Brandon Evans scored 13 points and North Carolina-Greensboro survived a late charge by Furman in a 66-65 win on Friday in the first round of the Southern Conference tournament.
The Spartans (8-22), the fourth seed in the SoCon North, advance to the quarterfinals on Saturday to face Wofford, the top seed in the South. Brian Cole, Mikko Koivisto and Kyle Randall each scored 11.
UNC-Greensboro led 65-60 with 13 seconds to play when Brian Cole knocked down one of two free throws. Furman's Amu Saaka hit a 3-pointer 6 seconds later to cut the Spartans' margin to two.
Koivisto pushed UNC-Greensboro's lead to 66-63 with 5 seconds left. Saaka could have tied the game for the Paladins (13-17), but he passed up on a 3-pointer and drove for a dunk with eight-tenths of a second left to preserve the victory.
Saaka led Furman with 14 points.
