ETSU edged by Paladins in Greenville

GREENVILLE, S.C. (Feb. 19, 2023) – The ETSU men’s basketball team gave Furman all it could handle, but when the dust settled, missed opportunities cost the Buccaneers of key road win, as the Blue and Gold suffered an 83-79 setback on Sunday night inside Timmons Arena. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• ETSU was dealt its 10th loss by four points or less this season as the Bucs dropped to 10-19 overall and 6-10 in league play. Furman, who swept the Bucs for the first time since 1986-87, improved to 22-7, 13-3.
• Despite shooting 55 percent (30-55) from the field and 50 percent (10-20) from beyond the arc, the Bucs missed 10 lay-ups and turned the ball over 14 times, including a key cough up in the closing seconds where ETSU was down three and DeAnthony Tipler (Ashland, Miss.) threw the ball out of bounds with 8.8 seconds remaining.
• Furman finished 49 percent (30-61) from the floor but was held to 31 percent from beyond the arc (8-26).
• ETSU was 9-of-12 at the free throw line, but missed three of its last four, while the Paladins went 15-of-20.
• Furman scored 14 points off the 14 ETSU turnovers, while the Paladins only had five turnovers; however, the Bucs turned those into 10 points.
• The Paladins were plus-10 in fast-break scoring (12-2) and plus-21 in bench scoring (35-14).
• The Bucs assisted on 16 of their 30 made field goals, while Furman had 20 on its 30 makes.
• The game featured 11 lead changes and five ties, while ETSU’s largest lead was six and Furman’s was eight. 

TOP PERFORMERS

• Jordan King (Albany, N.Y.) led all scorers with 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while adding four assists and three rebounds.
• Jalen Haynes (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) and Jaden Seymour (Charlotte, N.C.) combined for 33 points on 14-for-20 shooting. Haynes finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and three assists, while Seymour added a career-high 15 points and nine rebounds.
• Tipler totaled nine points on three made triples, while also adding six assists and five rebounds.
• ETSU held Mike Bothwell and Jalen Slawson – Furman’s leading scorers averaging over 16 points per game – to 20 combined points. The Paladins were led by Marcus Foster’s 15-point effort. 

GAME SUMMARY

The first half went back-and-forth as there were three ties and nine lead changes and both teams had a six-point lead before Furman took a 39-37 advantage into halftime. 

The Bucs scored the first five points of the contest and took their largest lead at 13-7 thanks to King finding Tipler for a triple with 14:44 remaining in the half. Furman answered the run by scoring seven straight points and the Paladins went up six with just under four minutes left in the frame on a three-pointer by Ben Vanderwal, 35-29. 

ETSU got balanced scoring in the opening 20 minutes as six different players had at least five points. The Bucs shot 48 percent from the floor (14-29) and 6-of-12 from long distance. Slawson and Bothwell combined for just two points in the first 20 minutes as they were 1-of-6 from the floor; however, JP Pegues carried the load with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Furman shot 49 percent in the opening half but was held to 4-of-16 from beyond the arc. 

Furman extended its lead to eight in the opening five minutes of the second half when Bothwell finished a fast-break with a lay-up, making it 53-45, with 14:49 remaining. 

Playing in a place where ETSU has just won once since rejoining the league in 2014-15, the Buccaneers dug in and fought back. 

The Bucs slowly chipped away at the deficit and got to within one, 61-60, when Tipler fed Haynes for a dunk with just under 10 minutes left to play. After both teams exchanged threes, Furman then scored the next five points to make it a 69-63 contest with 8:07 showing on the clock. 

With the Paladins leading by five near the six-minute mark, ETSU mounted an 8-0 run – capped by a corner three from Seymour – giving the Bucs a 78-75 advantage with 4:14 left in the contest. 

Unfortunately, ETSU was held to just one point following that triple and Furman ended the game on an 8-1 run to secure the series sweep on Senior Day. 

UP NEXT

ETSU heads home for its final two regular season games, beginning Wednesday night against The Citadel. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. inside Freedom Hall.

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