JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Feb. 3, 2024) – What looked to be a Buccaneer rout turned into a nail-biter late. 
 
After seeing a 15-point second-half lead evaporate, the ETSU men's basketball team was able to pull out a 62-60 win over The Citadel on Saturday evening inside Freedom Hall. Following a block at the rim by Jaden Seymour, Allen Strothers grabbed the defensive rebound and found Quimari Peterson open in transition at the right wing, which led to the Buccaneer guard slicing to the rim to connect on the game-winning lay-up with 6.4 seconds remaining. ETSU forced Madison Durr into a turnover at midcourt and the Bucs hung on for their second straight victory. 
 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

• For the second consecutive game, ETSU turned to its defense to hold off a stingy Citadel club as the Blue & Gold forced the Bulldogs into 40 percent shooting (23-57) and a 17-percent clip (4-23) from beyond the arc. 
• The Bucs limited Citadel into 26 first-half points thanks to the Bulldogs shooting 33 percent (9-27) from the field and 2-of-12 from long distance in the opening 20 minutes. 
• For the fifth straight game, ETSU out-rebounded its opponent as the Bucs were plus-5 on the glass, 41-36. ETSU was also plus-5 in offensive rebounds, 13-8. 
• The Bucs only got to the free throw line 13 times and made six of their freebies, compared to The Citadel going 10-for-15. 
• ETSU took its largest lead when a three by Ebby Asamoah made it 43-28 with 14:05 remaining – capping a 15-2 Buccaneer run. 
• The Citadel led twice over the 40 minutes as they scored the first bucket of the contest and went ahead 60-59 following a driving lay-up by Durr with 1:02 remaining. 
• With the win, ETSU improved to 12-11 overall and 4-6 in SoCon play, while The Citadel dropped to 9-14, 1-9. The Bucs made it back-to-back wins in conference play for the first time this season, while ETSU improved to 5-4 in games decided by three points or less. 

TOP PERFORMERS 

• Jaden Seymour registered his seventh career double-double as he finished with 12 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks. 
• Ebby Asamoah led all players with 17 points and netted four three-pointers for the fourth straight game. Asamoah accounted for half of the Bucs' triples, while Maki Johnson came off the bench and knocked down three of his five attempts from long distance to finish with nine points. 
• To go with his game-winning bucket, Quimari Peterson tallied nine points, eight rebounds and four assists. 
• Jadyn Parker finished with six points (3-4 shooting), seven rebounds and blocked four shots. 
• Quentin Millora-Brown finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds for the Bulldogs.  

GAME SUMMARY 
The Bucs started both halves well as ETSU jumped out to a 17-9 lead in the opening eight-plus minutes before taking a two-point advantage into halftime, 28-26. 
 
The start of the second half was all Blue & Gold as they used the 15-2 surge to build a 43-28 lead with 14:05 showing on the clock. 
 
Unfortunately, a blowout was not in the books for the Buccaneers. 
 
The Bulldogs mounted a 23-8 run over the next seven-plus minutes to pull even at 51 with 6:47 remaining in the contest. Following the third tie of ballgame, ETSU rattled off the next six points – four coming from Seymour – to pull ahead 57-51 at the 5:21 mark. 
 
The Citadel kept fighting and eventually took its second lead of the night when Durr's driving lay-up made it 60-59 with 1:02 left to play. On ETSU's next possession, Durr committed a shooting foul on Peterson where he made one of two at the stripe to pull even at 60 with 40 ticks remaining. The Bulldogs looked like they were going to regain the lead when Millora-Brown broke free for a lay-up, but Seymour showed outstanding recovery to come from behind for the block – allowing Strothers to grab the rebound and take off in transition. The ETSU point guard found his counterpart and Peterson sent the Buccaneer faithful home happy when he connected on the driving lay-up for the win. 
 
UP NEXT
The Bucs look to make it three straight wins when ETSU hosts Wofford on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. inside Freedom Hall. 
  
For more information on ETSU men's basketball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's basketball tab.