By MONTE DUTTON

What if they played a basketball game and no one came?

What if it wasn’t allowed?

The Furman men’s basketball game against Chattanooga was on Sunday at 1 p.m. The game was on national TV on ESPN2.

Furman University is currently closed to the public and driving on campus is not permissible due to conditions from the winter storm. This impacted attendance for ticket holders. Duh.

Access was limited to students and employees who were able to safely attend the game as services inside and outside the venue were limited. Ticket holders will be issued a refund or credit that will be communicated by the ticket office.

Decisions regarding university operations during inclement weather are made following careful consideration with the safety and well-being of students, employees and ticket holders.

That said, it looked on TV as if a decent number of fans managed to sneak their way in. The crowd was sparse but the arena wasn’t empty.

It’s not like it hasn’t happened before.

Furman needed most of a 19-point halftime lead to withstand Chattanooga’s reversal and win, 75-70.

The injury-riddled Paladins lost games to Wofford and Citadel after squandering considerable second-half leads. Furman (16-7, 7-3 SoCon) is gradually getting healthier – Cooper Bowser returned after missing six weeks – but the team that Bob Richey put together at the outset now has to be reassembled. Once tournament time comes, experience gained through others’ injuries is going to give the ninth-year head coach more pieces to fill out the puzzle.

“We got off to a huge lead, but I knew (UTC) would make a run,” said Richey.

Chattanooga (9-14, 3-7) and Furman were picked 1-2 in the conference’s preseason coaches’ rankings. Both have had difficulty staying healthy. The Mocs won the NIT last year.

Furman’s superb freshman guard, Alex Wilkins, took over, almost lifting the Paladins by the force of his will. That, too, has happened before.

Wilkins scored a career-high 33 points to power Furman. The native of Mattapan, Mass., went 10/16 from the field, including 6/8 behind the arc, and converted 7/8 free-throw attempts to become the first Paladin freshman to reach 30 points since Jason Stewart netted 30 at Clemson on Dec. 16, 1995. His 33 points marked the second most ever for a Furman rookie, trailing only Jonathan Moore’s 34 versus Georgia on Dec. 15, 1976.

“I thought we did what we needed to do,” Richey added. “It was an exceptional performance from Alex Wilkins. He got hot from three early, and he continues to just get better and better.”

After Chattanooga scored the game’s first basket, Furman reeled off a 29-5 run to open a 29-7 advantage on Eddrin Bronson’s pair of free throws with 8:12 left in the first half. Furman extended the margin to 36-12 before carrying a 42-23 lead into the locker room.

Teddy Washington Jr. scored 11 points in a 13-0 run by Chattanooga early in the second half to trim a 49-30 deficit down to 49-43 with 13:24 to play. Furman maintained a six to 10-point advantage until the final minute when Jordan Frison’s jumper cut the lead to 68-64, but Wilkins connected on 5/6 free throw attempts in the final 42 seconds and Bronson drained a pair of chances at the charity stripe with less than 13 seconds remaining to close out the victory.

“Clearly we’ve had some issues in some of our losses in managing runs, but the last two games we’ve done a great job of holding on. … This team is growing. This team is learning,” Richey said.

Furman shot .500 from the field and totaled 18 assists on 25 baskets en route to a regular-season, home-and-home sweep of the Mocs. The Paladins connected on 9/20 three-point tries, outscored the Mocs 30-26 in the paint, and finished 16/21 at the foul line.

Bronson posted nine points, while Cooper Bowser scored nine in his first action since suffering an injury at Manhattan on Dec. 18. Ben Vander Wal added seven points and seven rebounds.

 Brennan Watkins’ 19 points paced Chattanooga, and Washington finished with 16. The Mocs shot only .410, including .276 from three-point range, but got 35 points from their bench to keep the game close down the stretch.

Furman travels Johnson City, Tenn., to face East Tennessee State on Wednesday night at Freedom Hall before returning home to take on UNC Greensboro on ESPN2 at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 8.

Take a look at the stats here.

Alyssa Ervin scored off an inbounds pass with less than a second remaining to beat Wofford, 65-64, in Southern Conference women’s basketball action Friday evening at Richardson Indoor Stadium in Spartanburg.
Trailing 64-63, with 1.9 seconds on the clock, Furman’s Chantelle Stuartinbounded the ball from in front of the Paladin bench, and her lob pass to a cutting Ervin, who broke free off two screens on the far side of the lane, found the Paladin sophomore free under the basket for the game winner with .4 seconds remaining.
The victory was the fifth straight for Furman (14-9, 6-1 SoCon), which took solid control of second place in the league standings behind Chattanooga.
Ervin’s game deciding shot capped a fourth-quarter comeback by the Paladins, who twice trailed by seven points in the final period, including 60-53 with 3:55 remaining.
Furman erased the second seven-point deficit with an 8-0 run that featured three consecutive baskets by Clare Coyle, who set up two of her baskets off a blocked shot and rebound, and a steal.  Her layup with two minutes to go put the Paladins up, 61-60.
A basket and free throw by Gabby Mundy gave Wofford a 63-61 advantage, with 33 seconds remaining, but four seconds later Ervin responded with a layup to tie it at 63-63.
Wofford’s Mia Flor was fouled on a rebound on the Terriers’ ensuing possession, and she converted the second of two free throws with 1.9 seconds left to put Wofford ahead, 64-63.
After timeouts by both teams, the Paladins delivered the final blow with Stuart’s seventh assist of the game on the inbounds pass to Ervin for her second game-winning shot of the season.  The sophomore guard from Galax, Va., put down a baseline jump shot with 20 seconds remaining in Furman’s 72-70 win in Johnson City on Jan. 8.

Ervin finished with a game-high 21 points on 7/14 shooting from the field and 6/8 work at the free-throw line.
She was joined in double figures by Coyle, who posted 17 points and 11 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season.  Coyle tallied 11 of her points in the critical fourth quarter.
Mundy paced Wofford with 19 points, followed by by Queen Ikhiuwu with 14.
Furman outrebounded Wofford, 41-34 and outscored the Terriers 36-20 in the paint, which helped offset the Terriers’ 8/19 shooting from 3-point range.
Lauren Bailey connected on 3/5 attempts from beyond the arc for Furman.
The victory completed the first half of the SoCon season for Furman, which will play five of its final seven league games at home.  The Paladins’ 6-1 start in league play is the program’s best since the 2004-05 campaign.

Take a look at the stats here.

Indoor track and field recorded seven top-10 finishes Saturday in the final day of the Bob Pollock Invitational at the Clemson Indoor Track Complex.

Senior Sierra Bower placed third with a time of 9:24.65 in the women’s 3,000 meters to lead all Paladins on the day.  Freshman Tessa Walter was fifth in the event at 9:26.98, while senior Carly Wilkes turned in a time of 9:36.66 to take 12th place.  

A native of Oviedo, Fla., Seymour was the top collegiate finisher in the mile after crossing the line with a personal best of 3:59.55.  He placed third overall to lead five Paladins in the race, including graduate student Albert Velikonja, who finished third with a personal-best time of 4:00.04.  Also on the women’s side, sophomore Claire Cook posted a personal-best time of 2:08.55 to finish 11th in the 800m, while freshman Annie Miller placed 12th at 2:08.57.  

For the men, junior Chris Knight recorded a 3,000m time of 8:08.51, finishing sixth, followed by sophomore Matteo Tonnos in seventh place at 8:10.63.  Junior Owen Shifflett placed ninth with a time of 8:11.52 in the event.  In the 800m, freshman Jack Wallace turned in a personal-best time of 1:52.66 for t10th place. 

Furman competes at the David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston, Mass., Feb. 13-14 and at the Asics Sound Invite in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Feb. 14.

Women’s golf opens the spring season at the Purdue Puerto Rico Classic, which will be held Sunday through Tuesday at the par 72, 6,305 yard Grand Reserve Golf Club in Rio Grande, P. R.

The Paladins’ lineup includes junior Audrey Ryu, sophomore Jenna Madden, freshmen Ava Hanneman and Olivia Hasselbach and sophomore Andrea Marin Raga.

Furman is joined in the 18-team field by host Purdue, fourth-ranked Arkansas, Georgia Southern, Iowa, Iowa State, Kansas State, LSU, Minnesota, Michigan State, Michigan, 14th-ranked North Carolina, North Florida, North Texas, 20th-ranked Northwestern, No. 15 Ole Miss, UNC Wilmington and 10th-ranked Vanderbilt.

Due to predicted inclement weather on Monday, the tournament will begin at 6:30 a.m. EST Sunday, with teams attempting to complete 36 holes on day one.  The final round will be played on Monday beginning at 7:30 a.m., weather permitting, with the tournament concluding on Tuesday if needed, and if the course is playable.  

Men’s tennis secured its first win of the season Friday with a 7-0 sweep of the North Greenville Trailblazers in non-conference action at Mickel Tennis Center.
Furman improves to 1-3 on the season while North Greenville drops to 1-2 overall.The Paladins clinched the doubles point with victories at No. 2 and No. 3 to take the early 1-0 lead over the Trailblazers. Playing at No. 3, Alex Han and Finn Pollard claimed a 6-0 triumph versus Pavle Markus and David Roseler. Evan Duggal and Landon Ecarma secured the point for Furman at No. 2 when they rallied back for a 6-3 triumph over Will Hernandez and Dean Kingsley. Nicolas Dispas and Nico Snyder wrapped up doubles at No. 1 with a 6-3 win against Juan Jose Arbelaez and Louie Fletcher.
The Paladins swept all six singles matches. Snyder got Furman on the board first at No. 1 with a 6-1, 6-0 win versus Fletcher, and Duggal added a 6-2, 6-3 victory at No. 3 against Roseler. Theophile Joly contributed a 6-3, 6-3 win over Markus playing at No. 2. In the No. 4 match, Walker Allen defeated Hernandez in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3. Dispas and Barnabas Sift concluded singles with straight-set victories at No. 5 and No. 6. Dispas earned a 6-1, 6-1 win versus Arbelaez while Sift topped Kingsley, 6-3, 6-2.

Furman opens a 10-match road trip next Thursday, Feb. 5, traveling to Chapel Hill, N.C., for a 3 p.m. match versus North Carolina.

Women’s tennis fell to Charlotte, 5-2, Friday morning at Life Time in Charlotte, N.C.

The Paladins scored at flights four and five singles, with both matches reaching a 10-point tiebreaker.  Freshman Sasha Dimitrov came from behind to beat Lucia Aranda, 4-6, 7-6(4), 1-0(10) at flight four, and freshman Bianca Ceroni held off Prisca Abbas, 7-6(6), 3-6, 1-0(7) at number five. 

In doubles, the teams split matches at flights two and three to force a decisive contest in the top seed, with the match going to a tiebreaker after the teams settled at 6-all.  The 49ers’ Sara Suchankova and Ni Xi held off freshmen Sasha Dimitrov and Lillie Murphy, 7-6(1), to score the opening point.  Furman picked up the victory at flight two, where Ceroni teamed with freshman Elle Warren to top Aranda and Yelyzave Chainykova, 6-3.

Charlotte (5-2) won the top three singles match and flight six singles in straight sets.

Furman (3-2) travels to Western Carolina Wednesday.  First serve is set for 1 p.m. in Cullowhee, N.C., weather permitting.

I’ll be out and about again soon. I’m living in a small camper-trailer, and it seems like I’m a character in one of those old movies about city folks moving to the country.

I was planning to cover the Chattanooga-Furman men’s basketball game on Sunday, but closing campus and limiting media access.

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