By MONTE DUTTON

During the first half of Thursday night’s Big South men’s basketball game at Templeton Center, the Blue Hose looked listless and preoccupied.

Presbyterian trailed at the half, 37-25. They shot .391 from floor, missed all five three-point attempts and half their 24 free-throw attempts. Longwood bettered the Blue Hose on the boards, 19-12. Fans were grousing. Sleepwalking. Getting pushed around.

The Blue Hose abruptly dominated the latter half and won, 72-65. The fans perked right up.

When PC (14-14, 7-6 Big South) flipped off the switch in the locker room, the one in the arena flipped on. Led by 28 points from Triston Wilson – 18 of them in the latter half – the halfhearted Hose became the hustling ones.

After the break, Presbyterian outscored the Lancers, 47-28, shooting .739 overall and .667 from deep. The rim widened. The strings tickled.

Carl Parrish scored on a fast break off J.D. Bowden’s steal with 10:52 remaining. Longwood (14-15, 6-8) never led again. The score was tied for 13 seconds.

“I just challenged the guys with everything we had talked about leading up to the game,” PC head basketball coach Quinton Ferrell said. “Longwood has a certain style they like to play. They like to be physical and tough. They try to outcompete you on the glass, pressure you and push you out. We let that bother us in the first half.

“There wasn’t anything they were doing special. We were just nonchalant and lackadaisical. I told them, if you want to win the game, this has got to change.”

Parrish wound up with 15 points. Jonah Pierce scored 13. Jaylen Peterson had nine points and 11 rebounds. Bowden had five assists.

Elijah Tucker, a 6-8 mountain who looks taller, scored 22 points. Two other Lancers, Jonah Nziemi (13) and Jaco Hutchinson (10) reached double figures.

Saturday’s game in Spartanburg versus USC Upstate (11-17, 3-10) at 4:30 p.m. is crucial to the seedings for the Big South Championships, March 4-8, at Freedom Hall in Johnson City, Tenn. Presbyterian closes the regular season with games against the two top seeds, High Point (25-4, 13-1) at home on Feb. 26 and at Winthrop (20-8, 12-1) on Feb. 28.

Take a look at the stats here.

Clinton High School head football coach Corey Fountain said R.J. Johnson will not be deterred by the challenge of playing at Erskine College.

Johnson, who will join the Flying Fleet this fall, impatiently waited his turn with the Red Devils, blossoming as a senior. There’s no quit in him, Fountain said.

Erskine resumed football in 2021 after a 30-year absence. Shap Boyd is its only coach of the modern era. Last year the Flying Fleet went 1-10, among the losses a 42-14 setback in Clinton to Presbyterian.

Johnson figures to play end or tackle on the Fleet (and hopefully fleet) defense. He wants to be an engineer.

Raising his game? Rising to the next level?

“I learned how to do that here,” Johnson said of CHS. “You’ve got to have a mindset, day in and day out. That’s what it is.”

For the second time this season, Presbyterian sophomore Jeeple Patrick is the Big South Golfer of the Week.

Patrick is the third player in the PC men’s golf program’s history to be named Big South Golfer of the Week at least twice in the same season. Last season, Patrick was the Big South Freshman of the Week three times.

The Hilton Head Island native finished tied for 12th at the Wexford Intercollegiate. He posted a three-round score of 217 (+1) with 13 birdies and 27 pars.

The PC women’s wrestling team looks to repeat as Southeast Region Champion as they return to the postseason.

Schools are allowed to enter just one competitor per weight class in the two-day event. The first and second rounds of the winner’s and loser’s brackets are Friday at Emmanuel (Ga.) University.

PC is poised for a fourth consecutive national top-10 finish after winning the region title last time around and claiming six All-Americans. Those that place in the top four at the Region tournament will advance to nationals in March.

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