ASHEVILLE, N.C. (March 10, 2024) – Something very special is brewing here in Asheville.
 
Playing its third game in three days and facing a 20-point deficit with just over 14 minutes remaining, the ETSU men's basketball team took it up an extra notch and emptied the tank. The Bucs stormed all the way back as Quimari Peterson tied it at 79 on a driving lay-up with one second left in regulation, and Allen Strothers fed Karon Boyd for his only field goal of the night with just over 15 seconds left in overtime for the game-winner, as ETSU rallied for a historic 85-84 win over third-seeded Chattanooga on Sunday night in the Southern Conference semifinals inside Harrah's Cherokee Center Asheville.
 
Quimari Peterson scored a game-high 27 points, while adding seven rebounds and two steals. Ebby Asamoah added 21 points on 5-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc before fouling out with 4:38 remaining in regulation and the Bucs trailing 70-63. Jaden Seymour also battled foul trouble but still managed to produce 15 points, seven rebounds, three assists and four steals. To go with his three points, Boyd posted eight rebounds (six offensive) and dished out one assist.
 
Allen Strothers gave the Blue & Gold valuable minutes off the bench as he accounted for eight of the 11 Buccaneer bench points. Strothers also tallied a career-high five steals and dished out four assists and 28 minutes. DJ Hughes played 25 minutes – the second-most this season – en route to registering one point, seven rebounds, one assist and one steal.
 
As a team, ETSU made double-digit threes for the third straight day as the Bucs netted 12. The Bucs also outrebounded the Mocs by 11, 52-41, with 24 coming on the offensive end – resulting in 18 second-chance points. The 52 rebounds were the second-most by the Bucs this season and the most against a Division I team since totaling 53 at The Citadel on Feb. 18, 2016. The 24 offensive boards were the most since pulling down 26 against UVA-Wise on Nov. 18, 2014.
 
Overall, the Bucs shot 33 percent (26-79) from the field, 32 percent from beyond the arc (12-37) and 64 percent at the free throw line (21-33). The Bucs forced 16 turnovers – 13 in the second half and overtime – and turned them into 17 points. ETSU also generated 13 steals. ETSU posted 52 points in the second half and six in the overtime stanza. The Bucs shot 49 percent (18-37) in the second half and 44 percent from beyond the arc (7-16).
 
ETSU held Chattanooga to six made threes – its second-lowest total this season. The Mocs entered the night averaging 10.8 made threes per game. Overall, Chattanooga shot 45 percent from the field (24-53), 35 percent from three (6-17) and 75 percent at the free throw line (30-40).
 
ETSU, who is on season-best five-game win streak, improved to 19-15 overall and will now face No. 1 seed Samford in the SoCon title game on Monday night at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.
 
The Bucs, who now have 13 SoCon semifinal wins, will be looking to become the first team in league history to win four games to win the title since Clemson accomplished the feat all the way back in 1939. ETSU is the fourth No. 7 seed to reach the SoCon Championship in the last five years. The Blue & Gold are 8-4 all-time in SoCon Championship games.

 
In a first half were the Bucs shot 17 percent (6-35), ETSU trailed by 11 at halftime, 38-27.
 
The deficit grew to 20 when a three by Jad Zidek made it 54-34 with 14:18 remaining.
 
From there, the Buccaneers put on the press and the game totally flipped.
 
ETSU pulled within 10 with just under 10 minutes to play when Hughes found Seymour for three, making it 59-49. Two minutes later, the Mocs went back up by 14 (66-52), but the Bucs charged back with a 10-2 run to pull within six, 68-62, after Seymour picked up a steal and went to the rim for the lay-up with 6:36 remaining.
 
Chattanooga went back up eight, but the Bucs doubled up the Mocs in the final 3:31 to force overtime. The run started with a pair of free throws by Strothers, while a three by Peterson made it 71-68 with 3:01 left. The Mocs pushed their lead back to seven at 76-69 and 78-71, but ETSU finished the final 1:12 on an 8-1 run to force overtime.
 
Peterson scored the final eight points for the Bucs in regulation.
 
It started with a three at the 1:12 mark to cut the deficit to four, while he finished a three-point-play with 40 seconds remaining to make it a two-point score, 79-77. The Mocs had the ball with the lead, but Peterson came away with a steal on Trey Bonham and went straight to the rim to lay one in. The lay-up tied it at 79 with one second left and Chattanooga's half-court heave was off the mark, resulting in overtime.
 
The Mocs scored first in the extra stanza on a jumper by Zidek, but ETSU answered with four straight points – a Seymour free throw and another triple by Peterson – to go up 83-81 with 3:11 left in overtime. Chattanooga responded with three straight points – all coming at the free throw line – but with ETSU down 84-83 and 1:31 remaining, the Bucs showed their resiliency.
 
After Honor Huff missed a three with 42 seconds left, Hughes pulled down the rebound and Strothers found Boyd with a lob under the basket for the lay-up to give ETSU the 85-84 lead with 15 seconds showing on the clock. With the shot clock off, the Mocs held for the last look, but Bonham missed a contested jumper in the paint and Zidek's open jumper off the miss hit off the front of the rim and the Buccaneers erupted in pandemonium.
 
With the loss, the Mocs finished the season at 21-12, while Chattanooga has now lost four straight postseason games to ETSU. This marked the Bucs' first win over the Mocs this season as Chattanooga swept the regular season series.
 
Zidek led Chattanooga with 26 points and six rebounds.
 
ETSU will now get Samford in Monday's title game at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
 
For more information on ETSU men's basketball, visit ETSUBucs.com and select the men's basketball tab.