Furman couldn’t maintain their strong start on Sunday as ETSU stormed back to win 72-69 on their home floor.
After a one-point victory over Southern Conference front-runner Samford, the Dins entered Sunday’s game against East Tennessee State University with strong momentum, taking firm control of the game. Junior forward Charlie Johnston and freshman guard Eddrin Bronson both made threes off the bench to stretch the lead to 10 points in the first eight minutes of game time. Senior guard Nick Anderson, who had a career-defining, 24-point game against Samford, drove inside for a layup to build the lead to 14 before the Buccaneers began to charge back.
Furman was unable to respond in the second part of the first half as ETSU caught fire from beyond the arc and got their crowd back into the game. The Buccaneers were in the midst of a 19-0 run and a five-point lead before senior forward Garrett Hein drilled a three-pointer. Furman paced ETSU relatively well for the rest of the half before heading to the locker room down 37-32.
The second half began very differently than the first as ETSU built an early lead on the Paladins thanks to great defense by their guards, creating turnovers that led to multiple transition layups. It was evident that ETSU’s game plan was to frustrate Anderson as much as possible, and the Buccaneer guards denied him the ball with a smothering face guard each trip down the floor.
Despite facing adversity, Furman clawed their way back by focusing on easy baskets. With eight minutes to go, a three-pointer by junior guard Tom House gave the Dins the lead back.
Furman was able to mount a seven-point lead with three minutes to go before ETSU went on another lethal run. A mix of free throws and layups gave the Buccaneers a 69-67 lead with under a minute to play, and it was poor free-throw shooting from the Paladins (54%) that allowed ETSU (82%) to keep that lead until the clock hit zeroes.
Despite outshooting ETSU from the three-point line and the field as a whole, Furman found itself on the losing side of the scoreboard. Senior guard PJay Smith Jr. led the team in scoring with 17 points.
Furman will be back in action Wednesday at Davis Fieldhouse on the campus of Bob Jones University playing against Western Carolina at 7 p.m. on ESPN+, where they will look to jump back to a positive record in Southern Conference play.