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A crowd of 5,830 watched as the Bucs took a 28-24 halftime lead and then used a solid 2-3 zone defense to stymie the Golden Eagles' offensive efforts. Sophomore Travis Strong (
"It's a good win and we just needed it badly," said ETSU head coach Murry Bartow, whose team improved to 3-5 on the season. "Overall, it was a much better effort defensively. Anytime you hold a team to 54 points and they shoot just 32 percent you'll take it. We played some man-to-man defense early, but we decided to go to the zone later and it worked well."
Tennessee Tech (3-4), which entered the game averaging 82.0 points per contest, stayed with the Bucs until the midway point of the first half, as the game was tied 18-18 with just over nine minutes left before the intermission. From there, the Bucs built a lead of as many as 10 points at 28-18 with
In the second half, the Golden Eagles stayed close and trailed just 39-37 with
While Strong led the Bucs offensively with season highs for points (14), field goals (4), and 3-point field goals (4), he was joined in double figures by teammates Ben Rhoda (
"Travis really likes to shoot it and I think this should help his confidence," Bartow said. "He's struggled with his shot early on this season, but he'll probably be feeling a little bit better about now after going 5-of-8. I thought Chris gave us some really good minutes tonight. He played well, as did Tim."
For Tennessee Tech, Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Player of the Year Willie Jenkins scored 24 points to lead all scorers. He was not joined in double figures by any other Tennessee Tech player.
The Buccaneers out-rebounded the Golden Eagles 43-35 for the game and shot 71 percent from the charity stripe. Junior post Brad Nuckles (Council,
ETSU will get a seven-day break before returning to action Dec. 18 at Old Dominion. Meanwhile, Tennessee Tech will return to