9:19 am Dominant first half keys ETSU
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.
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