In the 99th all-time meeting between the East Tennessee State Buccaneers and Chattanooga, the Bucs suffered a tough loss at home. The Buccaneers lost the battle 81-74.

Ebby Asamoah (Rockville, Md.) led the Buccaneers in scoring, putting up 22 points on the night. A solid performance for him on the season. Quimari Peterson (Gary, Ind.) had a fantastic night, almost obtaining a double-double. Peterson finished the game with 18 points, nine rebounds, and two assists. Accompanying Peterson’s performance was Jaden Seymour (Charlotte, N.C.) who also had 18 points, shooting six for seven from the free throw line.

Jan Zidek of the Chattanooga Mocs had his third highest scoring game of the season, he scored 21 points in the victory over the Bucs. Trey Bonham was clutch in the game, shooting 60 percent from beyond the arc and over 66 percent at the charity stripe. Sam Alexis was a great asset to the team recording 10 points and nine rebounds.

Chattanooga took an early 8-5 lead on the Bucs and continued to hammer shots from beyond the arc until their lead became 19-8. East Tennessee State rallied up and answered back with a lengthy 20-4 run which would give them a 28-23 lead. Soon the match would be tied, 31-31.

Later in the half Bonham connected from deep to land a shot that would put the Mocs up 36-32 as the game went into halftime.

Out of the break the Mocs were heating up, pushing their lead to seven making the score 44-37 but the Bucs managed to slow them down cutting their lead down to just two points with a little over 13 minutes to play making the score 47-45.

Photo taken during a play at the men’s basketball game. (Will Rowland/East Tennessean)

The Buccaneers kept the Mocs on their toes all night not making it an easy match, often coming close to capturing a lead late in the second half. Ultimately East Tennessee State lost momentum and allowed Chattanooga to score on their last three attempts, which led to an 81-74 loss.

The Buccaneers sit at 9-11 after their loss while the Mocs move up to 13-7. East Tennessee State looks to end their current losing streak in Lexington, Virginia when they take on VMI on Jan. 24. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.

For more information about ETSU men’s basketball, visit ETSUBucs.com.

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