Monday, January 26, 2009

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - Facing a four-point halftime deficit, the ETSU men’s basketball team picked up the pace in the second half and forced the issue against Atlantic Sun Conference foe USC Upstate, ultimately outscoring the Spartans 50-36 in the final 20 minutes to take an 82-72 win Monday night in front of 3,854 fans at Memorial Center.

The Bucs’ fullcourt defense forced 17 turnovers and ETSU hit on 31-of-35 free throws (89 percent) to pick up the victory and move to 15-5 overall, 9-1 in A-Sun action. With the win, the Bucs set up a crucial first-place showdown with Jacksonville Friday night in Florida, as the Dolphins also stand 9-1 in the league. The game will air on CSS at 7 p.m.

“It was an interesting game,” said ETSU head coach Murry Bartow, whose team completed a perfect 4-0 homestand. “The first half was not what we wanted, but the second half we did a better job and got rolling. Our big three were huge again and Greg (Hamlin) had another double-double. Teams in this league are not easy to beat and we knew Upstate would give us a fight. We just didn’t think it would be that tough in the first half.”

The “Big Three” of seniors Kevin Tiggs (Flint, Mich.) and Courtney Pigram (Memphis), and junior guard Mike Smith (Vandalia, Mo.) were certainly strong again for the Bucs. Smith and Pigram each finished with a game-high 22 points, while Tiggs pitched in 18. In addition, Hamlin ended the night with his second double-double in three games with 11 points and 12 rebounds, to go along with four assists, four blocks and two steals. Pigram was an impressive 13-of-14 at the charity stripe.