By MONTE DUTTON

Almost the same Din time. Same Din station.

Three hundred, sixty-four nights after Furman opened the 2022-23 season with the first of 28 victories, 91-55 over North Greenville, different versions of the same neighboring schools met again at Timmons Arena, and the Paladins won, 84-68.

The most impressive aspect of the gala opener was the crowd. It wasn’t a pretty game. It was a pretty night. Furman had a nice, big purple banner to hang and 2,197 bearing tidings of great joy.

Rings were awarded. Mike Bothwell there to pick up his. Jalen Slawson’s parents were in the house.

Shooter of the Shot Heard ‘Round March March Madness, J.P. Pegues, was in street clothes, though apparently not for too long. Alex Williams injured a finger. Furman (1-0) tried 20 shots worth three points apiece and hit three of them.

The successor of a Southern Conference champion and conqueror of the University of Virginia was not going to let anything bother it Monday night. The Paladins led for all but 2:42. They’ll go back to the to the diagrams on Friday night when Belmont comes to visit. The Bruins edged Georgia State, 89-87, in their opener.

Not even a perfectionist would quibble with the glittery showcase. As an example, not even Bob Richey quibbled much. Chad Lister is in his 22^nd season coaching the Crusaders. Richey played for Lister at NGU. Chad Lister’s son Rett played for Richey at Furman.

Marcus Foster led the Paladins with 18 points. Cooper Bowser, a 6-11 freshman from Woodbridge, Va., added 13. Carter Whitt added 10. Tyrese Hughey and Davis Molnar each pulled down eight rebounds. Foster and Hughey each disseminated four assists.
“All of us are really close, so it just felt comfortable, stepping into that role,” Whitt said. “We’ve all been working super-hard together.”

While laboring to hone in the long-range artillery, Furman hit 24/38 (.632) from inside the arc.

This was the a coronation of the first Southern Conference championship in 42 years and the first national-tournament victory in 49. No monsoon season would dare rain on such a parade.

“This is a balanced group,” Richey said. “We’ve got a lot of good players. … A lot of players have really worked hard to get better this offseason. What we’ve got to do is continue to fight selfishness. I think that’s universal.

“You’ve got to get a team to buy in. There’s got to be a strength-in-numbers component for this group.”

Even while allowing the team to bask in its glory, Richey turned no blind eyes. He was concerned about a second-half decline in defensive intensity.

“Overall, I was proud of our effort. It was far from ideal,” he said. “Tonight was execution and an understanding of, yes, we’ve got to play hard.

“We’ve got to fly around. That’s part of our identity.”

Savion Brown and Zak Perdew led North Greenville with 18 and 14 points, respectively. Babatunde Ajike led the Crusaders in rebounds with 7. Furman amassed a 36-28 boards edge while shooting better from the beyond the three-point line (.381) than in front of it (.364).

Take a look at the statistics here.

Reckon I can find 20 people who like this independent site enough to chip in $20 to keep it going?

Support the advertisers, and help keep the site – the game stories, the blogs, the photos – alive by making a donation to DHK Sports, P.O. Box 768, Clinton, S.C. 29325 or making a small monthly donation via Patreon. The Laurens County site is here. The Furman site is here.

Another way I can derive some revenue is if you purchase my books at MonteDutton.net. They’re quite 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.

Photo galleries are posted on Instagram @furmanatt and @laurenscountysports.

The next Fiesta Grande open mic is Wednesday, Nov. 8, at 8 p.m.