By MONTE DUTTON

It was the best of days. It was the worst of nights.

Hallelujah for the personal.

I got good news at a medical appointment. I celebrated with an afternoon breakfast, my favorite of country ham, eggs over-medium and grits, at Waffle House, where Cassandra always has my usual place set with a cup of coffee waiting when I walk in the door. I’ve had my busiest week in a while, and I thrive under such circumstances. A game a night is all right for me.

All was leading up to a planned crescendo at Timmons Arena.

It didn’t happen. There is no dishonor in falling to East Tennessee State, 78-69. The Bucs are the best in the SoCon, to date.

Whether by diploma, regard for head coach Bob Richey, or feelings of my home, my native land, I almost always expect Furman to win. On the other hand, I’ve been running this sportswriting caper for most of 40 years, and these things happen.

In spite of the stellar work of slippery freshman point guard Alex Wilkins, ETSU (20-8, 12-3 SoCon) pulled away in the second half. Wilkins scored 21 points and added three rebounds and three assists. He came out of a bit of a scoring slump.

An ETSU fan across the aisle asked where Wilkins was from. I yelled “Massachusetts.” Eight Buccaneer fans reacted as if I had said their salsa was from New York City.

Wilkins hit 6/13 shots. One was a triple. He popped all eight of his free throws. By the Paladin standards of Wednesday evening, he was sizzling. As a team, Furman (17-11, 8-7) hit .350 (21/60) from the field and .182 (6/33) from beyond the three-point line.

“I hurt for our guys. They’re competing. They care. … It’s a hard game when you just can’t get the ball to go in,” said Richey. “We did such a much better job taking care of the ball. We only had nine turnovers. That’s got to be a top five for this team [and] against a very good defense.

“It’s why the game is called basketball. You’ve got to put the ball in the basket.”

No one could hit water from a boat: Ben Vander Wal 0/2, Cole Bowser 0/2, Charles Johnston 0/3, Eddrin Bronson 0/3, Wilkins 1/4, Tom House 2/7 and Asa Thomas 3/12.

If basketball didn’t require making shots, the Paladins would have won in a romp. Furman played hard, matched up on the boards, dove for loose balls and played with reckless abandon, not elegance. Vander Wal (11) and Johnston (10) grabbed double-figure rebounds. Johnston and Thomas each scored 13 points.

“We’ve got to learn from it, watch it (on video) and keep getting better. … We’ve got to believe in ourselves the way we believe in each other,” said Vander Wal.

ETSU, however, hit shots: .444 (26/58) in field goals, .500 (12/24) from long range and .737 (14/19) at the foul line. Milton Matthews scored 18 points, Brian Taylor 17 and Cam Morris II 12. Jaylen Smith facilitated scores eight times with assists.

Furman dropped its fourth game in its last five outings.

 After Furman outscored the Bucs 11-7 over the first 5:30 of the second half to grab a 45-41 lead, ETSU connected on seven consecutive shots, including five straight from three-point range, to reel off a 20-4 run that ultimately decided the game. Smith scored back-to-back buckets to even the score before Matthews’ triple put the Bucs in front 48-45. Alex Wilkins’ layup got Furman back within one point, but Matthews and Cam Morris III drained consecutive threes and Matthews and Isaiah Sutherland followed a pair off Furman free throws with another set of back-to-back triples extended the ETSU margin to 61-49 with 9:26 remaining.

Furman trimmed the margin back to single digits, but ETSU connected on six free throws in the final 2:45 and Matthews added his fourth triple of the half to keep the rally tepid.

Wilkins scored 12 of his 21 points in the first half and the Paladins converted on 10/12 free throws to erase an early 25-19 deficit and go to the locker room tied, 34-34.

Furman returns to the road on Saturday when it visits Richardson Indoor Stadium in Spartanburg to take on Wofford (18-10, 10-5). Tipoff is 7 p.m., and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+.

Every loss makes tournament seedings more tenuous. The top six draw a first-round bye in Asheville. Furman and UNC Greensboro (12-16, 8-7) have a game edge over Western Carolina (11-15, 7-8) with Citadel (9-18, 6-8) in the hunt.

“I’ve got to help these guys somehow,” Richey said. “Most of the time our teams play with a lot of confidence. We don’t have collective confidence right now.

Take a look at the stats here.

Furman football is making changes to the coaching staff from close range.

Chad Byers has been elevated to defensive coordinator after serving alongside Duane Vaughn, who recently joined the coaching staff at Western Michigan.

 Byers, a six-year member of the Paladin coaching staff, will continue to direct the squad’s inside linebackers, which he assumed in 2022.

“[Byers] has been a terrific coach for Furman football and is very well prepared for this opportunity,” head coach Clay Hendrix stated. “Chad embraces the high goals we have for our football program as well as our university’s mission.”

The assistant for safeties and special teams is Hugh Ryan, who played safety adroitly for the Paladins. Ryan worked closely with Tommy Spangler, the ex-Presbyterian head coach who is retiring after 42 years.

“Hugh was a terrific player for us and has done outstanding work assisting Tommy Spangler the last couple of years,” Hendrix said. “He will do a great job in our program.

“It’s hard to measure the impact Tommy Spangler has had on so many young men in his 42 years of coaching. He had a profound effect on the Furman football program, and I am so thankful for the four years I was blessed to work with him here.  He is as good a man and coach as I have ever been associated with, and I will certainly miss seeing him every day.”

 Ryan, a two-time All-Southern Conference safety and 2024 Furman cum laude graduate, served the last two seasons as a defensive quality control assistant for the Paladins.

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Most of my books are available at Amazon. Two of my novels, Cowboys Come Home and Lightning in a Bottle, are available in audio versions.