JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Feb. 10, 2024) – The ETSU men's basketball team had the reigning Southern Conference champion on the ropes but the Buccaneers couldn't land the final haymaker. 
 
Leading by 11 with just over seven minutes remaining, the Bucs were stunned as Furman closed the game on a 20-7 run to rally for a 65-63 win on Saturday night inside Freedom Hall. 
 
Playing in front of a national audience on CBS Sports Network, the Blue & Gold were looking to cap off a perfect three-game home stand and extend their win streak to four straight. 
 
Unfortunately, the Paladins made seven of their last eight shots in the closing surge to snap a two-game slide. 
 
Quimari Peterson led the Bucs with 14 points and six rebounds, while Jadyn Parker added 13 points, nine rebounds and five blocks. With the five blocks, Parker moved his season total to 58, which passed Jerald Fields for fourth among ETSU single-season leaders. 
 
As a team, ETSU shot 40 percent (23-58) but just went 4-of-19 from beyond the arc and 13-of-22 at the free throw line. Furman shot 50 percent (24-48) for the game, along with going 31 percent (5-16) from three and 63 percent at the free throw line (12-19). The Paladins went 4-of-5 at the stripe in the last minute of the contest and made 12 of their last 13 field goals overall. 
 
The Bucs finished plus-17 in points off turnovers (10-2) and plus-10 in second-chance points (14-4). ETSU, who finished plus-one on the boards (34-33), doubled up the Paladins on the offensive glass, 14-7. 
 
ETSU trailed by one at the half, 30-29, and opened the largest lead of the night at 56-45 following a driving lay-up by Peterson with 7:15 remaining. 
 
However, an alley-oop from PJay Smith to Cooper Bowser on Furman's ensuing possession sparked the final Paladin run. With Furman making 12 of its final 13 shots, the Bucs went ice cold as they were 2-of-9 in that stretch run. 
 
After Furman stormed all the way back to pull even at 61, Parker missed an open lay-up with 1:46 remaining, but the Blue & Gold got a stop on the defensive end and regained the lead. Jaden Seymour stole an inbounds pass from Tyrese Hughey and went coast-to-coast for a slam, putting ETSU back ahead, 63-61 with 1:03 remaining. 
 
Furman was able to tie the game up when JP Pegues was fouled on a three-point shot by Ebby Asamoah and the Paladin guard made two of the three freebies to pull even at 63 with 43 ticks left on the clock. Following a missed jumper by Seymour, the Paladins had the ball with the shot clock off and were rewarded with a controversial call as Karon Boyd was called for a shooting foul on Pegues with under two seconds remaining. 
 
Pegues netted both free throws to give Furman the 65-63 lead. ETSU's inbounds pass sailed way out of bounds and the Bucs were forced to foul. This time, Pegues left the door slightly open, as he missed the front end of a 1-and-1 and Seymour grabbed the rebound with one second left. Following a 30-second timeout by the Bucs, ETSU's heave to halfcourt was deflected and Furman came away with the road win. 
 
Furman shot 59 percent (13-22) in the second half and made six of its eight free throws in the frame. The Bucs went 14-of-30 (47%) in the final 20 minutes but were 2-of-5 at the line. 
 
Pegues led the Paladins with 15 points, five rebounds and four assists. 
 
With the loss, ETSU moved to 13-12 overall and 5-7 in league play. Furman improved to 13-12, 7-5. 
 
ETSU hits the road for back-to-back games as the Bucs play at Chattanooga Wednesday night at 7 p.m. inside McKenzie Arena. 
  
For more information on ETSU men's basketball, go to ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's basketball tab.