Terriers rally from 10 down in the second half to end Bucs’ four-game win streak

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (Feb. 6, 2017) – Despite leading for the first 32 minutes of the contest, the ETSU men’s basketball team was unable to hold on as Wofford scored 23 points in the final eight minutes to rally for a 79-76 win on Monday night inside Benjamin Johnson Arena. 

The Bucs – who had their four-game win streak snapped – led 49-39 with 14:15 remaining and by six with nine minutes left, however, Wofford used a 12-0 run to take its first lead since the opening basket and the Terriers never trailed for the final five minutes. After falling behind, the Blue and Gold continued to battle as a pair of free throws by Desonta Bradford (Humboldt, Tenn.), followed by a Wofford five-second call and a T.J. Cromer (Albany, Ga.) three-pointer from the corner made it a 77-76 game with 18 seconds remaining. The Bucs were forced to foul and Eric Garcia made both free throws, while Bradford’s attempt for a tying three-pointer was off the mark as the buzzer sounded, which secured Wofford’s third straight win. 

Cromer led the Bucs with 24 points on 8-of-13 shooting (5-of-7 from beyond the arc) and added five rebounds in 34 minutes. Hanner Mosquera-Perea (Istmina, Colombia) and Devontavius Payne (Carbondale, Ill.) both pitched in with 11 points, while Tevin Glass (Norcross, Ga.) finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists. 

As a team, ETSU shot 50.9 percent (28-55) from the field and 9-of-18 from three, however, 21 turnovers accounted for 25 points for the Terriers. Meanwhile, Wofford finished at 45 percent (24-53) from the field and drained 13 of its 25 three-point attempts, along with being plus-7 at the free throw line. The Terriers were 18-of-24, compared to ETSU’s 11-of-14 clip. The Bucs outscored Wofford in the paint, 36-16. 

With the loss, ETSU dropped to 18-6, 8-3 and moved one-game back of league-leading Furman, while Wofford improved to 12-13, 7-5. The Terriers have won nine of their 10 home games this season. 

Following the game head coach Steve Forbes talked about ETSU’s final play and how the Bucs missed on a chance to pick up a key conference road win. 

“I called a play and they wanted to run something else and there was some confusion,” said Forbes. “They ended up running the play that they thought would work and it didn’t. That’s my job, to organize them and get them in the right place. It was a golden opportunity to come on the road and get a win and we didn’t do it."

ETSU came out firing to start the first half as they made four of its first five shots and led 9-2 with 16:52 on the clock. The Terriers clipped their deficit to one, 13-12, but the Bucs registered a 15-3 run and a layup by Cromer made it 28-15 with 6:02 left in the half. From there, ETSU’s lead hovered around the 10-point mark, but with the Bucs leading 33-22, Wofford closed the final four and a half minutes on an 8-3 run to make it a 36-30 score at the break. Cromer’s three-pointer at the buzzer stopped eight unanswered points by Wofford and shifted momentum back to the Blue and Gold at the half. 

The Bucs made nine of their first 12 shots of the half and shot 64 percent (14-22) in the opening 20 minutes, while outscoring Wofford by 10 in the paint, 16-6. Turnovers haunted the Blue and Gold as they turned the ball over 16 times, resulting in 17 points for the Terriers. 

After the break, ETSU cut down on its turnovers as they only committed five in the final 20 minutes and built five 10-point leads in the half. Unfortunately, the Bucs’ hot shooting faded as ETSU went over five minutes without a bucket and Wofford mounted its 12-0 run to take control. Back-to-back threes by Nathan Hoover and Fletcher Magee put the Terriers up 68-62 with 4:21 remaining – and despite pulling within one on three separate possessions – ETSU was unable to regain the lead. Wofford made seven of its final eight free throw attempts to help secure the win. 

Garcia and Magee accounted for 51 of Wofford’s 79 points as they combined for 16-of-31 shooting and 9-of-16 from three-point range. Garcia finished with 28 points, five assists and three rebounds, while Magee added 23 points and made five triples. 

The Bucs return home for a three-game homestand beginning Thursday night when ETSU hosts The Citadel at 7 p.m., inside Freedom Hall. 

For more information on men’s basketball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men’s basketball tab.