LEXINGTON, Va. (Feb. 5, 2025) – It wasn’t easy, but the Buccaneers found a way to win.
Led by a double-double from Jaden Seymour and a career-high 20-rebound performance by Karon Boyd, the ETSU men’s basketball team secured a key 62-55 road win at VMI Wednesday night inside Cameron Hall.
Playing a Keydet club that had won back-to-back games and five of their last six, the Blue & Gold saw their 12-point second-half lead cut to one with just over two minutes left to play. However, like he did at Samford, Maki Johnson knocked down a clutch corner three, while Quimari Peterson drove through the lane for a lay-up sparking a late Buccaneer run to hold on for the win. Seymour connected on four straight free throws in the closing seconds to ice the game.
Seymour finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season. To go with the 20 boards, Boyd finished with eight points and two blocks. Boyd became the first Buccaneer to have a 20-rebound game since Mike Smith had a 20-point, 20-rebound game against Florida Gulf Coast back on Jan. 8, 2011. John Buggs III added 12 points and six rebounds, while Maki Johnson – who made his third career start – had 11 points, three assists and three steals.
ETSU’s defense was stellar on Wednesday as they held VMI to 29 percent shooting (20-68) and 25 percent (8-32) from beyond the arc. The Bucs outscored the Keydets in the paint by 12, 32-20, while ETSU was plus-three in points off turnovers, 11-8.
With the win, ETSU secured the series sweep over the Keydets as the Bucs improved to 14-10 overall and 7-4 in league play. The Bucs now lead the all-time series, 61-15, while winning seven straight and 30 of the last 32. VMI dropped to 11-13, 5-6.
