The Southern Conference Tournament seemingly delivers the goods year-in and year-out, rarely ever disappointing in terms of producing multiple thrilling endings throughout the course of the weekend, and the 2024 Tournament will likely be mostly remembered for its final two matchups of the day in both the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, respectively, with both needing overtime to decide and both seeing lower seeds emerge victorious.
In the final quarterfinal on Saturday night, Furman came back from a 12-point deficit in the first half to claim what was a 79-76 overtime win over Western Carolina. In Sunday night's epic semifinal classic, ETSU posted its comeback win with just over 14 minutes remaining in the game, trailing by 20 points with 14:16 left (54-34) only to use the press to help fuel a furious rally en route ton what was a unforgettable 85-84 overtime win over Chattanooga.
With former boss and ETSU head coach Steve Forbes looking on, the pupil Brooks Savage made his mentor smile at the end of Sunday night's game, and now Savage must figure out how to get his Bucs enough legs and energy to find enough for one more fight in Monday night's championship game against top seed and 28-win Samford.
Semifinal 1
No. 1 Samford 84, No. 5 Furman 77
Tournament top seed Samford held No. 5 and defending champion Furman to 34.2% (21-of-61) and Achor Achor scored 28 points and ripped down 14 rebounds, as the Bulldogs became the 10th-straight No. 1 seed to reach the championship game, as the Bulldogs held off the feisty Paladins, 84-77, in the first of two semifinal matchups Sunday evening at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center.
With the win, the Bulldogs improved to 28-5 overall, while the Paladins conclude their 2023-24 season with a 17-16 overall mark. Furman finishes the season tied with UNC Greensboro for most wins since the start of the 2015-16 season, as the Paladins and Spartans both have 198 victories over that span. The Paladins are now 198-98 over the past nine seasons overall, while the Spartans sport a 198-100 mark.
The Bulldogs have not made an NCAA Tournament appearance since 2000, and will face () in Monday night’s championship matchup. The game will also mark the Bulldogs’ first championship appearance since their days as an Ohio Valley Conference member, which saw them lose to Murray State.
The Bulldogs will face off against East Tennessee State, which makes its first appearance since 2020. The Bucs will be making their third appearance in the title game since returning as a league member in 2014-15, winning the 2020 and 2017 editions of the title game, respectively. The Bucs also dropped a 63-47 contest to UNCG in 2018.
ETSU’s 79-74 win as a three seed over No. 1 UNC Greensboro in 2017 marked the only time in the past nine SoCon Tournaments that a No. 1 seed has lost a championship game. The No. 1 seed is 8-1 in the past nine title tilts, including having won six-straight.
The Bulldogs improved to 10-15 all-time in Southern Conference Tournament action, while also moving to 3-4 all-time against Furman in the tournament. The Bulldogs claimed two out the three meetings on the season, as Samford also held off Furman, 74-72, in Birmingham in late February.
Furman fell to 58-64 all-time in the Southern Conference Tournament, which includes a 12-18 mark in the semifinal round of the tournament.
The Paladins actually handed Samford its first of three SoCon losses, with a 78-68 win in Greenville, snapping the Bulldogs’ 17-game winning streak, which was tops in Division college basketball at the time.
Achor Achor finished his evening going 12-of-15 from the field, and went 1-for-1 from three-point range, as well as connecting on 3-of-5 from the charity stripe. The 14 rebounds matched a season and career-high for Achor, and marked his third double-double of the season.
Joining Achor in double figures in the winning effort were Jaden Campbell and Rylan Jones, who finished with 14 and 11 points, respectively.
The Paladins were paced in the losing effort by JP Pegues, who record his 16th game of the season with 20 or more points, following up his 28-point performance in the quarterfinal win over Western Carolina by adding 22 in the semifinals against Samford. The native of Nashville, Tenn., closed out his junior season as a Paladin by connecting on 4-of-12 shots from the field, including 3-for-7 from long-range, and was 11-of-14 from the charity stripe.
Carter Whitt finished off one of his better performances of the season, adding 20 points on 7-of-11 from the field, including 4-of-5 from three-point land and was 2-of-2 from the line.
Furman got off to a quick start, and a Ben VanderWal layup of a missed three-pointer from Marcus Foster, who scored the Paladins' first eight points of the game, gave the Paladins their largest lead of the contest, at 23-14.
From there, the wheels became to run of the championship train for the Paladins, which would struggle to score for the remainder of the opening half of play, as the Bulldogs closed the opening half on a 20-5 run, which included a stretch for the Paladins that saw them miss their final 12 shots of the frame, which led to a 34-28 Samford halftime advantage. The Paladins finished the final 4:40 of the opening half without a field goal.
The Bulldogs assumed complete control of the game in the opening minutes of the second half, using a 14-7 run out of the locker room to assume a 48-35 advantage following three Jaden Campbell foul shots after he was fouled on a three-pointer by Alex Williams with 15:19 left.
Samford eventually took its largest lead of the night on a big dunk off the right side following a Paladin turnover, making it a 66-50 Bulldogs advantage with 5:40 left.
Furman employed its own version of a press to trim the Bulldogs lead to five following a JP Pegues three with 38 seconds remaining, however, it was too little too late for the defending champions, who finally had their crown stolen by the Bulldogs, as their will be a new Southern Conference champion in 2024.
For the game, Samford connected on 54.9% (28-of-51) from the field, which included just a 6-for-21 (28.6%) effort from three-point land. The Bulldogs shot 68.6% (22-of-32) from the charity stripe.
The Paladins on the other hand, connected on just 34.4% (21-of-61) from the field, which included a 28.9% (11-of-38) effort from long range.
The Bulldogs held a substantial 42-20 edge in points in the paint, while Furman finished the game holding advantages in points from turnovers (25-18), second-chance points (7-6), and bench scoring (32-24).
Samford also held a narrow 36-34 edge in total rebounds, as well as posting a 15-12 advantage in total assists.
Semifinal No. 2
No. 7 East Tennessee State 85, No. 3 Chattanooga 84
The second semifinal of the evening was the best game of the 2024 Southern Conference Tournament, and it was the second-straight night that the 2024 tournament saw the final matchup of the night needing an extra five minutes to decide, as No. 7 East Tennessee State rallied from a 20-point deficit with a little over 14 minutes remaining to stun Chattanooga, 85-84, in overtime at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center Asheville.
In recent tournaments, we’ve seen some similar trends of teams overcoming large deficits within games to tie games or even take leads in the second half, however, what transpired in the second semifinal matchup was truly remarkable, as well as a testament to what first-year head coach Brooks Savage in terms of a winning culture to the ETSU basketball program.
The win saw the Bucs improve to 19-15 overall, and will move on to play in the championship game for the 13th time in school history, while their opponent—the No. 1 seed Samford Bulldogs—will be taking part in their first tournament championship game since joining the SoCon in 2008. It was ETSU's 188th win since the start of the 2015-16 season, which is second to only Furman and UNC Greensboro in total wins over the past nine seasons.
The Mocs finished their 2023-24 season with a 21-12 mark. The Bucs improved to 45-25 all-time in the Southern Conference Tournament, including upping their overall mark to 10-8 in tournament games against the Mocs. Chattanooga fell to 64-35 in tournament play all-time.
The Bucs are 8-4 in title game matchups, and their eight tourney titles rank second only to current SoCon member Chattanooga, which has won 12. The Bucs became the four No. 7 seed to reach the title game in the past seven seasons, looking to become the first team to win four games in the tournament since 1939.
The Bucs kept their bitter rivals from the Volunteer State at 12 titles, preventing the Mocs from reaching their third-straight Monday night title tilt by using a furious second half rally, which saw Brooks Savage employ a tenacious press that Dan Earl simply had no answers or adjustments for.
ETSU would be led in scoring in the contest by Quimari Peterson, who dropped in a game-high 27 points on 8-of-24 shooting from the field, which included a 5-for-14 effort from three-point range and was also 6-of-9 at the charity stripe.
Ebby Asamoah, who fouled out with 4:38 remaining, posted 21 points and 21 minutes of action and was one of the key components in the epic come-from-behind win for the Bucs. Asamoah was 50% from the field, connecting on 8-for-16 from the field, which included a 5-for-9 effort from three. All-SoCon selection Jaden Seymour finished out the contest as the final Bucs player in double figures, finishing with 15.
Chattanooga was led by Jan Zidek, who posted 26 points, while Trey Bonham added 19 points and 11 rebounds in the loss. Honor Huff posted 16 points and Sam Alexis finished with 11 before fouling out.
Zidek, who was a grad transfer from Pepperdine, finished his final game for Chattanooga by going 7-of-12 from the field and 1-for-4 from three-point land, while posting an 11-of-12 performance from the charity stripe.
At the center of ETSU's magical come-from-behind win was their work on the backboards, and in particular, on the offensive glass, securing 24 offensive boards en route to a 52-41 advantage on the glass. It also led to an 18-3 advantage in second-chance points for the Bucs.
If that stat doesn't blow your mind, check this out. The Bucs won the game despite shooting 17.1% (6-of-35) in the opening half of play and only 32.9% (26-of-79) for the game. The Bucs found themselves behind 38-27 at the break.
As much as the scoring was a part of ETSU's memorable semifinal win, it was the sum of its parts that also played a major role with a number of winning plays that don't always show up on a stats sheet, including Allen Strothers, who came off the bench to record five steals and knocked away a late ball on an apparent clear breakaway layup for the Mocs off an ETSU turnover. Strothers' five steals in the game were a career-high.
The Bucs knocked down double-digit threes for the third-straight game, connecting on 12-of-37 () from long-range. Meanwhile, Chattanooga, which came into the game leading the SoCon and ranking fifth nationally in three-pointers made with 343, connected on just 6-of-17 long-range attempts in the contest. The Bucs ended up outscoring the Mocs 36-18 from beyond the arc.
The six threes by the Mocs marked just the 10th time this season that UTC has failed to reach double digits in made long-range efforts, with only the five made threes against Mercer on Jan. 17 in a road win ranking as a lower total of made threes this season.
The five made triples against the Bears marked the first time in 52-straight games in Dan Earl's short tenure as head coach of Chattanooga that the Mocs had failed to connect on at least six threes in a game, which had been the longest streak in NCAA Division I college basketball.
The Mocs also connected on just six threes a win over Southeast Missouri (W, 72-56) and a loss vs. Samford (L, 58-78). The 17 attempted threes were the second fewest of the season, with only the game against SEMO ranking lower, as the Mocs only put up 16 triple attempts in that contest.
Meanwhile, ETSU's 853 attempted threes this season and is a school record, while the 266 made threes rank in the Top 10 all-time in made three-point field goals.
The Keydets were once again without their leading scorer and best player Brennan Watkins, but it probably wouldn’t have mattered as ETSU was a buzzsaw for much of the ecvening.
With its 98 points the most points against a Division I opponent this season, the Bucs improve to 17-15 overall and will now face UNC Greensboro in the quarterfinals of the tournament in a 2:30 p.m. contest. The Keydets conclude their season with a 4-28 overall mark .
The Bucs improved to 3-1 all-time in the tournament against VMI, while also improving to 43-25 all-time in Southern Conference Tournament play. The 32-point win by the Bucs was its largest since beating The Citadel by 34 points in (89-55) in the 1992 SoCon Tournament, which ETSU won as the top overall seed.
The Bucs and Spartans will be meeting for the fourth time in conference tournament play, as UNCG holds the slight 2-1 lead in postseason meetings. Two of the previous three meeting between the two have come in the championship game, with ETSU capturing a 79-74 win in the 2017 tournament, while the Spartans would return the favor the very next season, handing ETSU a 62-47 setback the very next season.
The win marked ETSU’s first in Asheville in the Southern Conference Tournament since 2021, when the Bucs defeated Chattanooga, 63-53, in the quarterfinals before bowing out in the semifinals with a loss to eventual champion and top overall seed UNCG, dropping a 77-65 contest.
In the win, the Bucs had 11 players score in the contest and shot a season-best 52% (32-of-62) from the field, while also finishing out the game with 18 assists. The Bucs also finished out the game by connecting on 11-of-20 from three-point land.
Tyler Rice came off the bench to lead ETSU with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the field, while Jaden Seymour, Jadyn Parker and Maki Johnson each added 12 points to the ETSU cause. Ebby Asamoah and Braden Illic finished with 11 points apiece to round out the blowout win.
Illic’s final points came with a tad of controversy, as the result had been well decided and with time winding down towards the final buzzer, Illic’s three was good, which caused for an icy handshake line and a skirmish ensued with some pushing and shoving, however, no serious altercation ensued and the two teams retreated to their respective locker rooms inside the Harrah’s Cherokee Center.
ETSU was not crisp in the early stages of the game, but despite not really turning it on until the second half, the Bucs still managed to head to the half by scoring 42 points.
The Bucs trailed 20-16 when DJ Nussbaum knocked down a jumper just right of the paint with 12 minutes left in the opening frame. However, a 26-11 run over the next 12 minutes saw the Bucs take complete control of the game and assume control of the game, taking a 42-31 lead into the half.
ETSU’s dominance continued in the early stages of the second half, as the Bucs continued to add to its lead, increasing the advantage to 21 points when DJ Hughes found Seymour for an open three to make it 57-36 game with 15:53 remaining.
VMI was able to cut the deficit to 15 once more, but ETSU responded to push the lead back to more than 20 on a Maki Johnson triple, at 65-44, with 11:29 left. The Bucs then cleared the bench when Gabe Sisk found Tyler Rice in the open floor for a layup, increasing the lead to 30 for the first time all night, at 82-52.
Four Keydets finished the night with four in double figures, with Taeshaud Jackson leading the way with a double-double, using a 16 points and 10 rebounds.
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