GREENVILLE, SC (WJHL) – ETSU men’s basketball went blow-for-blow with Furman for 40 minutes, but a handful of costly mistakes led to a four-point defeat on the road.
In a game that saw five ties and eleven lead changes, the Blue and Gold held an advantage for much of the first ten minutes of the game. The Paladins grabbed their first lead at 14-13, but never led by more than six points in the first frame.
Brock Jancek’s first-career three-pointer sliced the host’s lead to just 39-37 at the break.
ETSU didn’t take its first lead of the second half until 78-75, when Jaden Seymour canned a three-pointer in front of the Bucs bench with 4:14 to play.
The Paladins, however, closed the game on a 8-1 run to secure the 83-79 win.
ETSU shot 54.5 percent from the field and 50 percent from beyond the arc, but turned the ball over 14 times – including an errant pass out of bounds with just eight seconds remaining in the contest.
Three Bucs finished in double figures, led by Jordan King’s 20-point effort. Jalen Haynes finished with 18 points and seven rebounds, while Jaden Seymour nearly notched a double-double with 15 points and nine boards.
The Paladins spread out the scoring, as eight players registered at least five points. Marcus Foster paced the squad with 15 points, while Jalen Slawson went for eleven points and eleven rebounds.
ETSU (10-19, 6-10 SoCon) will return home for its final two games of the season. The Citadel visits Freedom Hall on Wednesday at 7 p.m.
