Sunday, December 12, 2010

STARKVILLE, Miss. – In a game dominated by the ETSU men’s basketball team on the boards, it was the Buccaneers’ final offensive rebound that truly made the difference Saturday night in a 63-62 win over Southeastern Conference foe Mississippi State inside the Humphrey Coliseum.

After senior guard Justin Tubbs (Trussville, Ala.) missed a potential game-tying free throw with 27 seconds left and the Bucs trailing 62-61, junior forward Curtis Wilkinson (Bude, Miss.) tapped the ball out to senior guard Micah Williams (Manchester), giving the Bucs another chance to take the lead. After a timeout by ETSU head coach Murry Bartow, Williams made good on the opportunity, driving the lane for a banked shot that found the bottom of the net and gave ETSU the one-point edge.

The Bulldogs, who fell to 4-2 on the year, missed on their final scoring opportunity as Kodi Augustus’ baseline attempt missed the mark and Tubbs secured the rebound.

The ETSU win gives the Atlantic Sun five wins against schools from the six BCS conferences - most by any of the 23 conferences considered for CollegeInsider.com's Mid Major Top 25 poll. The five BCS wins are the most for the conference since the 2007-08 season when A-Sun schools also earned five wins against BCS opposition.

“I was really proud of the effort from our guys tonight,” said Bartow, whose team improved to 4-4 on the season and snapped a two-game losing skid with the win. “The last two days we really started from scratch and tried to change the mindset of both our players and coaches. We put a focus on leadership and really challenged everyone to get better.

“I think we responded well, especially physically against SEC athletes. Out-rebounding them like that was the stat of the game.”