East Tennessee State University NCAA News

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } MACON, Ga. - East Tennessee State did the job defensively Monday night against the Atlantic Sun Conference's top team. Unfortunately for the Buccaneers, their offensive effort was a different story.

Shooting just 27 percent from the floor for the game, the Buccaneers posted just 17 first-half points and dropped a 54-46 contest to the Mercer Bears Monday evening inside the University Center. With the win, Mercer improved to 19-7 overall, 11-2 in A-Sun play and remains atop the conference standings, while the Bucs slipped to 12-11, 6-6.

"Again, we did a great job defensively and if you told me they would only have 54 points I would say we win the game," said ETSU head coach Murry Bartow. "But offensively we struggled again. When our three seniors don't play well or are off their game, it is tough for us. I don't want to put it all on them. It's my fault too, but when the ball isn't going in the basket things don't look good."

The Bucs held Mercer to just 37 percent shooting from the floor and an astounding six percent from 3-point range. However, the Bears out-rebounded the Bucs 42- 31 and shot 83 percent (19-of-23) from the free throw line.

In what has become a theme for the season, the Buccaneers were extremely ineffective in the early going offensively, shooting only 26 percent from the floor in the first half. Despite those issues, the Bucs led 14-13 with 8:02 left before the intermission, but looked on as the Bears went on an 11-3 run to close out the half.

The Bucs' defense kept them in the game in the first half, forcing seven Mercer turnovers and denying the Bears from hitting any shots from 3-point range. However, Mercer dominated in the paint with a 21-13 advantage in rebounds, and outscored the Bucs 16-8 on points in the paint.

After the intermission, the Bucs methodically battled back and got to within three at 37-34 with 7:20 left on the clock. At that point, junior forward Lukas Poderis had a chance to get the Bucs even closer, but after missing the front end of a one-and-one opportunity, Mercer took advantage and went on an 8-0 run to build a 45-34 lead with 5:15 remaining in the game.

The Bucs again answered with a 6-0 run of their own to make it 45-40, but after Mercer grabbed yet another offensive rebound on a missed shot, guard Travis Smith sank a basket to stop ETSU's run and make it 47-40 with 1:37 left.

From there, the Bucs began fouling and were able to cut the lead to four at 50-46, but that would be as close as they would get.

ETSU was led offensively by a 13-point, eight-rebound effort from senior guard Adam Sollazzo, while junior guard Jarvis Jones pitched in 11. For Mercer, Bud Thomas, Langston Hall and Smith scored 11 points apiece.

The Bucs will return to action on Saturday at home against North Florida. Game time for that contest is set for 4 p.m.

Louisville is ranked #24 in the AP Top 25 poll this week, and is one of two newcomers.

Stetson's Chris Perez has earned the StatSheet Atlantic Sun Player of the Week for the week ending February 6th.

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } KENNESAW, Ga. - Senior guard Adam Sollazzo scored a game-high 19 points, freshman guard Rashawn Rembert came off the bench to net a crucial 11 and senior Tommy Hubbard made clutch plays down the stretch, leading East Tennessee State to a 64-59 win over Kennesaw State Saturday afternoon inside the KSU Convocation Center.

The win moved ETSU to 12-10 overall, 6-5 in Atlantic Sun play. The Owls dropped to 3-21, 0-12.

With the Bucs trailing 57-54 and 2:37 left on the clock, Hubbard - who played in the game despite suffering from a turf-toe injury - began his game-saving play. He first scored on a traditional 3-point play to make it 57-57, and then after a free throw miss by junior guard Jarvis Jones, Hubbard grabbed an offensive rebound to keep the ball on ETSU's end of the court.

Hubbard later picked up three offensive rebounds in a row on the same possession, before ultimately tapping in a miss to give the Bucs a 60-57 edge with only 20 seconds left in the game.

"You can't say enough about Tommy Hubbard and the effort he brings every game," said ETSU head coach Murry Bartow. "He was big for us down the stretch tonight. Adam played great as well, but I think what Rashawn gave us off the bench may have been the key to the win. His 11 points and when he scored them were really important for us."

The first half closely resembled the last meeting between the Bucs and Owls earlier this season, as Kennesaw State connected on seven 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes and led by as many as 11 at 24-13.

The Bucs, whose offensive issues have become a theme this year, again struggled to score in the early going, but managed to cut the deficit to six at 30-24 at halftime thanks to a Rembert 3-pointer to close out the half.

Guard Delbert Love was the story of the first half, going 5-of-5 from 3-point range and scoring 15 points for the Owls.

In the second half, Rembert's play continued to impress as he opened the half with five straight points, and capped a 13-2 run with a 3-pointer that made it 44-42 in favor of ETSU with 10:07 left in the game.

The ETSU advantage grew to six at 48-42 on a Poderis' layup, but the Owls battled back to regain the lead at 57-54 with 2:57 remaining on the clock.

At that point, Hubbard took over. However, after his fourth and fifth point made it 60-57, it wasn't until Sollazzo and Jones combined to hit four-straight free throws that the Bucs could relax and picked up the win.

For the game, ETSU shot 51 percent from the floor, forced Kennesaw State into 17 turnovers, collected 12 steals and out-rebounded the Owls 26-18. However, the Owls shot the ball well, posting an impressive 57 percent clip from the field and hitting on 58 percent from 3-point range.

Along with Sollazzo and Rembert, senior forward Isiah Brown reached double figures with 14 points. Meanwhile, KSU's Love netted a game-high 19, while Spencer Dixon pitched in 14 and Brandon Dawson had 12.

Adam Sollazzo scored 19 points and helped East Tennessee State rally past Kennesaw State to win 64-59 on Saturday.

"[I've] been rolling, shooting a pretty good field goal percentage as of lately," Brown said.

Isiah Brown scored a season-high 23 points and East Tennessee State University never trailed on the way to a 70-56 Atlantic Sun Conference victory over visiting James Madison University, the Bucs' first win in four games.

Florida Gulf Coast's Sherwood Brown has earned the StatSheet Atlantic Sun Player of the Week for the week ending January 30th.

Gonzaga, who enters the AP Top 25 at #24 this week, leads two new teams in the poll.

For the last five years, Jacksonville has been a consistent contender for the Atlantic Sun Conference's NCAA berth.

The rally was capped by two free throws by Ricardo Glenn. East Tennessee State answered with seven straight points, including a dunk at the buzzer by Adam Sollazzo.Torrey Craig had 11 points and 10 rebounds while Glenn pulled down 17 rebounds for the Spartans Atlantic Sun Conference), who have won three games in a row.

Jodd Maxey scored 16 points and South Carolina-Upstate rallied in the second half and held on for a 58-54 win over East Tennessee State on Friday night.

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At the midway point of the Atlantic Sun Conference schedule, the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers needed a big win against visiting Belmont University to keep pace in the logjam at the top of the standings.

Kentucky makes a return appearance as the number one team in men's basketball, according to the AP Poll, replacing Syracuse who drops to #3. Kentucky takes back the number one ranking following a week in which they first got a victory at home against Arkansas, 86-63. After that came another win at home against Alabama, 77-71. Syracuse falls from ... (more)

"We tried man, tried zone, tried pressing. I thought our guys competed hard. The issue was his nine threes."Lipscomb took an early first half lead and cleared 51.7 percent of its attempts from the field in the frame.ETSU tied the game twice behind buckets from Tommy Hubbard and Lukas Poderis, but were unable to overcome a poor 33.3 percent half ... (more)

Jordan Burgason scored a career-high 33 points, including nine 3-pointers, to lead Lipscomb to a 73-65 win over East Tennessee State Saturday in Atlantic Sun action.

Illinois makes an appearance at #22 in the AP Top 25 poll this week, one of two new teams.

Adam Sollazzo has won the StatSheet Atlantic Sun Player of the Week award for the week ending January 16th.

#leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { width: 50%; padding-top: 1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float: left; margin: 4px 4px 4px 4px; } JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Using a first-half scoring surge, East Tennessee State built a 19-point halftime lead and went on to take a 72- 58 win over Jacksonville in Atlantic Sun Conference men's basketball play Saturday afternoon at Veterans Memorial Arena.

With the win, the Buccaneers improved to 9-7 overall, 4-2 in A-Sun play. Meanwhile, the Dolphins dropped to 2-15, 0-6.

"It's a good win any time you win on the road - especially in conference play," said ETSU head coach Murry Bartow. "The key for us was the first half and building that big lead. I thought we made some big shots down the stretch when they made their run in the second half."

The Bucs got a game-high 18 points from senior guard Adam Sollazzo, while fellow senior guard Tommy Hubbard provided a 16-point, nine-rebound effort. Along with that duo, senior forward Isiah Brown had 13 points, and junior guard Sheldon Cooley netted 11.

In the first half, ETSU led just 15-14 with 12 minutes left before the break, but closed out the first 20 minutes on a 23-5 run to take a 38-19 lead into the locker room.

The Bucs shot a blistering 55.2 percent from the floor in the first half, while holding the Dolphins to just 36.4 percent shooting and forcing 10 turnovers by JU. ETSU got a team-high 12 points from Hubbard in the first half, as the Bucs held a 26-12 advantage on points in the paint and a 12-2 edge on points off turnovers.

In the second half, ETSU led by as many as 21 points at 60-39 with 8:38 left. However, Jacksonville managed to cut into that deficit and made it an 11-point game at 63-52 with 4:04 remaining.

ETSU answered at that point with a 6-0 run to make it 69-52 and ended any JU chance for a rally.

For the game, ETSU shot 55 percent from the floor and forced Jacksonville into 19 turnovers on 10 steals. The Bucs outscored JU 44-28 in the paint, and 23-17 off turnovers. The Dolphins shot 43 percent from the floor for the game.

For JU, three players - Aloys Cabell, Keith McDougald, and Evin Graham - led the way with 10 points apiece.

The Bucs will continue their current Florida road swing on Monday evening, taking on North Florida at 7 inside the UNF Arena.