Tuesday, March 22, 2011

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Senior guard Justin Tubbs (Trussville, Ala.) scored a season high 27 points and fellow senior guard Mike Smith (Vandalia, Mo.) posted a double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds, as the ETSU men’s basketball team dropped Ohio University 82-73 in the quarterfinals of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament Tuesday evening inside the ETSU/MSHA Athletic Center.

A raucous crowd of 2,203 looked on as the Buccaneers improved to 24-11 and made history by becoming the first ETSU team to win multiple postseason games in the same season. The Bucs are also the first A-Sun team to win multiple postseason games since Arkansas-Little Rock won three games in the 1987 NIT. Meanwhile, the Bobcats end their season at 19-16.

With the win, the Bucs earn a berth in the CIT semifinals, where they will face Iona, which dropped Buffalo in its quarterfinal Tuesday night. The game will be played Saturday at 2 p.m. inside the Dome.

“I’m really proud of our players,” said ETSU head coach Murry Bartow. “Mike and Justin played great for us again, but really all our guys are responding and battling out there. We’re getting contributions from everyone, and it seems to be something that our guys and our fans are enjoying.”

The Bucs did not get the win without a fight however, as Ohio managed to rally from an 11-point second half deficit to actually take the lead at 71-70 on a 3-pointer from D.J. Cooper with 2:17 left on the clock. However, from there ETSU recaptured the edge at 72-71 on a jumper by Adam Sollazzo (Tampa), and went on to outscore the Bobcats 10-2 the rest of the way.

That final surge by the Bucs was highlighted by a two-handed slam from Smith that made it 80-73 and put the game away. Sollazzo finished with 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Tubbs – who matched his career high with seven 3-pointers – was the story of the first half, hitting on 5-of-8 from beyond the arc and scoring 19 points before the break. His efforts helped ETSU overcome an early 9-3 deficit to ultimately lead by as many as 11 at 41-30 with just under a minute left in the half. The Bobcats managed to score five points in the final minute and ultimately trailed 43-35 at the break.