Johnson City, Tenn. – Western Carolina's Ice Emery drained a 3-pointer with four and a half minutes remaining in a seesaw first half that gave the Catamounts a two-point, 31-29 lead. However, homestanding East Tennessee State closed the opening half on a 15-to-4 run to lead by nine at the break before outscoring WCU 20-to-9 over the first 10 minutes of the second half to earn an 85-58 Southern Conference victory at Freedom Hall.
 
The win by the Buccaneers halted a six-game series winning streak by the Catamounts in the head-to-head series as ETSU won for the first time since 2022.
 
Coming off the bench on Wednesday night, senior forward Bernard Pelote led the Catamounts with 21 points, connecting six field goals and three from beyond the arc with a 6-for-6 night at the free throw line. Redshirt sophomore Cord Stansberry added 14 points, sinking all five free throw attempts, while Emery – who returned to the starting lineup for the first time since the mid-December match-up with top-ranked Tennessee – rounded out WCU's double-figure scorers with 11 points.
 
Junior Vernon Collins pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds including five on the offensive glass to lead the Catamounts, though WCU was outrebounded 46-to-31 in the loss. The Bucs held a 20-to-13 edge in offensive boards that led to a 25-to-5 edge in second-chance points.
 
Jaden Seymour led all players with a career-high 34 points with four 3-pointers and a 12-of-13 performance at the free throw line. He capped his double-double effort with 13 rebounds for the Bucs. Quimari Peterson chipped in 13 points while Gabe Sisk rounded out the double-figure scoring with 11. Peterson also dished out a game-best four assists and three of ETSU's seven steals.
 
ETSU (12-8, 5-2 SoCon) got out to a fast start with seven of the first 10 points on Wednesday evening to seize early control before back-to-back baskets by Emery and Pelote evened the game at seven for the first of five ties on the night. The Bucs used the 3-pointer to stretch the lead to six before a 6-to-2 burst cut the deficit to two, 15-13 with 10:58 to play in the first half.
 
The two teams went back and forth over the next two minutes before a Bucs' three allowed the hosts to take a 27-21 lead with 6:40 to play in the half. WCU quickly answered with seven-straight points to take its first lead of the half on a Pelote layup, 28-27. Down one, Emery sank his 3-pointer at the 4:27 mark to give the Catamounts what proved to be their final advantage of the night.
 
The Buccaneers closed the half on the 15-to-4 scoring spurt to take its largest lead of the half, 44-35 into the halftime locker room. WCU was limited to four points by CJ Hyland on one field goal and a pair of free throws to close the half, shooting 1-for-6 and committing a pair of turnovers over the final four minutes.
 
Emery connected on an early 3-pointer out of the break to pull the Catamounts back to within six, 44-38, before consecutive Seymour treys gave ETSU its first double-digit lead at 50-38. The Buccaneer advantage then hovered between 10 and 14 points over the next four minutes as the two teams traded baskets.
 
Pelote added a pair of quick free throws at the 13:53 mark to close the deficit to a dozen. However, ETSU scored before 14 straight points as part of a 20-to-5 stretch to build its lead to a game-high 29, 78-49, with three and a half minutes to play.
 
The Catamounts continued to battle until the final horn, but the decisive second-half spurt by the Buccaneers proved to be too much to overcome in the loss.
 
After shooting 44% from the floor in the first half, WCU saw its production cut in half after intermission, finishing 6-of-27 or 22% over the second 20 minutes. It was WCU's second-straight SoCon road game where the Catamounts struggled from the field after the break after shooting just 23% at VMI one week ago. Conversely, ETSU made one more field goal in the second half than it did in the first, improving its 44% performance with five first-half 3-pointers with a 47% close, adding four more triples for nine in the win.
 
The Catamounts stay on the road to close out a brief two-game road swing on Saturday, Jan. 25, with a trip to Charleston to battle The Citadel at the McAlister Field House. Tip-off with the Bulldogs is slated for 1 p.m.
 
Saturday's game will be shown on ESPN+ (paid subscription required), with live audio coverage through the Catamount Sports Network available online at CatamountSports.com and on 105.7 FM / 540 AM WRGC "The River" in Sylva. Live stats are also available via a link on CatamountSports.com.
 
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