Greenville, S.C. – Furman guard Mike Bothwell has been named Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week, it was announced on Monday afternoon by the league office.
Bothwell led Furman to a pair of wins this past week as the Paladins clinched a share of the league title for the first time since 2017 and secured the No. 1 seed in the Ingles SoCon Men’s Basketball Championship for the first time since 1991.
After totaling nine points, including a pair of free throws with 20 seconds remaining, to lead the Paladins to a 70-67 win over Mercer last Wednesday, Bothwell poured in 35 points in a 93-79 win at first-place Samford on Saturday to help Furman secure the title and top seed. The Cleveland Heights, Ohio, native scored the first 18 points of the game to stake the Paladins to a double-digit lead and finished 10-for-15 from the field, 5-of-8 from three-point range, and 10-of-11 at the charity stripe.
For the week, Bothwell averaged 22 points per game, shot 57% from the field, connected on 6-of-9 three-point attempts, and converted on 14-of-15 trips to the foul line. He led the SoCon during the regular season at 17.9 points per game and added 3.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.
Saturday’s win made Bothwell and fellow fifth-year senior Jalen Slawson the winningest players in school history with 112 career victories.
Furman opens postseason play on Saturday at noon when it faces the winner of Friday’s No. 8 seed Mercer versus No. 9 seed The Citadel matchup in quarterfinal round action at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center – Asheville in Asheville, N.C.
