Box Score BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Feb. 24, 2024) – Ebby Asamoah scored his 1,000th career point on Saturday. Unfortunately, that was the lone bright spot for the Buccaneers.
ETSU men's basketball suffered an 87-71 setback to the league-leading Samford Bulldogs on Saturday inside Pete Hanna Center. It marked the second-largest crowd inside the arena as the attendance was 4,523.
Samford used a 21-3 run early in the first half to open an 18-point lead as the Bulldogs secured a program-record 25th win and locked up the No. 1 seed in next month's Southern Conference Tournament. Overall, Samford improved to 25-4, 14-2, while ETSU fell to 14-15, 6-10.
Asamoah, a graduate transfer from Delaware, notched his 1,000th career point on a jumper with 18:32 remaining in the second half en route to finishing with 19 points. Asamoah now has 1,007 career points – 424 coming in 27 games in the Blue & Gold.
Asamoah tried to keep the Blue & Gold in the contest early as he drained three triples and tied the game up at 13-13 at the 13:48 mark.
From there, it was all Samford.
The Bulldogs mounted their run to go up 34-16 with 7:17 left in the half and Samford led by 26 at the break, 53-27.
Samford led by as many as 28 points in the second half.
ETSU went on an 11-0 run to pull within 15, when a pair of
Jaden Seymour free throws made it 67-52 with 11:15 remaining. The Bucs were unable to inch any closer and Samford secured the 16-point win.
The Bucs outscored Samford by 10 in the second half, 44-34. ETSU shot 53 percent (16-30) from the field and 50 percent (6-12) from beyond the arc in the final 20 minutes.
Seymour joined Asamoah in double figures as he finished with 17 points, four rebounds and two steals.
Jadyn Parker just missed a double-double as he ended with eight points, 12 rebounds and three blocks. With his three blocked shots, Parker moved into third among ETSU single-season leaders with 67. Parker needs four more blocks to tie the single-season Buccaneer record, set by Isiah Brown in 2010-11.
For the game, ETSU shot 40 percent from the floor (25-62) and three-point range (10-25). The Bucs were 11-of-23 from the free throw line. Samford shot 53 percent (31-58) and 38 percent from long distance (13-34). The Bulldogs were 12-of-18 at the free throw line.
Quimari Peterson dished out eight of ETSU's 16 assists, while the Bucs outrebounded the Bulldogs by six, 39-33. The Bucs were plus-9 on the offensive glass, 15-6.
Samford, who was missing two starters, was led by Jaden Campbell as he netted a game-high 28 points.
ETSU concludes its road swing on Wednesday night as the Bucs head to Charleston, S.C. to take on The Citadel at 7 p.m. inside McAlister Field House.
For more information on Buccaneer men's basketball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's basketball page.
