JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Freshman Fletcher Magee delivered a second straight 22-point game and the men's basketball team came all the way back from a 13-point deficit, but fell in a thrilling finish to East Tennessee State University, 71-66, in Saturday afternoon's regular season finale at Freedom Hall.
 
Wofford took its first lead since 4-3 when senior Justin Gordon hit two free throws to put the Terriers ahead 55-53. ETSU went back in front with less than 5 minutes remaining and extended its lead to 65-60 with under a minute and a half to go.
 
The Terriers did not go away and were nearly willed to victory by Magee. The SoCon Freshman of the Year candidate hit two 3-pointers down the stretch, the latter cutting the margin to a single point, 67-66, in the final 30 seconds.
 
The Terriers fouled ETSU's 7-foot senior, Peter Jurkin, who stepped to the line and hit both free throws to put the Bucs in front by three. Wofford came down the floor looking to send the game to overtime, but junior Eric Garcia's shot from the right wing was no good and ETSU (21-10, 14-4 SoCon) collected the rebound to secure the victory.
 
Magee's 22 points came on 5-of-10 shooting, including a 4-for-8 mark from beyond the arc. The nation's leading free throw shooter – entering the game at 92.6 percent – also went 8-for-9 at the stripe.
 
"We fought really hard against a good team that is very good in this building," Wofford head coach Mike Young stated in his postgame radio interview. "I wish we could have had a few possessions back, but we fought. We loaded it up, we competed and I don't know what more I can ask from my team."
 
Wofford (15-16, 11-7 SoCon) is locked into the No. 4 seed for next weekend's Southern Conference Tournament. The two-time defending champions will meet fifth-seeded Western Carolina (15-16, 10-8 SoCon) in the quarterfinals on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. It will mark the sixth meeting between the Terriers and Catamounts at the SoCon Tournament in the last seven seasons.
 
"We'll follow the same plan we've used the last couple of years, which seems to work out pretty well," Young added when asked about how his team will prepare for the tournament. "We'll take tomorrow off. We'll shoot a little bit and get in the weight room on Monday, Then, we've got four days to prepare for the quarterfinals. This team will be ready when we get up there."
 
Young's teams are 12-2 over the last six seasons at the SoCon Tournament, which includes four championships (2010, '11, '14, and '15).
 
Wofford finished Saturday's regular season finale shooting 35 percent from the floor and suffered from a 28-percent second half. Meanwhile, ETSU squeaked out the victory by shooting 51 percent. Wofford outrebounded the Bucs 34-32 and the two teams combined for 56 free throws.
 
Wofford fell behind early as the Buccaneers jumped out to a 17-4 lead on their Senior Day. The senior combo of Ge'Lawn Guyn, Lester Wilson and Duece Bello scored 12 of ETSU's first 15 points.
 
The Terriers worked their way back. Senior Spencer Collins hit a triple that sparked a 17-2 run to get his team back into the ball game. Two free throws by Collins brought the deficit to 22-21.
 
Wofford never did take the lead before halftime, but entered the intermission down 38-37 thanks to a running jumper by Collins at the horn.
 
The first half saw 31 combined fouls called. Wofford made do by going 12-for-17 at the stripe and was outrebounding ETSU, 16-11.
 
The Bucs came out of the locker rooms with the first seven points to open the second half.  Another bucket by Guyn pushed ETSU's lead back to eight with 14:26 remaining.
 
Sophomore Derrick Brooks sank a 3-pointer to make it a 5-point game. ETSU never led by more than that the rest of the way, but held off a furious Terrier rally.
 
Terrier Notes:
- Fletcher Magee recorded his sixth 20-point game of the season and reached double figures for the 11th straight time. Magee also recorded a season-high eight rebounds.
- Spencer Collins made his 131st consecutive start, breaking the program record for games started in a career.
- Spencer Collins had 13 points, marking his 25th game of the season in double figures.
- Wofford is the No. 4 seed for the Southern Conference Tournament.
- A flagrant foul was issued to ETSU's Peter Jurkin at the 9:47 mark of the first half after making contact to the face of Justin Gordon.