By MONTE DUTTON

It was a tiring weekend. I’m glad I’m tired.

On Friday, I drove to Blacksburg for a high-school football game in which there was no doubt which team, Clinton, was going to win. It was a fair jump up the interstate for 48-7. I got back home, worked on the photos until 1 a.m. and crawled into bed.

On Saturday, it was off to Furman for more labor of love. I listened to the Gamecocks threaten Alabama on the way home and walked into the house just in time to see Carolina blow it on TV. On big plays, good or bad, Todd Ellis’s voice goes emotional, high and squeaky, at the same time. Bless his heart.

I cherish Sundays in which I never leave the house. This time, however, Alabama was playing the Paladins in an exhibition men’s basketball game at freshly glistening Timmons Arena. The Crimson Tide won big, but it didn’t count. Meanwhile, occasional checks on the laptop revealed that the 1 p.m. NFL games – Buffalo all over Carolina and, shades of Bob Griese, Miami over Atlanta – were awful and confirmed that Timmons Arena was the place to be.

The problem is not the road trips. The problem is catching up the photos and writing on the events I see with my own two eyes.

I got Clinton High done on Saturday morning and Presbyterian College and Laurens County’s other high schools Sunday morning.

I chipped away at Furman-Citadel football while semi-comatose Sunday night. I’m getting old. A couple years ago, I would have used up the wee hours to get the copy out. Now it’s I’ll get to it when I get to it. I’ve learned that getting out the photo galleries quickly helps placate my public.

I knew New Timmons was going to be magnificent. Magnificence is generally worth witnessing.

“Atmosphere, crowd, energy … it’s something I couldn’t imagine 10 years ago,” said Bob Richey. “It felt big time in the environment. It’s the vision of what we want in the program.

“It’s a special place, and it was neat to see all that coming together.”

The evolving plan is to wrap up Furman football on Monday morning before the weekly Presbyterian College media conference and get this on the Internet page sometime Monday afternoon.

The best-laid plans …

The Paladins’ blue-ribbon opponent wore crimson. It’s apparent after the Sunday jubilee that Timmons Arena is going to be hopping all season. Furman’s going to be loud and proud regardless of whether the foe is nationally ranked or, well, Columbia International.

Though Furman opened with the game’s first nine points, Alabama lived up to its No. 15 ranking with a 96-71 victory. As noted, in general, nobody cared. They cared about the Paladins’ poor shooting — .250 from long range, .351 from the floor and .400 from the line – but most that did not involve an orange ball going through an orange hoop was reasonably impressive.

Whoever heard of the point guard fouling out in 14 minutes, 33 seconds? Answer: A passel of fans mostly wearing purple who saw it happen to freshman Alex Wilkins of Mattapan, Mass. I reckon if a man watches enough ballgames, everything ends up happening.

“When you choose to start a freshman, you’re going to have to support him,” Richey said. “We’re going to have to hold [Wilkins] to a standard, and he’s at ease with the way we coach. He wants to be really good, but there are areas where’s going to continue to improve.

“He’s going to have a lot of good days ahead of him.”

Alabama head coach Nate Oats was lavish in his praise of the outmanned Paladins. He was a graceful victor.

Aden Holloway scored 18 points and Labaron Philon added 16 to lead 15^th-ranked Alabama.

The Crimson Tide used a 9-0 run midway through the first half to erase an early deficit and take a 28-20 lead before carrying a 48-36 advantage into the half. After Alabama stretched its lead to 18 points early in the second half, Furman’s Charles Johnston drilled a triple with 12:35 to play in the game to cut the margin back to 12 at 63-51 with 12:35 to play.

 Alabama answered with an 11-0 run to extend its cushion to 23 points, but Tom House and Cooper Bowser combined to ignite a 13-5 run that helped the Paladins cut the deficit to 79-64 with 6:13 left. Latrell Wrightsell’s three-point play highlighted a quick 9-0 run by the Crimson Tide that pushed their lead back above 20 points to put the game away.

Holloway connected on 6/14 shots to score his game-high 18 points while Philon, 6/10 from the field, added five assists to go with his 16 points. Wrightsell finished with 12 points and Amari Allen contributed 11 points and nine rebounds.

 The Crimson Tide shot .540 from the floor and converted on 19/26 trips to the foul line in their second preseason outing. Alabama posted a 50-38 edge on the glass and netted 50 points in the paint to go with 20 second-chance points.

 Johnston and Bowser led Furman with 14 points apiece while House scored 11 points and freshman Wilkins added 10. Johnston pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds and Bowser dished out six assists for the Paladins.

 Furman grabbed 19 offensive rebounds but managed just 10 second-chance points and connected on just 10/25 free throws. The Paladins recorded 21 assists on 26 baskets and committed just nine turnovers.

 The Paladins thrilled the sellout crowd by burying three consecutive three-pointers in the opening 75 seconds to race out to a 9-0 lead. Wilkins’ triple in the opening seconds marked the first basket in the history of the refurbished arena.

“I was really proud of what our guys can be,” Richey said. “Far from perfect. We have to clean up a lot of things defensively.

“I thought we competed. I thought we stayed in the fight.”

 The Paladins open the regular season with a 6:30 p.m. contest against High Point in The Field of 68 Tip-Off Marathon in Rock Hill next Monday. Furman’s regular season home opener is set for a 7 p.m. tip-off on Friday, Nov. 7 at Timmons Arena when it entertains defending Sun Belt Conference champion Troy.

Take a look at the stats here.

For years, my site has been supported by reader contributions. If you’re interested, you can make modest monthly payments on my Patreon page or a one-time contribution via Venmo (@DHKSports).

Or, if you’d like to make a contribution by check or cash, my mailing address, for now, is: Monte Dutton, 11185 Hwy. 56 N., Clinton, S.C.  29325.

Every little bit helps. It keeps gas in the truck for road trips.

Most of my books are available at Amazon.