Ledarrius Brewer, Charlie Weber combine for 30 points

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Nov. 22, 2021) – Three Buccaneers scored in double figures, including Ledarrius Brewer (Meridian, Miss) scoring a team-high 17 points as ETSU men’s basketball opened the Naples Invitational with a 66-58 win over Murray State on Monday night.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• ETSU posted its second straight win en route to improving to 2-2 on the season, while Murray State suffered its first loss of the campaign, moving to 3-1. The win was the first over the Racers since Feb. 4, 1978 when ETSU won 84-69.
• The Buccaneer defense was at it yet again as they held Murray State to a season-low in points with the 58 points being 30 below its season average.
• ETSU held Murray State, who entered the night averaging over nine made threes per game, to just one on 16 attempts.
• The Bucs shot a season-high 46 percent from the field and netted a season-high 27 made field goals.
• For the third time this season, ETSU held the opposition to less than 30 first half points. The Bucs are 66-6 when giving up fewer than 30 first half points since 2015-16. The Blue and Gold are also 48-2 when holding their opponents to less than 60 points during this span.

TOP PERFORMERS

• To go with Brewer’s 17 points, the preseason all-SoCon selection added five rebounds, two assists and two steals.
• Charlie Weber (Owings, Md.) made his first six shots to finish 6-of-7 from field with a career-high 13 points.
• Weber and Brewer combined to go 13-of-19 from the field.
• David Sloan (Louisville, Ky.) finished with 11 points and posted zero turnovers for the second time this season.
• Jordan King (Albany, N.Y.) stuffed the stat sheet – ending with five points, five rebounds and five assists.
• Murray State’s KJ Williams scored a game-high 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

POSTGAME COMMENTS

Listen to head coach Desmond Oliver's postgame comments with Voice of the Bucs Jay Sandos. 

GAME SUMMARY

Monday was similar to the start of last Thursday’s USC Upstate game where neither team had much breathing room in the opening 20 minutes. The Bucs opened a seven-point lead in the first seven and a half minutes at 15-8, but Murray State used a 12-3 run to regain a 20-18 lead at the 9:21 mark.  

The Bucs pulled back even at 23 – and after the Racers took a 24-23 with 5:45 remaining before the break – ETSU scored nine of the final 14 points to take a 32-29 lead into halftime. Mohab Yasser (Giza, Egypt) ended the half with an offensive rebound and laid one in at the buzzer.

ETSU never relinquished its lead in the second half and led 51-35 after King found Yaser in the corner for a three with just over 11 minutes left to play. The Bucs again pushed their lead to 16 when King assisted on a Sloan jumper, making it 53-37.

Murray State then used a 20-8 run to pull within four, 61-57 with 1:40 remaining, but the Bucs scored five of the last six points to close the game and secure the eight-point win. Sloan provided the dagger when he nailed a three with 1:11 left and he hit a pair of free throws down the stretch to put things on ice.  

UP NEXT

ETSU now faces Missouri State Tuesday night at 8 p.m.

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