CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (Feb. 15, 2025) – Playing without two of its top three scorers, Quimari Peterson did all he could to put the Buccaneers on his back and carry them to a road win at conference rival Chattanooga on Saturday night.
 
Peterson poured in a career-high 31 points, while ETSU shot 63 percent in the second half, but it wasn't enough to take down league-leading Chattanooga, as the Mocs held on for a 78-71 win inside McKenzie Arena.
 
Peterson, whose previous career-high was 30 points earlier this year at Kansas City, scored 26 in the second half. For the game, Peterson was 10-of-20 from the field, 5-of-8 from three and 6-of-6 at the free throw line. To go with the scoring, Peterson also added four rebounds, four assists and three steals. Following the 31-point performance, Peterson moved his season total to 507 points and his career total in a Buccaneer uniform to 979.
 
D.J. Hughes had a solid night as he set season highs in points (11) and rebounds (9), while Maki Johnson added 10 points and four rebounds. The Bucs were without Jaden Seymour – who is averaging 17.0 points per game – for the second straight contest, while John Buggs III missed his second game this season.
 
Three-point shooting was the biggest difference as the Mocs were 15-of-29, compared to ETSU going 8-of-17. Chattanooga made two more field goals than the Bucs, 28-26, while ETSU was plus-four in made free throws, 11-7. Overall, ETSU shot 50 percent for the game (26-52), while Chattanooga finished 54 percent from the field (28-52). ETSU outrebounded Chattanooga by five, 29-24, while the Bucs scored 15 second chance points off 11 offensive rebounds. The Mocs turned eight offensive rebounds into 13 second-chance points.
 
With the loss, ETSU moved to 15-12 overall and 8-6 in SoCon play, while Chattanooga remained tied for first with UNCG as the Mocs improved to 19-8, 11-3. Chattanooga has now won its last seven.
 
The opening 20 minutes were tightly contested with 10 lead changes and seven ties, but the Mocs ended the half on an 8-0 run to take a 36-30 lead into the break. ETSU had its largest lead of the half when Allen Strothers sank a jumper, making it 22-19 at the 7:50 mark, while the Bucs led 30-28 following a pair of free throws by Peterson with just over two minutes left. However, Frank Champion started the closing run with a lay-up, while Trey Bonham and Honor Huff both made threes to put the Mocs up six at the half – their largest lead of the first 20 minutes.
 
ETSU started the second half strong by scoring the first six points to pull even at 36; however, the Bucs were never able to get back over the hump.
 
Chattanooga scored the next four points to regain the lead, but after the Bucs pulled within three, 52-49, following a three by Peterson, the Mocs answered with another run. Chattanooga scored the next nine points to push the advantage to 12 with just over eight minutes left to play. ETSU continued to fight and clawed back to cut the deficit to four thanks to Peterson going on a personal 8-0 run to make it 61-57 at the 5:51 mark. But a three-pointer by Huff snapped ETSU's surge and put the Mocs up seven with 5:19 remaining.
 
ETSU couldn't inch any closer and the Mocs secured the seven-point conference win.
 
Huff led the Mocs with 19 points, while Champion added 13 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Bonham finished with 18 points on 6-of-10 from three.
 
ETSU returns home to host UNCG on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.
  
For more information on ETSU men's basketball, go to ETSUBucs.com and click on the men's basketball tab.