Oh, what a night it must have been at Templeton Center.

It may have been the best night of the season for Presbyterian men’s basketball, at the very least since the season opener at Vanderbilt, and this was in the Big South. The SEC is great, but Wednesday was where the Blue Hose reside.

I wasn’t there. I was monitoring games at home because I’ve still got shingles, not so bad anymore, and as many times as I’ve been under the weather since the fall, about half of it could have been avoided if I’d not tried to go to games when I should’ve been on my back watching Andy Griffith on MeTV.

This morning I rolled over at 7:30, and a beep on my phone revealed that an old chum had died. I’m staring in sorrow right now at a dust-covered bobblehead doll of Mojo Nixon.

As Sydney Greenstreet might have said, You, sir, are certainly a character.

Furman’s basketball team got humiliated in Macon, Ga., and if I’d realized Mojo was dead, I’d have known the reason why.

PC women’s basketball got hammered on the road, but football announced a big recruiting class, and Quinton Ferrell’s team came through in the clutch.

I was up till about 2 a.m. trying to get this story done, but by the time I watched WYFF’s late-night replay of the news, I couldn’t put two words together without misspelling one.

Now I’m finally up, wandering what in the name of Al DeRogatis happened to the Paladins. And what in the name of Dusty Lenscap I wrote about it.

Someone out there is muttering right now, How come the PC upset’s not on the website yet?

Don’t they realize that I would’ve preferred to write a story on Wall Street’s effect on the Nevada Primary to the Paladins looking like they were making their charges in tandem with Don Quixote and Sancho Panza?

For at least a year, about two inches of bourbon has been in the bottom of a quart bottle in the kitchen cabinet.

Today could be the day. Were I Mojo, it’d already be in this black mug with the coffee.

Maybe, if my social-security check arrives, I’ll go to Fiesta Grande and have a margarita and whatever Javy wants to whip up in the kitchen.

I gotta do something for Mojo.

Presbyterian won its second Big South game in a row behind Kaleb Scott’s 17 points in a 77-75 victory over Gardner Webb that snuffed out the Runnin’ Bulldogs’ six-game winning streak.

PC (11-14, 3-7 BSC) stormed back late in the first half, scoring 10 straight points in the final 1:34 to lead, 41-38, at the break. From there on, it was tight and the Blue Hose nailed it down.

“It was a game where we had to battle the entire way,” said head coach Quinton Ferrell on YouTube. “We finally were able to take the lead toward the end and hang on.

“We talk about how every play counts and it’s not just the end of the game.”

Nobody knows the trouble Ferrell has seen.

Four Blue Hose – Scott, Kobe Stewart with 14, Samage Teel with 12 and Crosby James with 10 – showed up in double figures.

Scott snagged six rebounds, three less than Stewart. Teel distributed four assists.

Everyone was all in.

“I feel like were clicking and playing team basketball,” said Scott, a junior from Raleigh, N.C., by way of Georgia State.

The Blue Hose hit 24/30 free throws and blocked eight shots. Scott had three of them and Barnett had two.

Gardner-Webb (11-13, 6-3) got 19 points from D.Q. Nicholas, 16 from Quest Aldridge and 14 from Caleb Robinson. Jack Nicholson and Jonny Quest didn’t score.

The familiar foes looked that way on-court as GWU shot .482 from the field and .429 from beyond the arc, while PC shot .444 overall but only .313 from deep. The Blue Hose hit only 1/6 triples in the latter half. Crucially, however, PC hit 24/30 free throws while the Bulldogs were converting 15/27 and only 10/20 in the second half. The lead changed hands only three times but was tied on six occasions.

Presbyterian seldom surrendered the lead, but it was rarely comfortable.

The Battlin’ Blue remains at home against Radford at Templeton Center this Saturday, at 4:30 p.m.

It’s a rarity as both women and men are at Templeton. The women open the doubleheader at 2.

Take a look at the stats here.      

Steve Englehart released the names of 33 more newcomers headed to Presbyterian College for football.

The Blue Hose signed to letters of intent 12 Floridians, 10 South Carolinians, seven Georgians and two North Carolinians and Tennesseans. Seventeen are ticketed for offense, 15 for offense and one for special teams.

“I am extremely proud of our staff, players, and everyone on campus for making this great class a reality,” stated Englehart. “As a whole, everyone pitched in and did an outstanding job finding a great group of student-athletes who fit our culture.

“Today, we were able to add size, length and depth in virtually every position. Geographically, we focused on five different states and were able to bring a wealth of talent from our home area of South Carolina. Being able to add over 30 players from this region is no small feat, and I’m very pleased with the outcome of our National Signing Day class.”

Englehart enters his third season as PC head coach.

The newcomers are:

Grant Beaton, TE, Florence (West Florence)

Tucker Beaton, WR, Leesville (Batesburg-Leesville)

Mike Brennan, OL, Weston, Fla. (Chaminade-Madonna Prep)

Stephen Brooks, OL, Waynesville, N.C. (Tuscola)

Ellington Brooks-Lytle, OL, Decatur, Ga.

Courtlyn Brunson, WR, Hartsville (Trinity Collegiate)

Matthew Covington, WR, Greenville (Christ Church) 

Dallas Coy, DL, Orlando, Fla. (Jones)

Ashton Drayton, LB, Charleston (Goose Creek)

Keenan Dubose, Florence (Darlington) 

Kaleb Ferschke, OL, Stuart, Fla. (Martin County)

Johnny Fudge III, Orlando, Fla. (Dr. Phillips)

Debo Hall, DB, York

Paul Harrington, OL, Roswell, Ga. (Blessed Trinity)

Tariq Hollinger, DB, Orlando, Fla. (Jones)

Max Holtzclaw, QB, Brentwood, Tenn. (Ensworth)

Charlie Hubbard, OL, Marietta, Ga. (Pope)

Thatcher Hutton, K/P, Bristol, Tenn. (Tennessee)

Ryan Largin, DB, Murrells Inlet (Saint James)

Caleb Makovsky, DB, Coral Springs, Fla. (North Broward)

Colin Maxwell, DB, Jacksonville, Fla. (Wolfson)

Walter McGill, DL, Claremont, N.C. (Bunker Hill)

Damion Moate Jr., RB, Tifton, Ga. (Tift County)

J.J. Moore, DE, Orange Park, Fla. (Ridgeview)

Will Patton, WR, Easley

Slayton Stokes, OL, Darlington (Hartsville)

Bryce Stringer, DL, Miramar, Fla. (Chaminade-Madonna Prep)

Ryder Varis, WR, Merritt Island, Fla.

Chris Vickerson, TE, Columbus, Ga. (Brookstone)

Charles Walden, LB, Lithia Springs, Ga.

Jason Wiggins, DB, Clermont, Fla. (Lake Minneola)

E.J. Youman Jr., DB, Miami, Fla. (Southridge)

Chapel Young, DB, Alpharetta, Ga.

The news from Boiling Springs, N.C., was not good as Gardner-Webb (4-18, 3-6) soundly defeated the Blue Hose, 86-57.

Presbyterian (12-13, 3-7) lost touch with the Bulldogs in the third quarter after trailing by only eight points at halftime.

The Bulldogs scored 11 of 13 points to open the second half and hiked the edge to 21 points, 63-42, by the time the fourth period began.

Going. Going. Gone.

Micahla Funderburk hit every shot en route to 21 points. They were all three at a time.

Grace Pack scored 18 points, Anaya Harris each scored 16 points, and Ashley Hawkins added 15. Combined, they were 18/30 from the field but a mere 5/9 from out beyond the arc.

The Bulldogs (4-18, 3-6) shot .589 from the field, .619 from deep and .875 at the line.

Bryanna Brady and Tilda Sjokvist each scored 11 for the Blue Hose. PC shot .469, .188 and .667.

The Blue Hose are back in Templeton Center for Letter Winners Day with their game against Radford on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Take a look at the stats here.

As a result of his play in Presbyterian’s three wins last week, junior Pedro Cardoso is Big South Men’s Tennis Player of the Week.

Cardoso earned his first such plaudit is the 14^th PC player to win the award at least once.

The Rio de Janeiro native recorded three singles wins and three doubles wins with three different partners in helping the Blue Hose post a perfect 3-0 record.

The Blue Hose’ Claudia Sanchez is Big South Women’s Tennis Player of the Week, also for the first time.

The Blue Hose started off the week by sweeping the Lander Bearcats in their home opener on Monday before traveling to away games later in the week. Presbyterian lost to Coastal Carolina, 5-2 on Friday and then to UNCW, 6-1, the following day.
 In singles, Sanchez went 3-0. She beat Lander’s Hannah Panchal 6-1, 6-2 in the number three spot, Coastal Carolina’s Jesse Hollins 7-5, 2-6, 6-2 in the number three spot, and UNCW’s Stela Joksimovic 7-5, 6-2 in the number two spot.

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