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#1 Seed Bucs made their way to the SoCon Championship on Monday Night, to face #6 Seed Furman to take home the trophy to Johnson City. Interestingly enough, the Men’s Championship as well as Women’s Championship both were #6 vs #1 seeds. And both ended the same.
Setting the Stage;
Starting for The Paladins is Eddrin Bronson, Asa Thomas, Alex Wilkins, Charles Johnston, and Cooper Bowser. Leading The Bucs is Allen Strothers, Brian Taylor II, Blake Barkley, Cam Morris III, and Jordan McCullum.
This year, ETSU swept Furman in the prior two contests, and seeking to claim the SoCon title in tandem with Season Champs for the 2025-2026 season. However, The Paladins are coming in hot fueled by desire to make a win against The Bucs, but this one’s for keeps.
First Half Struggle for The Bucs;
The Bucs started out hot, claiming the Jumpball. The Bucs then went on a 6-2 run, with a dunk from Morris, jumper by Strothers, and a layup from Morris. The run ended at 17:53, and Furman scoring a 3 to tie it up ay 17:22. This ended The Bucs lead for the rest of the half.
The Bucs continued to fight back, bringing the deficit as low as 1, thanks to a jumper from Strothers at 9:53, score 23-22. Shortly after, The Paladins had a 7-0 run to control the board even further. Maki Johnson and Jaylen Smith broke the scoreless streak with a driving layup from Johnson at 5:26, and a 3 from Smith at 4:46. This inched The Bucs closer to tying it up, but Furman responded with another 5 score run.
A clutch layup from Barkley at 3:33, and a steal from Johnson leading to a layup at 3:13 brought some spark back to The Bucs. However, The Paladins kept responding. By 1:21, the score was 41-31 Furman. Powering through though, Barkley forced a 4-0 run with a driving layup and 2 FT’s at 00:46. Furman ended the half with a FT from Bowser to boost the lead to 42-35 Furman.
Top performers in the First were Barkley, Morris and Smith. Barkley scoring 10 points, 2 rebounds, and 1 assist. Smith and Morris each scored 6 points, and 1 assist. Smith also contributed 2 assists to the team. The Bucs as a whole shot for 14-26 on FG’s, 2-7 on 3’s, and 5-7 on FT’s.
Paladin leaders were Bowser with 14 points, going 100% of shots attempted. Bowser also contributed 5 assists and 2 rebounds. Additionally, another First Half leaders was Tom House, with 8 points, 1 rebound and 2 assists.
Paladins up, Bucs Struggle in the Second;
The Bucs are down 7 coming back from the half, and some much needed urgency has to be brought to the court, especially since The Bucs until this matchup are 5-7 when trailing at the half. The Paladins however are 16-5 when leading at halftime.
In the entirety of the second half, The Bucs struggled to bring the deficit lower than 9 points. The Bucs continued to power through a very strong defense and a very physical one at that from Furman. Stats wise, The Bucs declined in the second, shooting 41% for FG’s, 11% for 3’s, and 45% from the FT line. When The Bucs would push an effort to rally back, The Paladins would respond in force with a heavy offensive presence down the court.
he Paladins on the other hand ended the contest shooting 50% for FG’s, 38% from 3. and 80% from the FT line. This is lower than their first half dominance, showing The Bucs consistent effort to keep The Paladins at bay. No matter the effort, Furman pushed through and continued to keep the gap just large enough to keep The Bucs from recovering.
The Bucs lead scorers for the 40 minute contest was Brian Taylor and Blake Barkley. Taylor scored 16 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and a block. Barkley shot 5-9 FG’s, 4-4 FT’s, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal and 1 block.
End of a Run for ETSU?
This could be the end of ETSU’s postseason run, unless there’s a bid in the future for The Bucs. Due the removal of the auto-bid for Conference Season Champs The Bucs may get a bid to NIT. However, they also may not make the cut.
Win or lose, The Bucs have had a record season, and certainly have a record to be proud of.
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