DAVIDSON, N.C. (Nov. 16, 2024) – After a back-and-forth battle for the entire second half, the ETSU men's basketball missed on late-game opportunities, as Davidson pulled out a 76-70 win over the Buccaneers on Saturday night inside John M. Belk Arena.
 
Playing its first road game of the season, ETSU got off to a slow start, but after trailing by as many as 11, the Bucs got to within three at the break. In the second half, the Blue & Gold led by seven with just over 14 minutes remaining; however, the Bucs couldn't secure the victory.
 
Jaden Seymour led the Bucs with a game-high 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting before fouling out in the closing seconds. Quimari Peterson added 19 points and four assists, while John Buggs III finished with 14 points on four made threes.
 
In the second half, the Bucs shot 57 percent from the floor (16-28) and beyond the arc (8-14), but ETSU went 5-of-13 at the free throw line. In addition, the Blue & Gold were outrebounded by seven in the final 20 minutes, 16-9, while being outscored by six in second-chance points, 7-1. Three of Davidson's five second-half offensive rebounds came in the final minute where the Wildcats outscored the Bucs, 8-3.
 
With the setback, ETSU moved to 2-2 on the season, while Davidson – who suffered a two-point loss to the Bucs last November in Johnson City – improved to 3-0.
 
Despite getting off to a slow start, the Bucs overcame cold shooting to make it a 28-25 deficit at halftime. ETSU missed 10 of its first 11 shots as Davidson built its 11-point lead, 13-2, in the opening eight minutes. The Bucs eventually closed the gap by scoring 15 of the next 22 points to make it a 20-17 contest following a lay-up by Peterson with 3:15 left before intermission. ETSU got to within a point in the closing seconds of half, but Connor Kochera had a tip-in layup at the buzzer to give Davidson its three-point advantage.  

The Bucs were on fire to start the second half as they connected on their first four threes and built a five-point lead at 41-36 following back-to-back triples by Karon Boyd. ETSU's largest lead of the night grew to seven after Boyd made one of two free throws at the 14:12 mark, putting the Bucs ahead, 43-36.
 
Davidson responded with a 9-2 run to pull even at 45, marking the first of five ties in the final 11-plus minutes.
 
Over the next three minutes, ETSU turned to the three-ball to open a five-point lead as Seymour went back-to-back possessions with a triple and Peterson followed up with one of his own, giving the Bucs a 58-53 lead with eight minutes to play.
 
The see-saw battle continued as Davidson scored the next five points to tie up the game, but Seymour stopped the quick run by getting to the rim for a layup to regain a 60-58 advantage at the 7:08 mark.
 
The Wildcats again answered with six straight points to go back ahead, but ETSU didn't back down.
 
Trailing by five with just over two minutes left, the Bucs inched within a point, 68-67, thanks to a jumper by Allen Strothers and a floater in the paint by Seymour with 1:22 remaining. Unfortunately, ETSU couldn't get back over the hump and the Davidson second-chance opportunities haunted the Blue & Gold in the final minute of the contest.
 
For the game, ETSU was outrebounded by 12, 36-24, resulting in the first time this season the Bucs didn't win the battle of the boards. The Wildcats were plus-11 in second-chance scoring, 14-3, while the home team was plus-15 in made free throws, 21-6.
 
The Bucs made 10 threes and shot 48 percent from the field (27-56), compared to Davidson finishing at 55 percent from the floor (26-47). The Wildcats were just 3-of-11 from beyond the arc.
 
Davidson was led by Reed Bailey's 18-point effort. Bailey drew 12 fouls and went 8-of-13 at the line.
 
ETSU returns home to host USC Upstate on Friday night at 7 p.m. and Queens next Sunday at 5 p.m.
  
For more information on ETSU men's basketball, go to ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's basketball tab.