JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Jan. 29, 2026) - On Black-Out Night at Freedom Hall, the team in black led wire-to-wire. 

The ETSU men's basketball team fell to Western Carolina for the ninth time in 10 games, 90-88 on Thursday. 

The Buccaneers (15-7, 7-2) never led in the contest and were on the back foot immediately as the Catamounts (8-12, 4-5) jumped out to a 16-4 lead in less than three minutes. ETSU trimmed the lead to as little as six points when Brian Taylor II hit a pair of jumpers in quick succession to make it 29-23, but Tahlan Pettway converted a four-point play to stretch the lead back to double digits and was fouled again beyond the arc in the final seconds of the half, hitting two of three free throws to give WCU a 49-35 lead at the half. 

The lead grew as large as 15 in the second half before Allen Strothers hit an and-one with 11:39 to go. Including Strothers' basket, ETSU outscored WCU 35-24 over the remainder of the game and got the lead down to three with 1:21 to go, but they couldn't get over the hump. 

Taylor set a new career-high with 24 points and led ETSU with seven assists. Morris fouled out in the final seconds with 15 points and five rebounds, and Blake Barkley scored 13 with a team-leading seven boards. Allen Strothers tied a career-high with 11 points, and Jaylen Smith scored 12 off the bench. The Bucs were outrebounded 34-28 and outscored in the paint 36-30, with WCU converting 11 offensive rebounds into 14 second chance points. 

The Bucs are now tied atop the SoCon with Wofford, their next opponent. The game is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Richardson Indoor Stadium in Spartanburg. 

For more information on ETSU men's basketball, go to ETSUBucs.com.