-93), Ball State (1994), and Minnesota (1995-97) before accepting his first collegiate head coaching job at Furman this past spring.
GARRICK RETURNS..Monday night's Furman-East Tennessee State matchup will include the return to Furman of Tracy Garrick, a former Paladin standout who is currently in his second season as an assistant coach at East Tennessee State. Garrick, a product of Columbia's Lower Richland High School and 1991 Furman graduate with a degree in political science, earned four letters as a Paladin (1988-91). As a senior, he averaged 11.6 ppg and served as a team captain in helping the Paladins to a 20-9 record and Southern Conference championship. Prior to going to ETSU, Garrick served as an assistant coach at Coastal Carolina (1994-96) and Wingate (1993).
TWO IN A ROW...Furman's 72-69 win over Northeastern Illinois last Tuesday marked the Paladins' second straight win in what, for the most part, has been a rocky early season. Currently 3-9 on the season, Furman's only other wins of the year have come over Mercer (76-65) in Macon (Nov. 24) and Puerto Rico-Mayaguez (61-57) in San Juan, Puerto Rico (Dec. 23).
PUT THOSE HARD HATS AWAY (FOR NOW ANYWAY)...After struggling with its shooting for much of the early portion of the season, Furman turned matters around Tuesday night by connecting on a season high 56.3% of its shots (27-for-48) in the 72-69 win over Northeastern Illinois. Prior to the Northeastern Illinois game, Furman was shooting only 40.3% from the field for the year and had shot only 50.0% in one game (75-73 overtime loss at Stetson). The 56.3% shooting performance versus Northeastern Illinois marked only the third time in the last 39 games Furman has managed to shoot 50.0% from the field. Furman finished last in the Southern Conference in field goal percentage a year ago (40.7%).
LOOKING FOR PLAYMAKING AT THE POINT...While poor shooting has been a problem in the early going, Furman has also struggled with its playmaking ability, as the Paladins' two point guards, freshman Marcus Dilligard and junior Terry McGann, have combined for only 29 assists (2.4/game) in 12 games (476 minutes of action). Dilligard, who has started at the point in all 12 contests, only has 10 assists this year; McGann, meanwhile, only has 19 dishes on the year. In contrast, starting second guard Bubba Smith, who has garnered 12 assists in the last two games (both wins), leads Furman with 35 assists. Led by Smith's seven assists, the Paladins racked up a season high 21 dishes Tuesday night in the win over Northeastern Illinois. 4 HAUSER SEES FIRST ACTION...Redshirt freshman walk-on Gus Hauser, registered his first collegiate game action Tuesday night against Northeastern Illinois by scoring three points in 13 minutes of action as a reserve point guard. Hauser, a native of Barbourville, Ky., and reserve placekicker on Furman's football team, joined Furman's squad in mid-December. He is a product of Corbin (Ky.) High School, which is the same high school of former Paladin All-American Frank Selvy.
THREE-POINT STREAK HALTED...Furman's failure to sink a three-pointer (0-for-10) in the 80-57 loss to William & Mary on Dec. 3 snapped the Paladins' consecutive three-pointers made streak at 317 games dating back to the beginning of the 1986-87 season, when the current three-point shot was adopted by the NCAA (earlier 22' three-point shot not included in streak).
VINCENT LEADING THE WAY...Named Southern Conference Pre-Season Player-of-the-Year by league head coaches at the league's annual basketball tip-off in Greensboro, N.C., in late October, two-time all-league senior forward Chuck Vincent currently leads Furman in five statistical categories heading into the Northeastern Illinois game: scoring (16.3 ppg), rebounding (8.8 rpg), field goal percentage (60.2%), free throw percentage (66.0%), and steals (23). Vincent, who tallied 24 points and claimed 14 rebounds in 34 minutes of work against Mercer in Macon in the Paladins' first victory this year, registered 23 points and 13 rebounds in the Paladins' latest outing, a 72-69 win over Northeastern Illinois on Dec. 30. He currently ranks 17th on the Paladins' all-time scoring chart (1,374 points) and seventh on the school's career rebounds ledger (824 rebounds). Vincent is also on track to finish his career with one of the school's best field goal percentages. His current field goal percentage (53.6%) would place him in the top five.
PALADINS SIGN TWO...Furman signed two players in the early recruiting period: Paul Foster (6-1, PG, Mt. Olive, N.C./Rose Wallace H.S.) and Anthony Thomas (6-3, 2G, College Park, Ga./Woodward Academy).
FURMAN IN PRE-SEASON POLLS...Furman was a consensus Southern Conference South Division third place pick in a pair of pre-season polls conducted by league head coaches and media. Chattanooga, which last year advanced to the NCAA Tournament's "Sweet 16", was the consensus pick to repeat as the SoCon's South Division champion, and The Citadel was selected second in both polls. Furman finished last (fifth) in the South Division last year with a 10-17 overall record and 4-10 league mark.
VINCENT, KERR NAMED TO PRE-SEASON ALL-SOCON TEAM...Furman senior forward/center Chuck Vincent and redshirt sophomore forward Andre Kerr were named to the Southern Conference's pre-season all-conference team. While Vincent's selection was no surprise, Kerr's pick comes after the 6-foot-6 Augusta, Ga., product missed virtually all of the 1996-97 season with a sore back. Two years ago Kerr was named to the Southern Conference All-Freshman Team after averaging 12.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. In the last five games of the 1995-96 campaign, Kerr shot 63.2% from the field and averaged 20.8 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Included in that stretch was a season high 29-point performance against eventual league tournament champion Western Carolina.
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