GREENVILLE, S.C. (Jan. 15, 2025) – In a game featuring 12 ties and 13 lead changes, the ETSU men's basketball team was edged by Furman 73-70 on Wednesday night inside Bon Secours Wellness Arena.
 
Trailing by eight with less than 40 seconds remaining, the Bucs mounted a late comeback to pull within a point with 4.9 left in the contest. Following a foul by Karon Boyd, Furman hit both free throws to go up by three with 2.1 seconds left and the Paladins hung on after Quimari Peterson's halfcourt shot hit the backboard, bounced to the front of the rim and popped out at the buzzer.
 
In a back-and-forth, hard-fought SoCon showdown, Furman made one more field goal (24-23), one extra three (7-6) and both teams netted 18 free throws. The Bucs were 18-of-27 on the line, compared to Furman going 18-of-25. Overall, ETSU was 23-of-55 from the floor (42%) and 6-of-19 from beyond the arc (32%), while Furman went 24-for-54 (44%) and 7-of-21 from three-point range (33%).
 
The Bucs were plus-three on the glass, 36-33 and turned 15 offensive rebounds into 23 second-chance points, but Furman cashed 14 ETSU turnovers into 20 points. Both teams scored 30 points in the paint. Neither team led by more than eight with Furman going up 70-62 in the final seconds and the Bucs were ahead 32-27 with 2:50 left in the first half.
 
Quimari Peterson led the Blue & Gold with a game-high 21 points, while Jaden Seymour totaled 18 points and eight rebounds before fouling out. Karon Boyd grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and added five points. John Buggs III finished with 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting from three, including a four-point-play with 19 seconds remaining to pull ETSU within two, 70-68.
 
With the loss, ETSU moved to 10-8 overall and 3-2 in league play, while Furman – who has now won seven straight against the Bucs in Greenville – improved to 15-3, 3-2.
 
The opening 20 minutes saw eight lead changes and six ties before ETSU took a 36-35 lead into halftime. The Bucs took their largest lead of the night when Peterson found Seymour for a three, making it 32-27 with just under three minutes left before the break. With ETSU up by four in the closing seconds of the half, Peterson lobbed one up to DJ Hughes, but the Buccaneer forward missed the lay-up and Furman went down to hit a three at the buzzer to make it a one-point game, 36-35.
 
ETSU shot 54 percent in the first half (14-26) with Peterson leading the way at 11 points. The Bucs had 12 second-chance points in the first half and only turned the ball over six times.
 
Unfortunately, in the second half, ETSU couldn't maintain its strong shooting as they had two stretches without making a field goal for over five minutes and Furman capitalized.
 
The Paladins opened the second half scoring five of the first seven points to regain a 40-38 lead following a three by Eddrin Bronson with 17:09 showing on the clock. Furman led for the next five-plus minutes, but a 6-0 Buccaneer run put the ETSU back up 50-48 thanks to Seymour laying one in with 11:49 remaining. The Bucs stayed in it prior to the run by going a perfect 6-of-6 at the free throw line, while a fastbreak lay-up by Peterson at the 13:07 mark started the surge, marking the Bucs' first made field goal in over six minutes.
 
From there, ETSU went up 51-48 following a free throw by Roosevelt Wheeler with 10:16 remaining, but over the next six-plus minutes, the game featured three ties and three lead changes.
 
However, with the game knotted at 60, Furman scored seven straight points to take a 67-60 lead with a minute and a half left in the contest. The Bucs battled to get within two after Buggs' four-point play with 19 seconds left made it 70-68. Following the play and with the possession arrow in favor of the Blue & Gold, the Bucs looked to have forced a held ball situation in front of Furman's bench with just over 10 seconds remaining; however, the refs call Boyd for a foul, sending PJay Smith to the free throw line. After he made one of two at the stripe, Peterson drove to the rim for a lay-up to make it a one-point game. The Bucs were forced to foul with Smith netting a pair of free throws with 2.1 remaining, and Furman escaped after Peterson's halfcourt shot rimmed out at the buzzer.
 
Smith led Furman with 21-points and six rebounds, while Nick Anderson added 14.
 
The Bucs head to Birmingham to take on Samford in a rematch of last year's SoCon title game on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET inside Pete Hanna Center. The game will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network.
 
For more information on Buccaneer men's basketball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's basketball tab.