Smothering defense drops Jacksonville
71-59 victory pulls Bucs into a tie with Belmont for A-Sun lead
Robyn Kale
Issue date: 1/18/07 Section: Sports
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The Bucs are now 7-1 in conference and share the lead with Belmont.
The defense was impressive as the Bucs made Jacksonville turn it over 21 times. As a team, ETSU blocked 15 shots and had 14 steals.
Senior forward Brad Nuckles received his third straight double-double with 23 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks.
"We are playing really well on defense, but our offense needs to step up," Nuckles said.
Eryk Thomas, senior forward, also had a big night with 12 rebounds, eight points and six blocks.
"Our team is young and athletic which is good for getting up and down the court," Thomas said.
Nuckles commented on the nice combination of Thomas and himself. "Thomas is an excellent defender and I feed off of him," he said.
Andrew Reed, junior forward, brought the crowd to their feet with a highlight reel-dunk in the game.
He came for the rebound and slammed it home from about the middle of the lane.
The crowd didn't get a chance to catch their breath as Thomas went for a thunderous dunk right after that.
Coach Murry Bartow said that he feels defensively they are doing great but they need to assess what is going on at the offensive end.
"We haven't been shooting the ball well," Bartow said.
"We need to figure out why we aren't getting the shots to go in."
Bartow also commented on the combination of Thomas and Nuckles.
"Thomas is the best defender I've seen," Bartow said. "He defended a guy that was just six foot tonight and Friday will be going up against a 6'6" guy.
Brad was amazing again tonight. I don't know what he has been eating but I hope he keeps it up."
The Bucs take on Kennesaw State Friday night at 7:30. The game will also be televised on CSS as the game of the week.
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