DeAnthony Tipler/Men's Basketball | East Tennessee State University
DeAnthony Tipler/Men's Basketball | East Tennessee State University
A quick Furman burst right before halftime took the wind out of Buccaneers’ sails.
Trailing by six with less than four minutes before the break, ETSU saw Furman score 11 straight points and the Blue and Gold were unable to overcome the surge as the Paladins went on to deliver ETSU a 14-point setback, 70-54, in front of 4,136 fans on Saturday evening inside Freedom Hall.
The Bucs, who suffered their fifth straight home loss, dipped to 6-11 overall and 2-2 in Southern Conference play. Furman, the preseason SoCon favorite, improved to 12-5, 3-1. This marks ETSU’s longest home losing streak since the 1996-97 season.
Both teams attempted 60 shots with Furman netting 25 and ETSU making 20. The Paladins were plus-8 in made threes, 11 to 3, while Furman scored 22 points off 16 Buccaneer turnovers. The Bucs out-rebounded the Paladins by seven, 42-35, but Furman turned 10 offensive rebounds into 17 second-chance points. ETSU had 16 offensive boards and 16 second-chance points.
Three Bucs scored in double figures with DeAnthony Tipler (Ashland, Miss.) finishing with a team-high 15 points off the bench, while Jalen Haynes (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) battled foul trouble and posted 13 points and six rebounds. Jordan King (Albany, N.Y.) scored all five points at the free throw line as he was 0-for-9 from the field and missed all four three-point attempts, snapping his streak with at least one made three at 34 games.
ETSU took the early lead when Allen Strothers (Newport News, Va.) scored on the opening possession, but from there it was all Furman.
The Paladins scored 14 of the next 16 points to grab a 10-point lead.
The closest the Bucs would get was six at 26-20, but then Furman mounted its 11-0 run with Marcus Foster hitting three straight threes and the Paladins took a 37-23 lead into intermission.
Furman led by as many as 22 points in the second half and ETSU was able to cut to 13 when King sank a pair of free throws, making it 58-45 with 6:11 left play. The Bucs couldn’t inch any closer as Furman won inside Freedom Hall for the first time Feb. 25, 2018.
Both teams scored 33 second-half points as ETSU was outscored 37-23 in the first 20 minutes.
Furman was led by Foster’s 21-point, 11-rebound performance, while Jalen Slawson added 16 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.
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