JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Jan. 22, 2022) – Ty Brewer (Meridian, Miss.) scored his 1,000th career point, but it wasn’t enough to carry the Buccaneers past The Citadel, as ETSU men’s basketball was edged in a physical battle to the Bulldogs, 75-73, on Saturday afternoon inside Freedom Hall.

ETSU had a look to win it at the buzzer after Rudy Fitzgibbons III missed the second free throw with seven seconds remaining, but Jordan King’s (Albany, N.Y.) three-pointer from the right wing was off the mark and the Bulldogs hung on for the road victory.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• The Bucs, who were eyeing their third straight win, dropped to 12-9 overall and 4-4 in SoCon play, while The Citadel snapped a three-game skid, improving to 8-10 overall and 2-5 in league action.
• ETSU shot 39 percent for the contest (28-71), while being held to 33 percent from long distance (9-27), compared to the Bulldogs – who hit at 58 percent clip in the second half – finishing 47 percent on the night (27-58) and 41 percent from three (12-29).
• Both teams went to the free throw line 12 times with The Citadel netting nine attempts and the Blue and Gold ending with eight. The game featured 21 foul calls with the Bulldogs being called for nine.
• The Bucs won the battle on the boards by six, 42-36, and grabbed 15 offensive rebounds, resulting in 13 second chance points. ETSU was also plus-8 in points off turnovers, 14-6, plus-11 in fast-break scoring, 15-4 and plus-4 in points in the paint, 32-28.
• The game featured five ties and eight lead changes with The Citadel leading for 20:45.

TOP PERFORMERS  

• Ty Brewer entered the night needing 18 points to reach the 1,000-point milestone and he finished right on the button, going 6-of-9 from the field (3-5 from three) and grabbing seven rebounds. Brewer has scored 437 career points in 46 games as a Buccaneer, while he totaled 563 in 57 games at Southeastern Louisiana.
• Brewer’s brother Ledarrius – who assisted on Ty’s three-pointer that gave him the 1,000th career point in the second half – scored a team-high 20 points and posted five rebounds.
• Jordan King added 16 points, four rebounds and four assists and David Sloan (Louisville, Ky.) – who was in foul trouble most of the night – tallied 11 points, five assists and two steals.
• Preseason SoCon Player of the Year Hayden Brown scored a game-high 28 points on 12-of-19 shooting, while Jason Roche scored all of his 14 points in the first half.

GAME SUMMARY

The Bulldogs controlled the majority of the first half as they led by as many as 11 with less than six minutes to play before the break, but ETSU came alive down the stretch and finished with an impressive run.

The Bucs held The Citadel scoreless for the final 5:53 and mounted a 13-0 run to take a 32-30 lead into halftime. Ledarrius Brewer ignited the surge as he accounted for eight of the points, while the Bulldogs finished 0-for-8 from the field and 0-of-6 from beyond the arc in the final minutes of the first half.

ETSU’s run carried over into the second half as the Bucs scored the first bucket of the frame, but Brown stopped The Citadel’s scoreless streak when he connected on the first of his three made triples in the second half, making 34-33 with 18:50 remaining.

The Bucs eventually built a six-point lead when Ty Brewer hit a three-pointer from the right wing for his 1,000th career point at the 11:50 mark, but the Bulldogs used a 9-2 run to regain a 57-56 advantage with 8:33 left in the contest.

ETSU answered and pushed its lead back to five on two different trips; however, the Bucs couldn’t extend the margin.

Leading 65-60 with 5:31 remaining, The Citadel mounted another run – this time scoring 10 of the next 12 – to go ahead 70-67 following a Fitzgibbons three with less than three minutes to go.

The Bucs battled and continued fighting their way back into the game as they fell behind by four twice in the final minute, but with no timeouts and the ball with seven seconds remaining, ETSU couldn’t get the home magic to fall. Following Fitzgibbons missed free throw, the Bucs grabbed the rebound and King had the ball in his hands for the three-point attempt. With a Bulldog on him, King rushed his look from the right wing and The Citadel came down with the rebound as time expired to secure the win.

UP NEXT

ETSU wraps up its three-game homestand Wednesday night when the Bucs host UNCG at 7 p.m.

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