JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Feb. 4, 2026) – With 16 minutes left on Wednesday night, ETSU was down by 15. With 10 minutes left, they were down by 12.
When they walked off the floor, they were still alone at the top of the SoCon standings.
The ETSU men’s basketball team used a collective effort to erase a double-digit margin in the second half and rallied to beat Furman 75-71 in overtime in front of more than 4,000 fans at Freedom Hall.
Trailing 51-37 with 10:20 left, the Buccaneers (17-7, 9-2) used a 16-2 run over four minutes to tie the game with eight points from Blake Barkley, four from Jordan McCullum, and four from Cam Morris III. The Bucs led briefly when Jaylen Smith hit a jumper with four minutes remaining to put them ahead 57-56, but the Paladins (16-8, 7-4) answered 12 seconds later to get back in front.
After Barkley got a steal with 28 seconds to go and ETSU down three, Smith got the ball with enough room to fire off a long three from the top of the key and nailed it to put the Bucs level, and Smith stripped Furman guard Alex Wilkins on a drive to the basket to force overtime.
ETSU struck immediately in OT with a Brian Taylor II three pointer that started a 9-2 run that put them in front and kept them there to seal their second win against Furman in as many tries. Six of the last eight games between the Bucs and Paladins have been decided by four points or fewer.
McCullum, Barkley, Taylor, and Smith all scored in double figures for ETSU, with Barkley leading the pack at 15 points. Morris scored nine points and led the Bucs with nine rebounds, combining with Barkley to score 23 points in the second half after neither player hit a field goal in the first half. Allen Strothers led the team with four assists and three steals.
The Bucs shot 43% (26-for-60) for the game but were 53% from the field after halftime, and they were 41% from three (7-for-17) and 73% (16-for-22) on free throws. The Bucs turned the game by scoring 23 points off 21 Furman turnovers while committing just nine, the seventh time in eight games they have committed single-digit turnovers.
The Bucs go back on the road Saturday to visit VMI. Tip is set for 1:00pm at Cameron Hall in Lexington.
