By MONTE DUTTON

Furman could win the Ingles Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship. The Paladins could also exit in the quarterfinal round against Western Carolina at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday at Harrah’s Cherokee Center in Asheville, N.C.

Furman (16-15, 10-8 SoCon) have beaten every team in the SoCon except UNC Greensboro and Mercer. In a regular season full of magnificent highs and excruciating lows, Bob Richey’s Paladins have swept East Tennessee State, The Citadel and Virginia Military and split with top seed Samford, Chattanooga, Western Carolina and Wofford.

A tale of the Furman season could aptly be called The Agony and the Ecstasy, a phrase from a 1961 book and a 1965 movies about Michelangelo.

“It’s my job to get the team playing defense,” said Richey. “It’s my job to get a team that looks like [it] wants to play defense. It’s my job to get a team connected.

“We really look connected at times. … We’ve seen a side of this team that is high in effort and connectivity and high-end defense, and (when that happens), we look pretty good.”

This marks the 71^st SoCon Men’s Basketball Championship for the Paladins who sport a 57-63 all-time record in the tournament. Furman captured tournament titles in 1971, ‘73, ‘74, ‘75, ‘78, ‘80 and 2023 while reaching the league finals 12 times. Last season, the Paladins downed Mercer and topped Western Carolina in an overtime thriller before claiming their first SoCon Tournament crown since 1980 with an 88-79 victory over Chattanooga in a rematch of the 2022 finals.

The Paladins dropped three of their final four regular season games, including an 82-75 home loss to Mercer in the regular-season finale on March 2.

“Average effort gets you beat this time of year,” Richey said. “You know, I don’t think we have guys who go out there and ‘dog’ it. We wouldn’t have them in the game, but there’s a difference between average effort and competitive excellence.

“We’re not going to win that quarterfinal playing like we did on Wednesday (Mercer).”

All-SoCon selections J.P. Pegues (first team) and Marcus Foster (second) lead the Paladins, averaging 18.0 and 17.2 points per game, respectively. Pegues, the hero of last year’s 68-67 victory over Virginia in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, has scored 19 or more points in five straight games and posted a career-high 35 versus the Catamounts on Feb. 28. Foster missed nine games due to a knee injury before returning to the lineup to post five double-doubles during SoCon play.

“We’ve just got to get back to doing what we know we can do, improve our energy and connection,” said Foster.

Added Pegues, “It comes down to three days in Asheville and being the toughest, most determined team to go win this thing.”

Saturday’s battle marks the 87^th all-time meeting between Furman and Western Carolina (22-9, 11-7) with the Paladins boasting a 55-31 series lead and victories in 18 of the last 21 encounters. Furman is 5-0 versus the Catamounts in the SoCon tournament, including an 83-80 overtime win in last season’s semifinals.

Furman claimed a 65-62 triumph over the Catamounts at Timmons Arena on Jan. 20 when Pegues drained a winning three-pointer from the top of the key with 0.8 seconds left. Western Carolina earned a split of the regular season series by rallying from a nine-point second-half deficit to secure an 85-77 decision versus the Paladins in Cullowhee, N.C., on Feb. 28.

Western’s Vonterius Woolbright, a 6-6 senior guard from Albany, Ga., leads the SoCon in scoring (21.4) and rebounding (12.1).

The winner of the quarterfinal advances to Sunday’s 4 p.m. semifinal against the winner of Saturday’s game between No. 1 seed Samford and the winner of Friday’s first-round bout between Mercer and The Citadel. Monday’s championship game is set for 7 p.m.

“We’re going to fight,” Richey said. “You have to figure it out, and it all resets in Asheville.

“You’re always looking for hope. We’ve got hope. We’ve shown we can play with anybody in this league in a lot of different games, but it’s a certain intensity, a certain mindset on defense and a certain connection on offense.”

Yet nothing is certain.

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.

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