JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Nov. 22, 2024) – It was a night to remember for Jaden Seymour.
 
Behind a 28-point performance, Seymour hit a pair of milestones to help carry ETSU men's basketball past USC Upstate, 87-76, in Friday's opener of the ETSU MTE from inside Freedom Hall.
 
Seymour, who entered the game needing 11 points to reach 1,000-point mark for his career and 22 to reach the 1,000-point club as a Buccaneer, hit the first milestone with just over six minutes left in the first half. Seymour got a steal and laid in one in, giving the Bucs a 29-24 lead at the 6:09 mark. From there, the Charlotte, N.C. native became the 43rd Buccaneer in program history to reach 1,000 points in the Blue & Gold when he netted a pair of free throws with 5:03 remaining in the contest, putting ETSU ahead, 79-66. Seymour now has 1,006 career points in the Buccaneer uniform, placing him 42nd all-time and one point behind Bo Hodges (2018-20) – who was the last ETSU player to accomplish the feat.
 
For the game, it was the dynamic duo of Seymour and Quimari Peterson who led the Bucs to victory. Peterson also finished with 28 points as the Buccaneer tandem combined to shoot 18-for-32 from the field and 8-for-13 from beyond the arc. Seymour went 10-of-12 at the charity stripe and pulled down six rebounds, while Peterson – who was named to the Lou Henson Award Watch List earlier this week – added five assists and five rebounds.
 
As a team, ETSU made 30 field goals – 12 coming from behind the arc – en route to shooting 46 percent from the floor. USC Upstate, who was held to 3-of-16 from long distance, shot 53 percent from the field (29-55). The Bucs dished out 17 assists and were plus-four on the glass, 37-33. ETSU's defense forced 17 turnovers and cashed those Spartan miscues into 23 points.
 
With the win, the Bucs improved to 3-2 on the season, while USC Upstate dipped to 2-5. ETSU now leads the all-time series with its former ASUN foe, 10-6.
 

The first half went back and forth as neither team led by more than six and the opening 20 minutes featured four ties and eight lead changes. ETSU's largest lead came when the Bucs mounted a 14-5 run to go up 29-24 following the steal and score from Seymour to give him the 1,000 career points at the 6:09 mark. However, USC Upstate responded with a 13-2 surge to ahead 37-31 with 2:37 left before the break. The Spartans managed to take a 42-39 lead into halftime.
 
ETSU got off to a blazing start in the second half by scoring 13 points in the first three-plus minutes to take a 52-48 lead thanks to John Buggs III feeding Peterson for a triple with 16:39 showing on the clock.
 
The Spartans threw one last punch at the Bucs as they scored nine of the next 12 points to regain a 57-55 advantage, but ETSU wasn't fazed by the hit.
 
Over the next seven minutes, the Bucs connected on the final haymaker with a 19-2 run, thanks to Peterson accounting for 11 of those points to put ETSU in front by 15, 74-59, at the 7:03 mark. That resulted in the largest lead of the night and the Spartans never answered as ETSU walked away with its first win over a Division I team on the young season.
 
Karon Boyd ended the night with nine points and seven rebounds, while Davion Bradford pitched in with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting. Bradford played just under 20 minutes and finished plus-17 while on the court. Curt Lewis came off the bench to register eight points on two made triples. Lewis was plus-13 in just under 18 minutes of action.
 
USC Upstate was led by Mister Dean as the freshman added 19 points and nine rebounds.
 
The Bucs close out their home MTE on Sunday when ETSU hosts Queens at 5 p.m. Queens and USC Upstate will meet Saturday night at 6 p.m. inside Freedom Hall.
 
For more information on Buccaneer men's basketball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's basketball tab.