By MONTE DUTTON
Last night I thought of what Gen. George S. Patton – no, wait, it was George C. Scott portraying Patton – said:
“I was nearly sent home in disgrace. Now I have precisely the right instrument, at precisely the right moment of history, in exactly the right place. This will change, too, very quickly, like a planet spinning off into the universe.”
Now what in the annals of Christendom has that to do with the men’s basketball game being played on Saturday afternoon at 2 between Furman and Western Carolina at Timmons Arena?
A little. A microcosmic iota.
The Paladins, ravaged by illness and injuries, lost their first two Southern Conference games. Two crucial parts of the figurative war machine, J.P. Pegues and Alex Williams, returned, and Furman defeated The Citadel and East Tennessee State. With the team’s leading scorer, Marcus Foster, back, the Paladins ran through VMI like, well, as Scott as Patton said, something through a goose.
Now, via movie-as-a-source-for-messages-on-basketball, a science still in its infancy, two potent squads ahead of Furman (9-9, 3-2) in the SoCon standings, Western Carolina (15-3, 4-1) and, next Wednesday, Samford (16-2, 5-0 now), arrive to face frenetic home crowds in consecutive waves. Then the Paladins visit Spartanburg to play Wofford (11-7, 4-1 now) on Jan. 27.
In a little over a week, Furman will be approaching the SoCon peak, or still on the middling upslopes, or right back at base camp.
As adherents of the positive outlook are wont to say, it’s not a problem. It’s an opportunity. Furman head coach Bob Richey is such a pusher of the positive.
Scott, as Patton, said in the movie, “An opportunity like this won’t come again for a thousand years. All I need is a few miserable gallons of gasoline.”
The way is paved for Richey’s troops to advance. The estimable opposition realizes this. Timmons is a tough place to play. It figures to rock.
Richey cited the example of Carter Whitt’s improvement – 35 points off 13/24 shooting in the past two games, 17 assists and nine steals in the past three – as emblematic of the team’s.
“What I’ve realized a little bit more this year is that it creates this idea within our program about, hey, I need to be able to make shot if I’m going to play. There’s an elevated truth to that, that we need enough shotmakers out there, but it doesn’t need to be anything that creates a burden,” Richey said.
Since hitting .275 of its field goals and .121 of three-pointers in a dreary 73-58 loss at Chattanooga, the Paladins have shot .550, .441 and .480 overall and .419, .350 and .486 from deep in the three consecutive victories.
On Tuesday night, when Samford assumed the top spot in the standings with a 75-71 over Western Carolina in Cullowhee, WCU’s Vonterius Woolbright put up 23 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Russell Jones Jr., like Woolbright a senior, scored 22.
Woolbright, from Albany, Ga., averages 20.7 points and 12.4 rebounds. Three others, Jones among them, score in double figures.
Furman rides a three-game winning streak after cruising to the 100-60 victory at VMI. Williams poured in a game-high 23 points to go with seven rebounds while Carter Whitt scored 21 on 5/8 shooting from three-point range. In his first game since Dec. 4, Foster celebrated his return from injury by notching a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
“Man, I love this team,” said Foster, senior from Atlanta, Ga. “I really feel like we’re coming together. We’ve had a lot of adversity early on dealing with injuries and different sicknesses and illnesses. That strengthened our bond. That has made us come together.
“It’s made us trust one another. It’s made us rely and depend on one another. I feel it’s great for us because this is a new team. We have a new core. I think this team is really going to be special.”
Saturday’s game marks the 85th all-time meeting between Furman and Western Carolina in a series that dates back to the 1976-77 season. Furman holds a 54-30 series lead and has won 15 of the last 16 meetings versus the Catamounts, including nine straight encounters in Greenville.
In three seasons since succeeding current Winthrop coach Mark Prosser, Justin Gray has taken Western to successive records of 11-21, 18-16 and, presently, 15-3.
Last season, Western Carolina claimed a 79-67 victory over the Paladins in Cullowhee before Furman toppled the Catamounts, 93-59, at Timmons Arena. In the semifinal round of the SoCon Tournament, Western Carolina rallied from a 20-point second-half shortfall to force overtime, but Furman prevailed, 83-80, en route to its first league tournament title and NCAA Tournament berth since 1980.
“Justin (Gray) does a great job,” said Richey after the VMI game. “I’m sure they’re excited to play us again after that semifinal game. It’s going to be a heck of a ballgame. We’ve got a lot of respect for what they do and how they operate. They’ve got a veteran group that has stayed together.”
Saturday’s tip-off is set for 2 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+. Fans can listen to the action on The Fan Upstate at 97.7 FM and 1330 AM in Greenville, on 97.1 FM and 1490 AM in Spartanburg, or via the Audacy app.
I hope you find my coverage entertaining and unique. If so, like the kid whose ball bounces onto an adjoining court, hey, little help?
Thanks so much for the contributions. I’m aware that folks appreciate what I do, particularly the kids, coaches, parents and fans.
Blue, Green, Purple & Red cannot solely be funded by advertising. There’s not enough room.
I used to list an address to send a check (DHK Sports, P.O. Box 768, Clinton, S.C. 29325). I finally got it through my thick head that not that many people write checks nowadays. For example, me. A more convenient means is sending a contribution to DHK Sports on Venmo. It keeps the site going, both in the balance sheet and on the road.
Support the advertisers, and help keep the site – the game stories, the blogs, the photos – alive. If you choose, make a monthly donation via Patreon. The Laurens County site is here. The Furman site is here.
Or, indirectly, purchase my books at MonteDutton.net. They’re entertaining in spite of the fellow who wrote them. Two of my novels, Cowboys Come Home and Lightning in a Bottle, are available in audio versions. The latest, The Latter Days, is about baseball. I’m closing in on a 10th novel.
Photo galleries are posted on Instagram @furmanatt and @laurenscountysports.
Blue, Green, Purple & Red 