Furman and East Tennessee State took turns making dazzling runs at each other in Sunday’s nationally televised Southern Conference men’s basketball game at Freedom Hall in Johnson City, Tenn.
Unfortunately for the Paladins, the Buccaneers’ timing was better, and the result was a 72-69 victory that atoned for Furman’s victory in Greenville earlier in the season. The Paladins dominated the beginnings of both halves, the Buccaneers the endings.
In a SoCon race that is remarkably balanced, Furman’s chronic inability to hit free throws is a glaring weakness in games like the one played Sunday. The Paladins are hardly alone, but mediocrity at the free-throw line is common among the also-rans.

In SoCon play, ETSU (6-4) shoots .653, Furman (5-5) shoots .665, Wofford (6-4) .635 and Mercer (4-6) .661. Above them, Samford (8-2) shoots .723, Chattanooga (7-3) .764 and UNC Greensboro (7-3) .729. It makes a difference in close games.
The Paladins lost in spite of committing only one turnover in the entire latter half.
“We threw a punch, they threw a punch, we threw another punch. We had a chance to close the game, and we didn’t do it,” was the way head coach Bob Richey described it to play-by-play man Dan Scott. “The free-throw issue has been with us for a while.

“Tonight it got us.”
ETSU held Furman without a field goal over the final six minutes and ended the game on a 12-2 run to defeat the Paladins. Trailing 67-60 with under three minutes to play, ETSU’s Jaden Seymour completed a three-point play at the foul line and Quimari Peterson converted on a pair of trips to the charity stripe on the Buccaneers’ next possession to trim the Furman advantage to 67-65. After another stop by the ETSU defense, Seymour evened the game at the foul line with 1:40 remaining.

Furman’s PJay Smith Jr. missed a potential go-ahead three, but the Paladins forced a turnover to regain possession with under a minute to go. Cooper Bowser drew a foul, but the Paladin forward missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity and Peterson finished on a drive to the basket with 29 seconds left to put the Bucs in front 69-67. Following an ETSU timeout, Smith was fouled on a drive to the basket and hit on 1/2 trips to the line with 14.9 to play to trim the margin to 69-68.

Down by a point, Furman fouled John Buggs III with 6.8 seconds to go and the guard converted on both free throw attempts. Smith pushed the ball across midcourt and ETSU fouled to send the senior to the line with four seconds on the clock. He made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second, but the Bucs’ Karon Boyd grabbed the rebound and was fouled with three seconds left. Boyd made the first free throw to put ETSU ahead by three points. His second shot missed and was rebounded by Furman’s Eddrin Bronson, who saw his last-second heave bounce off the front of the rim from nearly 60 feet as time expired.

Seymour posted a game-high 23 points while Peterson finished with 16 to lead the Bucs. Boyd registered a double-double with 12 points and game-high 13 rebounds. Buggs rounded out ETSU’s double-figure scorers with 11 points.
ETSU (13-10, 6-4 SoCon) shot .462 from the field, connected on 18/22 trips to the foul line, and scored 23 fastbreak points to snap a five-game skid against the Paladins. The Bucs managed a 32-26 edge in points in the paint.

Smith, the only Paladin in double digits, led Furman with 17 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Furman shot .491 from the field, including 10/27 behind the arc, but converted on just 7/13 trips to the foul line and missed its last six field-goal attempts.
Furman (17-6, 5-5 SoCon) made eight straight shots in the first half to open a 20-7 lead and stretched its advantage to 27-13 before the Buccaneers reeled off 19 straight points, including 11 from Peterson, to take a 32-27 edge. The Paladins held ETSU without a field goal over the final 3:31 of the half, but the Bucs connected on 5/6 free throws in the final two minutes to carry a 37-32 lead into the locker room.

ETSU extended its lead to 44-32 early in the second half and led 56-52 before a 10-0 run by Furman, capped by back-to-back triples from Tom House and Smith, put Furman in front. Nick Anderson’s jumper with 6:01 left gave the Paladins a 64-58 advantage but proved to be the final made field goal of the afternoon for the visitors.

The Paladins return home to host Western Carolina at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at Davis Field House on the campus of Bob Jones University.
Furman’s home contest versus UNC Greensboro, scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 15, at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, has been moved to a noon tip-off.
“Who can get better in February? We don’t have time to feel bad about this. We just really don’t,” Richey said. “We’ve got to reset. We’ve got to learn from it.”
Take a look at the stats here.

Chattanooga turned a big second quarter into a SoCon victory over the Furman women at the Paladins’ one-season North Greenville University home on Saturday.
Caia Elisaldez scored a season-high 24 points and Chattanooga hed off a late Furman run to claim a 68-60 victory at Hayes Gymnasium.
Elisaldez, a sophomore guard, connected on 8/6 shots from the field and was near perfect at the free throw line, converting 8/9 opportunities, which she combined with five assists to pace Chattanooga (10-10, 5-2 SoCon).

Brook Anya followed Elisaldez in the scoring column with 12 points, and Sigrun Olafsdottir rounded out the Mocs’ double figure scoring effort with 11 points.
Sidney Ryan topped four Paladins in double figures with 15 points, followed by Clare Coyle with 13 and Tate Walters and Raina McGowens with 12 each.
Leading 15-14 after a period, Furman (12-11, 2-5 Socon) was outscored 17-5 in the second period, which turned heavily in the Mocs’ favor over the final two and a half minutes of play. After Olafsdottir put down a layup to give UTC a 25-20 lead, both teams missed shots before Furman’s bench was whistled for a technical foul during a Paladin possession. Elisaldez converted the two free throw opportunities, which she followed with a jump shot on the ensuing possession to stretch UTC’s edge to 29-20, and Ava Card completed the late 8-0 spurt with a jumper in the final minute to send the Mocs into the halftime locker room with a 31-20 lead.

Chattanooga led by 15 points in the third quarter before Furman trimmed UTC’s advantage to 46-39 on Coyle layup with 17 seconds remaining in the period.
The Paladins managed to stay within striking distance during the fourth quarter, cutting UTC’s lead to five points on three occasions before finally making it 64-60 following a pair of Ryan free throws with nine seconds on the clock. UTC survived the final seconds, however, with four free throws by Olafsdottir, whose 6/6 work at the stripe capped Chattanooga’s 17/20 free-throw shooting effort.
Both teams recorded similar shooting performances from the field with Chattanooga converting 24/53 shots (.453) and Furman 20/45 (.444). The story was the same at the line, where the Paladins knocked down 16/19 chances.
Chattanooga finished the contest with a 28-27 edge in rebounding.
The Mocs converted 20 Furman turnovers into 17 points while the Paladins followed up 17 UTC miscues with 12 points.
Take a look at the stats here.

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