GREENSBORO, N.C. (Feb. 21, 2026) – ETSU brought Brian Taylor II into the program in no small part because of his experience as a conference champion.
His teammates now get to share that experience.
Taylor’s 25 points, including 16 in the second half on 6-for-6 shooting, spearheaded ETSU’s 87-75 win at UNCG on Saturday afternoon to clinch at least a share of the SoCon regular season title for the first time since 2020.
With the Buccaneers (21-8, 13-3) leading 68-65 with 5:41 left, Taylor scored ETSU’s next 10 points, the last seven of which were part of a 10-0 run capped by a Maki Johnson three with 2:24 remaining to match the Bucs’ largest lead over the Spartans (12-17, 8-8) at 13 points, a lead they held to the end.
In addition to Taylor’s 25, Cam Morris III scored 15 points and collected his 600th career rebound, while Jaylen Smith scored 12 points with four assists, and Isaiah Sutherland added 10 off the bench along with five rebounds, which tied Blake Barkley to lead the team in Barkley’s return from injury. Jordan McCullum led the team with three steals.
As a team, the Bucs shot a season-best 60% from the field (33-for-55), the first time they shot better than 60% on field goals since February 1, 2023, against Wofford. Their 21st win marks the 18th most in a season at ETSU.
The Bucs can clinch an outright title as early as tonight, pending the outcome of Wofford’s game against Furman in Spartanburg. If Furman wins, ETSU is the outright regular season champion. If Wofford wins, the Bucs can clinch the outright regular season title by defeating the Terriers themselves on Wednesday at Freedom Hall. Tickets are available at ETSUTickets.com or by calling (423)-439-3878.
For more information on ETSU men’s basketball, go to ETSUBucs.com.
