ETSU bench nets 52 points; Smith pours in 20

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Nov. 7, 2022) – Justice Smith (Lyons, N.Y.) poured in a game-high 20 points and Brock Jancek (Knoxville, Tenn.) added 14 points and seven rebounds as ETSU men’s basketball opened the season with an 88-66 win over Emory & Henry on Monday night inside Freedom Hall.  

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Tonight marked the 104th season of Buccaneer basketball … The Blue and Gold have won 61 of those openers
• With the win, ETSU is 1-0 on the season … The Bucs have won 38 of their last 42 home openers, 33 of the last 36 and eight of the last nine 
• The Buccaneer bench accounted for 52 points with Smith and Jancek combining for 34 points on 15-of-17 shooting from the field 
• The Bucs have won seven straight and nine of the last 11 in the series over Emory and Henry, while tonight was the first meeting since 1997 
• For the game, ETSU made 35 field goals and shot 46 percent from the field … The Bucs netted nine three-pointers, pushing their streak to 1,093 straight games with a triple – the fourth-longest mark in the country 
• The Blue and Gold were plus-10 in rebounding, 44-34, including a 26-12 advantage on the offensive glass … ETSU turned those 26 boards into 23 second-chance points  
• The Bucs forced 23 turnovers and cashed those Emory & Henry miscues into 35 points

TOP PERFORMERS

• Smith shot 9-of-10 from the field to post his 20-point game, along with adding six rebounds
• Jancek was 6-of-7 from the floor and doubled his career scoring total as he had seven points in 17 career games at Tennessee
• In total, four Bucs scored in double figures with DeAnthony Tipler (Ashland, Miss.) finishing with 11 points and Jaden Seymour (Charlotte, N.C.) recorded 10 points and nine rebounds
• Allen Strothers (Newport News, Va.) started his first collegiate game, registering five points, four assists and two steals in 30 minutes  
• Jalen Haynes (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) finished with eight points and five rebounds in his Buccaneer debut  
• Emory & Henry had three players score in double figures with Malcolm Morgan leading the way with 14 points on 8-of-9 shooting at the free throw line

GAME SUMMARY  

First Half

After a bit of a rocky start, the Bucs shook off the rust following the first eight minutes and used an 8-0 run to open a 23-14 lead when Jordan King (Albany, N.Y.) assisted on a three-pointer by Jamarius Hairston (Salisbury, N.C.) at the 9:36 mark.

From there, the Wasps pulled within three with just over five minutes left, but ETSU heated up and closed the half on an 18-7 surge en route to taking a 45-31 lead into the break.

The Bucs got balanced scoring in the first 20 minutes as nine different players scored with King leading the pack at nine points. ETSU scored 22 points off turnovers and got 24 points from its bench.  

Second Half

The Buccaneer lead never dipped below double figures in the second half as ETSU’s margin grew to over 20 when Smith collected back-to-back driving lay-ups, making it 59-36 at the 13:53 mark.  

ETSU’s largest lead got to 24, 72-48, following an old-fashioned three-point-play by Seymour with just under eight minutes remaining.

The closest Emory & Henry would get after that was 17 and the Bucs pushed it back over 20 as they walked away with the 22-point victory.  

UP NEXT

The Bucs make the short trek over the mountain for the 2022 Asheville Championship, which begins Friday night at the Harrah’s Cherokee Center Asheville. Following Harvard and Louisiana opening the MTE, ETSU takes on Elon at 8:30 p.m. 

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