JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Nov. 6, 2023) – The Brooks Savage era is off to a winning start. 
 
Jaden Seymour finished with 11 points and 14 rebounds, while three other Buccaneers scored in double figures as ETSU men's basketball took down King 73-56 in the 2023-24 season opener Monday night inside Freedom Hall. 
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

• The Bucs used their defense to hold off a stingy Tornado squad as ETSU held King below 30 percent shooting (20-68) and limited the visitors from Bristol, Tenn. to 3-of-19 from beyond the arc.
• ETSU was slightly better from the field as the Bucs shot 37 percent (25-68) and went 7-of-30 from long distance. 
• The Bucs lost the battle of the boards by seven (53-46), while the Tornado grabbed six extra offensive rebounds (18-12). ETSU did however win second-chance points, 16-14, and was plus-18 in transition scoring (21-3). 
• ETSU forced 22 turnovers and blocked 10 shots in the season-opening win. 
• The Bucs improved to 62-41 all-time in season openers and have won 39 of their last 43 home openers. 
• Coach Savage became the 14th head coach to win his Buccaneer debut. 

TOP PERFORMERS 

• Seymour recorded his fifth career double-double with his 11-point, 14-rebound performance. His 14 rebounds marked a new career high. Seymour also added four assists. 
• Quimari Peterson and Ebby Asamoah each scored in double figures in their Buccaneer debuts. Peterson finished with 15 points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists, while Asamoah netted 14 and accounted for four of ETSU's seven made triples. The Delaware transfer also grabbed five rebounds and blocked three shots.
• Justice Smith led the Buccaneer bench with 11 points, while Tyler Rice and Braden Ilic each scored six. Ilic also grabbed five rebounds and blocked three shots in 13 minutes of action. 
• King was led by Jordan Akal's 12 points. 

GAME SUMMARY
The first half was tightly contested until the Bucs finished the final seven minutes on a 20-8 run to take a 38-23 lead into halftime. King opened the contest by scoring the first four points before ETSU scored 11 unanswered to grab a seven-point advantage. The Tornado never led for the rest of the night but they did pull even at 11; however, after King got to within three (18-15) with 6:46 left in the opening half, the Bucs kicked things into another gear. The Blue & Gold went on their run and took the 15-point lead into the break. Rice ignited the surge with back-to-back threes to push the lead into double figures for the first time on the night, while a steal and a score by Smith with two minutes left in the stanza gave ETSU its largest lead of the half at 32-15. 
 
Despite seeing its lead grow to 21 in the early stages of the second half, ETSU had trouble putting the Tornado away. 
 
King fought back and clipped the deficit to 10, 54-44, forcing the Bucs to call timeout with just under 10 minutes left to play. The timeout worked as ETSU pushed its lead to 18 when Ilic grabbed an offensive rebound and laid one in, making it 68-50 with 2:47 showing on the clock. King never responded and the Bucs came away with the 17-point win. 
 
UP NEXT 
ETSU gears up for its first road game of the season when the Bucs travel to North Carolina and take on Elon Thursday night. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. 
 
PURCHASE TICKETS 
Fans can a Rivalry Pack by calling the ETSU Ticket Office at 423-439-3878 or visiting ETSUTickets.com. The Rivalry Pack guarantees tickets to the Davidson (Nov. 17), Chattanooga (Jan. 21) and Furman (Feb. 10) games. 
  
For more information on ETSU men's basketball, go to ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's basketball tab.