Inexplicably, the Paladins have lost their way.

Jalyn McCreary scored 28 points and Mercer defeated Furman, 78-69, dropping the Paladins to their third loss in the last four games on Wednesday night, ending an 18-game mastery of the Bears and seven in a row at University Center in Macon, Ga.

If that ain’t a wipeout, I don’t know what is.

The Paladins went without a field goal in the final 4 minutes, 18 seconds.

Head coach Bob Richey minced no words in his unsparing assessment.

“I’m just not doing a good job with this group right now,” he said to radio announcers Dan Scott and Tom Van Hoy afterward. “I’ve got to figure it out. … We talk about it for two days, then, on the day, we’re not playing well, and that’s on me. Unfortunately, that was a very bad performance. It was a very uninspiring effort, a very poor defensive and rebounding effort, and we’ve got to get it fixed.

“We’ve got to get this thing figured out, but tonight is not acceptable. … It was pathetic.”

It didn’t take long for Marcus Foster to score his 1,000^th point. Okay, it took five years at Furman, but he crossed that bar with 14:24 remaining in the first half. At the time of his record-breaking three-point play, the Paladins led, 14-7. That didn’t last long. Furman canned only one of its first seven three-point tries.

Foster, the muscular fifth-year guard from Atlanta, finished with 19 points and nine rebounds. Alex Williams went for 15 points while Tyrese Hughey scored 10.

Then there was Mercer star McCreary, who scored 14 points in the first eight minutes. He hit 13/21 shots and grabbed eight rebounds. Caleb Hunter added 14 points on 5/8 shooting and the Bears finished at .516 from the field.

A 35-32 rebounding edge and nine offensive boards helped Mercer to an 11-2 advantage in second-chance points.

J.P. Pegues had an odd and unproductive stats line: 4 points, 4 rebounds, 4 fouls, 4 turnovers … and 5 assists. When he received his fourth foul, 8:06 remained, and it may have been the crucial moment of the game. Pegues soldiered on for most of the remainder, but he had a restrictor plate on his engine.

Furman (12-12, 6-5 SoCon) led, 40-34, at halftime. The Paladins maintained the lead in spite of canning just 3/12 triples. Inside the line, they were 10/14. Parsed together, Furman shot .500 in the opening 20 minutes. One oddity was the subtraction of a Mercer basket in which Hughey had originally been called for goaltending.

The Paladins committed only three fouls in the first half. The Bears had eight.

Furman led by as many as nine points but could not push the advantage. A triple by Thomas with 12:34 remaining gave the Bears their first lead since 2-0. A 13-1 Mercer rally put them up by three, but Foster’s drive to the hoop at 11:56 put the Paladins back on top, 55-54.

At the top of the stretch, the Paladins had seven fouls and Pegues had four of them. That was about as dire as conditions could get as the Paladins’ floor leader went to the bench, albeit only briefly, when Thomas’s layup put Mercer (11-3, 4-7) up, 60-55, with 9:25 remaining. Furman went  2/13 from the floor during the Bears’ 19-5 run.

Hughey was assessed his fourth foul at 8:06. The team had nine. Only Alex Williams had a foul otherwise, while Pegues and Hughey each had four.

The Paladins entered the last 57 seconds trailing by six.

Mercer outscored Furman by 15 points in the second half. The Bears shot .567 from the floor in the second half and held Furman to just .346 after the break.

Foster became the 51^st player in school history to surpass 1,000 career points.

Overall, Furman shot just .423 from the floor, connect on just 6/22 from behind the arc. The Paladins kept the game close by connecting on 19/23 free throws.

 ETSU hosts Furman on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Freedom Hall in Johnson City, Tenn. The game will air live on CBS Sports Network. The Paladins return home versus VMI on Wednesday, Feb. 14, at 7 p.m.

Take a look at the stats here.

No surprises here. Anna Morgan is both Southern Conference Student-Athlete and Women’s Golfer of the Week.

Morgan recorded rounds of 68-71-67 at the Lady Puerto Rico Classic, hosted by Purdue at the Grand Reserve Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.  Her cumulative score of 206 was 10-under par, earning her the seventh win of her Furman career and extending her school record for individual wins.

A senior from Spartanburg, Morgan is pursuing a degree in politics and international affairs and holds a 3.59 GPA.

The Paladins will compete on Feb. 26-27 at the Icon Invitational in Humble, Texas.

A shock here, though. Football player Bryce Stanfield suffered a medical emergency while attending an early Wednesday morning workout in Paladin Stadium and is now hospitalized, head coach Clay Hendrix announced.

“The thoughts and prayers of Furman’s entire football program and university community are with Bryce and his family at this time,” Hendrix said.

Stanfield, a junior defensive tackle, three-year letterman and health sciences major from Acworth, Ga., saw action in all 13 games last fall, totaling 13 tackles, including four tackles for-loss and 2.5 sacks, in the Paladins’ 10-3, Southern Conference championship campaign.

Women’s basketball team opens a three-game home stand on Thursday when it plays host to UNC Greensboro in a 7 p.m. contest at Timmons Arena.

The UNCG game, which will be streamed via ESPN+, will be followed by a Saturday, 2 p.m. clash versus Western Carolina. The Paladins wrap up the three-game stretch at Timmons Arena next Thursday against Wofford.

Furman (12-11, 2-5 SoCon), which has dropped five of its last six contests, including road decisions to East Tennessee State and Chattanooga last week, looks to a friendlier schedule the rest of the way will help turn things around.  After playing five road games in its first trip through the league, the Paladins will tip it off five times in Timmons Arena in its final seven outings.

UNCG (14-8, 3-4 SoCon) took the measure of Furman, 70-55, in the season’s first meeting in Greensboro on Jan. 13, recording its third straight win over the Paladins, who got 19 points from junior forward Kate Johnson.

The challenge for Furman this time is Johnson isn’t available for Thursday’s rematch after sustaining a knee injury last Saturday at Chattanooga.

Thanks so much for the contributions. I’m aware that some 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.

In the off chance anyone would like to contribute, a convenient means is sending a contribution to DHK Sports on Venmo. If you choose, make a monthly donation via Patreon. The Laurens County site is here. The Furman site is here.

Support the advertisers. They are all fine people.

In the off chance anyone would like to read my novels, they’re all available on Amazon and many prominent bookseller sites.

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