9:01 am Burgason, Bison sink Buccaneers
JOHNSON CITY — Jordan Burgason couldn’t be stopped.
The Lipscomb senior, whom coach Scott Sanderson called the best shooter he’s ever coached, torched ETSU for a career-high 33 points with nine treys and led the Bison to a 73-65 victory over the Bucs at MSHA Athletic Center.
“We didn’t have an answer for Burgason,” said ETSU coach Murry Bartow. “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 (15-of-29) 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 shooting (12-of-36) and control the three-point shooting of Burgason, who drained 5-of- 7 behind the arch in the frame to lead a nine-point halftime edge.
“As long as he can see the rim, it’s got a chance of going in,” said Lipscomb coach Scott Sanderson of his standout.
Jarvis Jones struck back for the Bucs in the second half, scoring eight in a row — including a pair of treys — to make it a two-point game.
“It gave us some momentum,” said Jones, who led ETSU with a career-high 18 points. “Our press started working and we got some steals.”
Hubbard, Sheldon Cooley and Lukas Poderis stretched the run to 17-0 and a seven-point lead before Martin Smith broke Lipscomb’s drought with a three-point play.
Burgason then struck again for the Bison, hitting treys on three of the next four possessions to return the lead to the visitors.
“He’s one of the best shooters in the league,” said Hubbard, who added a double-double 14 points and 10 boards for ETSU. “Good shooters make open shots.”
Isiah Brown sliced it to one with an ally-oop for the Bucs, but Smith followed with a trey and Lipscomb converted from the charity stripe in the final moments to secure the win.
“It’s a tough loss,” Bartow added. “We just didn’t play well enough to win. You’ve got to give Lipscomb credit but there’s no need to panic. It’s going to come down to (Atlantic Sun tourney in) Macon anyway.”
Smith added 17 for Lipscomb, while Cooley scored 10 for the Bucs.
ETSU meets Belmont in a key Atlantic Sun matchup Monday at 7 p.m.
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