This is the time of basketball season Furman is supposed to be getting better.

It is not.

Ravaged by injuries, the Paladins are healthy again. Their freshman point guard, Alex Wilkins, is a splendid talent who has had three off games in a row.

There’s no need to single out Wilkins. His slump is merely the most noticeable. Wilkins passed out five assists and nabbed a steal but scored only seven points, 11 below his average, and hit just 1/7 field-goal attempts.

Baraka Okojie scored 25 points while Brady Shoulders and Armani Mighty combined for 21 points and 21 rebounds to lead Mercer to a 69-64 victory over Furman in a battle for third place in the Southern Conference standings Wednesday night at Hawkins Arena in Macon, Ga.

With its 13^th straight home win, Mercer improved to 12-0 at home and improved its record to 16-10 overall and 8-5 in the SoCon. Furman suffered its third straight loss to fall to 16-10 and 7-6.

After leading most of the night, Furman was held to just one field goal over a stretch of almost eight minutes midway through the second half as Mercer fashioned a 14-6 run to grab the lead. A three-pointer by Cole Bowser and halfcourt alley-oop toss from Wilkins to Cooper Bowser put the Paladins back in front 56-55 with five minutes to go, but the Bears responded with a 7-0 run to take control.

Furman held Mercer without a field goal over the final 2:57 and rallied to trim the deficit to 65-64 on Charles Johnston’s putback with 22.1 seconds remaining. Okojie, who went 12/14 at the foul line, answered for Mercer by hitting a pair of free throws and Shoulders followed a missed three by Furman with two more conversions at the foul line with 12 seconds to go to secure the win for the Bears.

Mercer shot just .359 from the field and was outscored by 15 points from three-point range but held an 18-8 scoring edge at the foul line and 30-26 margin in the paint. The Bears finished with a 44-37 rebounding advantage, including a 24-15 margin in the second half.

In addition to Okojie’s game-high 25 points, Shoulders totaled 14 and Zaire Williams added 13. Mighty pulled down a game-best 14 rebounds.

Furman shot .377 but went just 10/33 from behind the arc and 8/13 at the foul line. Asa Thomas scored a team-high 14 points, while Johnston and Cooper Bowser added 11 apiece. Tom House scored 10 points.

The Paladins continue their road trip on Saturday afternoon when they visit the VMI Keydets in Lexington, Va. Tip-off at Cameron Hall is set for 1 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+.

Take a look at the stats here.

Furman’s Feb. 25 home finale versus The Citadel has been selected at the Southern Conference’s Nexstar Wildcard Game and will now tip-off at 6 p.m. at Timmons Arena.

The SoCon’s most-played rivalry will now be shown on Nexstar Media affiliates throughout the region in addition to being streamed live on ESPN+. 

No. 18 Clemson belted three home runs en route to a 9-1 softball victory over Furman on Wednesday evening at McWhorter Stadium.

The Tigers drew eight walks and got blasts from Jamison Brockenbrough, Kiley Channell and Maria Collins to claim the five-inning victory and improve to 4-2.

Brockenbrough led off the bottom of the first inning with a solo homer to right-center and Channell reached base ahead of Collins’ two-run clout to left-center field. Sophomore Katie Peeler got Furman on the board in the top of the second with a long solo blast, her second of the season, to center field to cut the Clemson lead to 3-1. The Tigers answered in the bottom of the inning by scoring three more runs with the help of five bases on balls, including three walks with the bases loaded.

Julia Knowler’s RBI single highlighted a two-run frame for Clemson in the bottom of the third inning and Channell triggered the mercy rule with a solo blast in the bottom of the fifth to close out the game.

Channell and Collins each registered a homer and two walks to reach base three times while Sarah Breaux went 2/2 with a pair of doubles. Three Tiger pitchers combined on the one-hit performance with reliever Abby Dunning (3-1) retiring all five batters she faced to earn the win.

Freshman Kristyn Embler (0-3) took the loss after giving up eight runs on four hits and six walks in two-plus innings in the circle. Fellow freshman Jamison Noonan limited Clemson to one run on three hits over 2-1/3 innings of relief.

Furman’s Purple & White Classic, scheduled for this weekend at Pepsi Stadium, will now start on Thursday due to the chance of inclement weather on the weekend. The Paladins open the tournament with a 4 p.m. doubleheader versus Bowling Green on Thursday. Admission is free to all games at Pepsi Stadium.

Alexa Spallina had a game-high 10 points to lead the eighth-ranked Clemson Tigers to an 18-1 victory over the Furman women’s lacrosse team in the Paladins’ season opener, Tuesday evening at Clemson Lacrosse Complex.

Clemson improves to 2-0 while Furman drops to 0-1 overall.
Spallina was one of seven Tigers that netted a goal in the contest, finishing with six goals and four assists. Regan Byrne contributed four goals and Emma Penczek three. Marleigh O’Day dished out three assists. Goalies Tessa DeLuca, Gigi Adamson, and Ava DeLyra combined for five saves.

Preseason All-Big South pick Lily Toole scored once for the Paladins.
Clemson opened the contest with three goals over the first five minutes before Toole got Furman on the board in the first quarter. Her first goal of the season, and 65^th of her career, cut the Paladins’ deficit down to 3-1 at the 6:45 mark. Furman’s defense held the Tigers without a goal over the final 10 minutes of the opening quarter after forcing five turnovers.
Clemson scored the last 15 goals.
Furman hosts its first home contest of the season next Friday, February 20, welcoming Austin Peay to Paladin Stadium for a 6 p.m. contest.

Many thanks to the advertisers who keep wellpilgrim.com going. If you’d like to join that number, contact me. Supplies are limited. The site is also 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 (hutdut@outlook.com).

It means a lot to me that you enjoy what I write.

Most of my books are available at Amazon.