Bucs nipped at home by Samford, 77-73

Published 8:12 pm Saturday, February 12, 2022

JOHNSON CITY – For the seventh straight game, ETSU men’s basketball had one come down to the wire. Unfortunately, for the sixth time the Buccaneers found themselves on the wrong end of the ledger, as ETSU dropped a 77-73 decision to Samford Saturday evening in front of 4,502 fans inside Freedom Hall.

The Bucs, who dipped to 13-14, 5-9, have had their last seven games decided by four points or less as ETSU also had its 12-game win streak against Samford snapped. The Bulldogs, who defeated ETSU for just the second time in 18 chances, improved to 16-9 overall and 6-7 in SoCon play.

For the game, ETSU shot 45 percent (22-49) from the floor rand 32 percent from beyond the arc (7-22), while Samford finished 54 percent (32-59) from the field and 35 percent from long distance (7-20). For the seventh straight game, ETSU allowed the opposition to shoot over 50 percent in the second half as the Bulldogs posted a 63 percent clip (15-24) in the final 20 minutes.

The Bucs were 22-of-29 from the free throw line, compared to Samford going 6-of-12.

ETSU was outscored 38-28 in the paint but doubled up the Bulldogs in transition points, 24-12.

The Blue and Gold saw their run of having less than 10 turnovers end at seven games, as ETSU coughed the ball up 13 times, resulting in just 10 Samford points. The Bucs scored 16 points off 11 Bulldog turnovers.

After being outscored 42-38 in the first half, but teams scored 35 second-half points.

ETSU erased a 10-point second-half deficit to go ahead by five with 8:24 remaining, but Samford scored 20 of the final 31 points to record the comeback win.

For the second straight game, all five of ETSU’s starters scored in double figures with Jordan King (Albany, N.Y.) netting a team-high 19 points on 5-of-8 shooting (4-7 from three). King was also 5-of-5 at the free-throw line, and grabbed five rebounds and dished out five assists.

Ty Brewer (Meridian, Miss.) and David Sloan (Louisville, Ky.) each finished with 11 points, and Jaden Seymour (Charlotte, N.C.) tallied 10 points and four rebounds. Brewer pulled down four rebounds and Sloan had six of ETSU’s 13 assists.

Ledarrius Brewer (Meridian, Miss.) scored seven of his 12 points at the free-throw line, while adding four rebounds and three steals.

Samford’s Ques Glover scored a game-high 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting, while Jermaine Marshall and Logan Dye – the Bulldogs’ starting forwards – combined for 29 points and 16 rebounds. Glover had 14 second-half points.

ETSU was forced to play from behind the majority of the night as Samford jumped out to an eight-point lead six minutes in and led 22-13 with 11:05 remaining in the first half. The Bucs used a brief 6-0 run – highlighted by Jordan King connecting on three free throws after getting fouled from beyond the arc – to inch within three, but the Bulldogs answered with a 6-0 run of their own to go back up nine, 28-19, with eight and a half minutes left before intermission. ETSU ended the half with a little spurt, cutting an eight-point deficit to four, 42-38.

Both teams shot over 45 percent in the opening 20 minutes, while ETSU was plus-1 in made threes (4-3) and plus-5 in made free throws (10-5). Turnovers and second-chance points proved to be costly in the opening frame as the Bulldogs were plus-6 in points off turnovers, 9-3, and scored 13 points off nine offensive rebounds.

Samford grabbed momentum at the start of the second half as they saw its lead grow to 10, 41-31, following a hook shot in the paint by Logan Dye at the 16:18 mark.

The Bucs battled and tied the game at 51 as King and Ledarrius Brewer each knocked down threes with 13:40 remaining.

However, in a one-minute span, the Bulldogs responded and got back-to-back triples from Jaden Campbell to go back up six.

Again, the Blue and Gold rose to the challenge and fed off the crowd’s energy, as they mounted an 11-0 run to take their largest lead of the night, 62-57, after Charlie Weber (Owings, Md.) converted on an old-fashioned three-point play with 8:24 left in the contest.

Unfortunately, after being hampered with foul trouble in the first half, Glover got hot in the second as he scored seven of the next 10 Bulldog points to regain a 66-63 lead at the 6:17 mark. ETSU was able to pull even at 68 with just under five minutes remaining, but the Bucs just couldn’t get back over the hump.

Glover broke the tie with a jumper on Samford’s next trip down the floor, while ETSU had two empty possessions late where they were down by one in the final four minutes and couldn’t get the go-ahead bucket to fall. Each time the Bucs didn’t convert, Samford came down with a two-point score, extending a one-point lead to three – the final being 74-71 following another jumper by Glover with 1:03 remaining.

ETSU hits the road for two straight games beginning Wednesday night at Mercer. Game time is set for 7 p.m. inside Hawkins Arena.

For more information on ETSU men’s basketball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men’s basketball tab.