ETSU defeats conference-leading Jacksonville
Daniel Potts
Issue date: 1/28/08 Section: Sports
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The home fans of Jacksonville stood in silence as the first period ended. The shot didn't end the game, but whispers of Hill to Laettner started circle the arena.
The entire game was back and forth ending with an 83-77 victory for the ETSU Bucs against the Jacksonville University Dolphins Friday night in Jacksonville.
The game had 12 ties and 16 lead changes before the Bucs put the game on ice by hitting all 15 of their free throws in the second half. This win gives the Bucs a huge step towards the regular season conference championship.
The first half started with Andrew Reed looking like he was poised for a double-double.
Reed was scoring and rebounding well under the basket all game but foul trouble held him to 10 points and eight rebounds for the game.
JU countered with their own big man Marcus Allen having a phenomenal game scoring 23 points, leading all scorers, and pulling in 11 rebounds.
The second half started with JU getting a little revenge by taking ETSU's slim lead away early.
Head coach Murry Bartow worked hard to get the ball spread to a lot of players and it paid off as ETSU would shoot a lower percentage than JU, but they took care of the ball and got more shots because of the unselfish play. That same unselfish play led to five players scoring in double figures, including Courtney Pigram who poured in 22.
When asked about the play he called at the end of the first half, Bartow said, "Well it's something we work on, but the bottom line is it was just a great pass.
Kevin made a great play to slice behind, and Mike was a high school quarterback which came in handy on that pass."
The game could have gone either way, but ETSU took a big step toward a regular season A-Sun Championship by knocking off a team that was unbeaten in A-Sun play. ETSU is now 10-9 overall and 5-2 in the conference.
JU still leads the conference with a 9-10 overall record, but a 5-1 conference record.