JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Feb. 7, 2022) – All five of ETSU starters scored in double figures and the Buccaneers got stops late to hold off Furman, 75-71, in front of an electric crowd inside Freedom Hall on Monday night.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• After dropping five straight games by a combined 15 points, the Bucs got a key victory as ETSU improved to 13-13 overall and 5-8 in SoCon play.
• The Bucs led for over 34 minutes but Furman rallied from 18 points down to take a pair of one-point leads late; however, ETSU responded to the challenge and flipped the script. Trailing 68-67 with 5:18 remaining, the Bucs scored eight of the final 11 points, including a key stretch by Jaden Seymour (Charlotte, N.C.) where he netted four straight points, pushing a one-point lead to five with 25 seconds remaining.
• ETSU fed off the crowd early and often as the Bucs shot 59 percent in the first half and 70 percent from long distance – hitting their first five to start the game – taking a 43-30 lead into halftime. For the game, the Bucs shot 50 percent from the field (23-46) and 53 percent from beyond the arc (10-19), while Furman hit at a 52 percent clip (28-54) and 37 percent mark from three (11-30).
• The Bucs did a great job getting to the charity stripe where ETSU held a plus-15 advantage in makes (19-4) and plus-19 margin in attempts (25-6). The Bucs shot 76 percent for the contest.
• ETSU moved the ball and found the open shooter as the Bucs assisted on 17 of their 23 made field goals. The Bucs also extended their streak of having less than 10 turnovers to seven straight contests.
• The Blue and Gold were plus-4 on the boards (27-23), while ETSU left Furman needing a realignment on the offensive end as the Bucs turned five offensive rebounds in 11 second-chance points. The Paladins also grabbed five offensive rebounds but only cashed those into five second-chance points.
• ETSU’s starters played 173 of the possible 200 minutes on Monday night.
• Furman suffered its second straight loss and dipped to 17-9, 9-4.
• The Bucs now lead the all-time series 34-31 and are 19-12 against the Paladins inside Freedom Hall. Monday’s contest was the 41st time a game in the series was decided by nine points or less and the 27th decided by five points or less.

TOP PERFORMERS  

• Ledarrius Brewer (Meridian, Miss.) led all scorers with a game-high 20 points – 19 coming in the first half. Brewer tallied his sixth career double-double as he also pulled down 10 rebounds, while dishing out four assists.
• Ty Brewer (Meridian, Miss.) and Jordan King (Albany, N.Y.) each scored 12 points, while Jaden Seymour tied a career-high with 11 points. Seymour was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field and made three of his four attempts at the free throw line.
• To go with his 12 points, Ty added eight rebounds and drew eight fouls – finishing 5-of-8 at the charity stripe. Brewer played all but 32 seconds on Monday night.
• David Sloan (Louisville, Ky.) capped off the scoring as he ended with 10 points, six assists and one turnover.
• Furman was led by Jalen Slawson and Mike Bothwell as they each netted 15 in the losing effort.

POSTGAME INTERVIEWS

Listen to postgame comments from head coach Desmond Oliver, guard Ledarrius Brewer and forward Jaden Seymour. 

GAME SUMMARY

The Bucs came out on a mission and with a lot of intensity as they knocked down their first five three-point shots and led by as many as 18 before taking a 43-30 lead into intermission.

ETSU scored 10 of the first 12 points and went ahead 23-11 when Ledarrius Brewer connected on back-to-back triples with 12:24 remaining in the half. After Furman pulled within seven, the Bucs mounted a 13-2 surge to open the 18-point lead when David Sloan became the fifth Buccaneer to knock down a three with just under six minutes left before halftime. ETSU’s lead never dipped below double figures as the Blue and Gold led by 13 at the break.

The Bucs pushed their margin to 15 early on in the second half, but Furman – who was needing a win to keep chase with league-leading Chattanooga – fought its way back into it with the three-ball and points off turnovers. With the Bucs ahead 52-37, the Paladins erased the deficit in a matter of five minutes as the visitors from Greenville scored 17 of the next 19 points, tying the game at 54 following a three by Conley Garrison at the 11:28 mark.

From there, King answered with back-to-back threes and Mohab Yasser (Giza, Egypt) knocked down a pair of free throws, putting ETSU back up five, 62-57, with 9:31 showing on the clock.

Furman responded with five straight points and eventually took its first lead of the night when Bothwell laid one in, making it 64-63 with 7:46 remaining.

The game was tight down the stretch, but after dropping five close ones over the last two weeks, ETSU was ready to erase its demons.

After the Paladins went back up by one with just over five minutes to go, Ty Brewer tied the game at 68 by making the second of a two-shot foul and then put the Blue and Gold back ahead for the final time of the night, when again, he made the second foul shot with 3:01 remaining. Brewer then stepped up on the defensive end as he took a charge on Slawson – and after King missed a three on the ensuing possession – Ledarrius Brewer came up with a key defensive board.

Following a missed lay-up from Ledarrius Brewer, Seymour grabbed the offensive rebound and Brewer hit him underneath the hoop to score a clutch second-chance bucket, extending the lead to three with just over a minute to play. Like Ty did two possessions earlier, Seymour then took a charge on Slawson, forcing another Paladin turnover.

ETSU was unable to capitalize and Furman had chances, but Slawson missed a three and Garrett Hien grabbed the offensive rebound. The Paladins were unable to convert on the second-chance opportunity as Hien lost his balanced and was called for steps with 26 seconds left. Furman was forced to foul and Seymour stepped up with two huge makes, pushing the Buccaneer lead to five. ETSU then had fouls to give and Furman ran out of time as the Bucs secured a critical home conference victory.

UP NEXT

ETSU wraps up the brief two-game home stand Saturday when the Bucs host Samford at 4 o’clock.

For more information on ETSU men’s basketball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men’s basketball tab.