By MONTE DUTTON

Man, the Clemson-Carolina game, won by the Gamecocks in overtime, was the first of many I expect see this season.n

One never knows, but neither of the ones today is likely to be one. Presbyterian’s playing Virginia University of Lynchburg this afternoon in Clinton. Three years ago, PC won its only football game against the Dragons.

The Paladins are forging on and trying to get the injured healthy for the Southern Conference schedule, but they should still be up to the demands of Wednesday night’s game.

Furman is playing a men’s basketball home game against Montreat on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Get this. It’s being played at Bob Jones University. When I was at Furman, BJU was like North Korea. It didn’t have sports teams. The campus was surrounded by steel fences that were not unlike the ones Trump wants to put up on the border. I tried and failed to visit once. The guards scoffed at me. I couldn’t make a hostage swap.
Today BJU has sports teams, though the Paladins aren’t playing one of them. During the season of the great Timmons Arena renovation, Furman couldn’t schedule all its games at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. By all accounts, Davis Field House is a well-appointed, tidy venue. BJU isn’t the malign presence it once was.

Furman comes into its final non-conference home game at 10-1 following a 68-64 victoryover in-state foe South Carolina State last Saturday at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Sophomore Cooper Bowser led the Paladins with 16 points and matched a career-high with four blocked shots while Nick Anderson and Tom House combined to score 13 of Furman’s final 15 points to erase a 58-53 deficit in the final four minutes.
A win on Wednesday night would give Furman its fourth 11-1 start in program history. The Paladins’ only 12-0 start came in 2018-19 when the Paladins reeled off wins over defending national champion Villanova and NCAA Final Four participant Loyola Chicago to climb as high as No. 23 in the Associated Press Top 25.

Furman claimed a 103-47 victory in its only previous meeting versus the Cavaliers on Dec. 14, 2017, at Timmons Arena. Montreat, a member of NAIA and the Appalachian Athletic Conference, is 9-4 overall and 3-3 in league play after an 82-65 victory at No. 23 University of Rio Grande on Friday in Rio Grande, Ohio.
The game can be heard on The Fan Upstate at 97.7 FM and 1330 AM in Greenville, 97.1 FM and 1490 AM in Spartanburg, and via the Audacy app. Wednesday’s game will not be streamed.
The Paladins, ranked No. 8 in this week’s College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 Poll, close out the non-conference schedule at Harvard on Saturday. Tip-off at Lavietes Pavilion in Cambridge, Mass., is at 3 p.m.

Winners of five straight games, Furman’s women’s basketball takes its run of success to the West Coast for a pair of games against Boise State and Washington in the Husky Classic, scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday at Alaska Air Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion on the campus of the University of Washington in Seattle.
Furman (9-3) faces Boise State (9-2) in a Wednesday, 3 p.m. EST contest and battles host Washington (7-4) on Thursday at 5 p.m. EST.

Both games will be video streamed via the subscription-based B1G+ Network and audio streamed over the web through the
over UNC Varsity Network. University of Washington-driven StatBroadcast live stats will also be provided.

Furman Is at full strength following the return of senior All-Southern Conference forward Jada Session, who, in her second game back following a preseason injury, scored 11 points and grabbed five rebounds off the bench in the Paladins’ last outing, a 68-50 win road win over UNC Asheville on Dec. 11.
Session’s return adds quality depth to a solid frontcourt led by senior All-SoCon forward Kate Johnson (13.2 ppg, 8.3 rpg), junior Sydney Ryan (11.9, 6.4), and freshman Clare Coyle (5.4, 7.3).

Johnson has a .594 field goal percentage, which ranks 20th nationally, and the Paladins boast a 10.8 rebounding margin, which ranks 21st nationally.
Niveya Henley is coming off a team leading 19-point, nine-rebound outing in the win over UNC Asheville. She played her sophomore season of prep ball at Mount Spokane (Wash.) High School, where she helped lead her squad to a state championship.
Part of the reason for Furman’s improvement this year has been stronger play at point guard, where Vanderbilt graduate transfer Bella LaChance (3.3 ppg, 38 ast.) has started all 12 games.

Wednesday’s contest against Boise State marks the Paladins’ first clash with the Broncos. Furman fell to Washington, 101-69, during the 2014-15 season in the only meeting with the Huskies.
Furman volleyball players Ava Augustson, Izzy Castelloe, Chandler Parker and Kennedy Seekford were selected to the College Sports Communicators Academic All-District Team.
Athletes on the all-district teams were required to maintain at least a 3.50 GPA, play in 90 percent of their team’s games or start at least 66 percebt of the contests.
Furman finished the season 13-14 overall and 7-8 in the SoCon.

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