JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Feb. 10, 2024) – The ETSU men’s basketball team had the reigning Southern Conference champion on the ropes but the Buccaneers couldn’t land the final haymaker.
Leading by 11 with just over seven minutes remaining, the Bucs were stunned as Furman closed the game on a 20-7 run to rally for a 65-63 win on Saturday night inside Freedom Hall.
Playing in front of a national audience on CBS Sports Network, the Blue & Gold were looking to cap off a perfect three-game home stand and extend their win streak to four straight.
Unfortunately, the Paladins made seven of their last eight shots in the closing surge to snap a two-game slide.
Quimari Peterson led the Bucs with 14 points and six rebounds, while Jadyn Parker added 13 points, nine rebounds and five blocks. With the five blocks, Parker moved his season total to 58, which passed Jerald Fields for fourth among ETSU single-season leaders.
As a team, ETSU shot 40 percent (23-58) but just went 4-of-19 from beyond the arc and 13-of-22 at the free throw line. Furman shot 50 percent (24-48) for the game, along with going 31 percent (5-16) from three and 63 percent at the free throw line (12-19). The Paladins went 4-of-5 at the stripe in the last minute of the contest and made 12 of their last 13 field goals overall.
The Bucs finished plus-17 in points off turnovers (10-2) and plus-10 in second-chance points (14-4). ETSU, who finished plus-one on the boards (34-33), doubled up the Paladins on the offensive glass, 14-7.
With the loss, ETSU moved to 13-12 overall and 5-7 in league play. Furman improved to 13-12, 7-5.
ETSU hits the road for back-to-back games as the Bucs play at Chattanooga Wednesday night at 7 p.m. inside McKenzie Arena.
For more information on ETSU men’s basketball, go to ETSUBucs.com and click on the men’s basketball tab.
