By MONTE DUTTON

For as long as I can remember, fans of private schools have referred, mostly tongue in cheek, as their schools as “the Harvard of the South.”

Furman gets to play Harvard “in the South” when the Paladins host the Crimson at Timmons Arena on Saturday at 2 p.m. Last year Furman went to the North to defeat Harvard, 77-63, in Cambridge, Mass.

Harvard traces its roots to 1636. It is the oldest college in the United States. It is so old that it predates the United States by 140 years. The College of William & Mary dates back to 1693.

Furman is old (1826). Harvard is ancient.

Many factors will be in play. None of them is age.

Saturday’s game will be streamed live on ESPN+. Fans can also listen to Dan Scott and Tom Van Hoy call the action of both games 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.

The Paladins, 5-4 on the season, have won four of their last five games. Furman rallied from an 18-point deficit to down Elon, 97-88, on Wednesday for its first true road victory of the year. Asa Thomas hit four three-pointers in the final seven minutes of the first half to key a 17-1 run that helped Furman even the score at 44-44 going into the locker room. A 16-2 run midway through the second half gave the Paladins a 69-56 advantage. Furman converting 18 of its last 19 free-throw attempts was inestimably significant.

Thomas led the Paladins with 21 points. Cooper Bowser added 19 points and eight rebounds. Ben Vander Wal contributed 13 points and eight boards while Charles Johnston and Tom House added 12 points apiece. Johnston pulled down 11 rebounds to record his sixth “double double” of the season.

This is the third meeting between Furman and Harvard with the Paladins holding a 2-0 series lead. Furman, which claimed an 87-69 victory in the first meeting between the schools in 1960, won last season behind PJay Smith Jr., who scored 25 points as the Paladins erased a halftime deficit by outscoring Harvard 46-31 in the second half.

Harvard, coached by onetime Duke standout Tommy Amaker,  arrives in Greenville 5-5 following a 78-71 loss at UMass on Wednesday night. The loss marked Harvard’s fourth defeat in its last five games. Sophomore Robert Hinton leads the Crimson, averaging 16.0 points per game.

Riding a modest two-game win streak, Furman’s women’s basketball team hits the road for a Sunday 2 p.m. showdown versus Georgia Southern at Jack and Ruth Ann Convocation Center in Statesboro.
The game will be streamed via ESPN+.
Georgia Southern and Furman, former Southern Conference rivals, last squared off during the 2020-21 season in Statesboro, in a contest the Paladins won, 73-58.  Although the Eagles hold a slight 28-27 edge in the all-time series, Furman has won the last 10 clashes, including five straight in Statesboro.

The Eagles (5-3), now a member of the Sun Belt Conference, enter Sunday’s contest riding a four-game winning streak, including a 70-44 triumph over North Florida on Thursday. Two other wins of note in Georgia Southern’s streak include decisions over SoCon members Mercer (93-72) and Wofford (58-52).
Furman (4-5) comes off home wins over UNC Asheville (74-67) and Wednesday’s 74-56 triumph over Presbyterian.
Sophomore forward Clare Coyle, a Jacksonville, Fla., native, led the way against PC with 18 points and 10 rebounds, her second double double of the season. The preseason All-SoCon performer tops the Paladins in scoring (12.4 average) and rebounding (7.3).

Newcomer Alyssa Ervin, a sophomore guard transfer from Elon, is averaging 11.2 points per game off the bench. She scored 15 points, including 12 in the second half, versus PC.

Raina McGowens, also a soph (11.2), amassed 16 points, six rebounds, and five assists against the Blue Hose.

Furman has struggled with turnovers in the early going but sliced the total to 18 in each of the last two outings while forcing UNC Asheville and Presbyterian into a combined 50 miscues.
The Paladins defeated

Su Belt Conference member Georgia State, 90-89, in overtime in Greenville on Nov. 13.

I miss Orangeburg in December.

The football state championships went off without the presence of the Clinton Red Devils, who won the Class 2A title at South Carolina State 51 weeks earlier on a Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024.

A dominant Red Devil squad lived up to its reputation with a 35-6 victory over Barnwell.

This year Clinton advanced to the third round before being ambushed, 42-7, by Fairfield Central.

I’m glad that the ultimate games this year were contested on Friday and Saturday, though proud that Clinton and Barnwell drew more fans than any other state final.

That might be the most lingering memory. I knew the Red Devils would bring a crowd, but I doubted it would be more than 3,000 on a Thursday afternoon.

Did you happen to watch the South Carolina-Virginia Tech basketball game earlier this week?

The Gamecocks lost in overtime, but the key was a major mistake by Carolina’s Meechie Johnson at the end of regulation. Johnson dribbled around and let the clock run out. He made a pass, way too late, and the shot clock expired before the Gamecocks could get a shot off.

I saw the same thing happen in a high-school junior varsity game 51 years earlier.

Inexplicably, I like the Gamecocks in spite of Lamont Paris’s last win at Chattanooga. I found Paris thoughtful and eloquent.

I expect Paris is going to have a hard time keeping his job in Columbia. Quite possibly, he may be too thoughtful and eloquent. I’m rooting for him, though. It’s not his fault Chattanooga beat Furman.

David Jean-Baptiste hit a miracle shot at the overtime buzzer to beat Furman, 64-63. Seldom has death been so sudden. I barely made it to the postgame media conference. I was briefly catatonic.

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