ETSU posts 53 second-half points to earn first road-opening win since 2008-09

MARTIN, Tenn. (Nov. 9, 2019) -- Junior guard Patrick Good (Johnson City, Tenn.) scored a game-high 24 points and ignited a second half surge as ETSU men’s basketball grounded UT-Martin 92-75 on Saturday night inside the Elam Center. 

Good, who accounted for seven of the Bucs’ 10 made threes, helped provide a spark where the Blue and Gold shot 70 percent (21-30) in the final 20 minutes en route to scoring 53 points. After trailing by three at the break, the Bucs scored the first 10 points of the second half and eventually built a 24-8 run over the first seven minutes to take control of the contest.

Good was joined by Jeromy Rodriguez  (Santiago, Dominican Republic), Bo Hodges (Nashville, Tenn.) and Daivien Williamson (Winston-Salem, N.C.) in double figure scoring. Rodriguez collected his 16th career double-double after posting 14 points on 10 rebounds, while Hodges netted 15 points, six rebounds, five assists, three blocks and two steals. Williamson finished  with 11 points and three rebounds. 

As a team, ETSU shot 63 percent (35-56) from the field, marking the 10th time under Coach  Forbes the Bucs eclipsed the 60 percent mark. The Blue and Gold also went 10-of-20 from beyond the arc. ETSU was plus-13 on the glass (40-27) and turned 12 offensive rebounds in 21 second-chance points. 

With the win, ETSU improved to 2-0, marking the third time in the last five years the Bucs opened the season with consecutive victories. UT-Martin dipped to 1-1 with the setback, while ETSU has now won its last 13 games over in-state foes. This also marks the first road-opening win by the Bucs since defeating Tennessee Tech to open the 2008-09 season. 

The first half was tightly contested as there were eight ties in the opening 11 minutes, but with the score knotted at 20, ETSU mounted a 12-4 run to go ahead, 32-24 when Williamson hit Good for a three with just under six minutes to go before halftime. 

However, the Skyhawks closed the half on a run of their own by scoring 18 of the final 25 points to take a 42-39 lead into the break. 

Momentum quickly shifted at the start of the second half thanks to the three ball as Good knocked down two and Hodges followed with one of his own over a 1-minute, 23-second span to put ETSU ahead for good, 49-42 at the 16:56 mark. 

The run eventually grew to 24-8 and the Bucs’ lead was extended to 13, 63-50, on a jumper by Rodriguez. 

The Skyhawks never answered and ETSU eventually took a 22-point lead when Isaiah Tisdale (Lexington, Ky.) came away with a steal and hit Hodges in transition for a dunk, making it 92-70 with 1:54 left to play. 

For the game, ETSU held the Skyhawks to 40 percent (27-67) from the field and 29.6 percent from three  (8-27). UT-Martin turned the ball over 19 times with the Bucs turning those into 19 points, while the ETSU bench outscored the Skyhawks by 28, 37-9.  

Quintin Dove finished with a double-double for UT-Martin as he finished with 25 points and 10 rebounds, while Craig Randall II was 7-of-24 shooting with 17 points. 

ETSU returns home to take on Winthrop Thursday night inside Freedom Hall. Game time is set for 7 p.m. 

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