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CONTRIBUTED BY ETSU ATHLETICS
ATHENS, Ga. – Christmas came a few days early for David Sloan (Louisville, Ky.) and the ETSU men’s basketball team.
Down by eight with exactly four minutes remaining, the Bucs closed the game on a 12-2 run, highlighted by Sloan’s game-winning three-pointer with 8.4 seconds remaining to lift ETSU past Georgia 86-84 on Wednesday night inside Stegeman Coliseum.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
With the win, the Bucs improved to 8-5, while the Blue and Gold knocked off an SEC team for the second time in three years and it was the fourth time in the last seven seasons ETSU defeated a Power 5 program. ETSU has also won three of the five all-time meetings against the Bulldogs.
ETSU became the fifth Southern Conference team to defeat a Power 5 program this season and it’s the sixth time this year a league foe accomplished the feat.
The 86 points marked the points by a Buccaneer team over a Power 5 program since defeating Arkansas 94-85 on Nov. 27, 2009.
As a team, ETSU shot a season high 53 percent (34-64) and connected on 13-of-25 from beyond the arc. Wednesday marked the 25th time since 2010-11 the Bucs shot 52 percent or higher from three-point range in a game. The Bucs, who entered the night with the fourth-highest free throw clip in the country (81 percent), went 5-for-18 (27.8%) at the line.
ETSU’s 13 made three-pointers tied a season high as the Bucs have done so three times this year. The Bucs are 3-0 when accomplishing the feat.
The Bucs scored 21 points off 13 Georgia turnovers and were plus-8 in points in the paint, 30-22. ETSU only committed eight turnovers on the night.
ETSU’s 48 first-half points were the most scored by the Blue and Gold this season.
ETSU led for nearly 31 minutes of the game and its largest lead was 14 at 53-39 with 19:12 remaining in the second half.
Georgia dropped to 5-7 on the season.
TOP PERFORMERS
David Sloan scored a career-high 24 points on 10-of-19 shooting (4-of-6 from three), while Jordan King (Albany, N.Y.) tied a career high with 22 points and five made threes. The Buccaneer duo combined for 18 of ETSU’s season-high 34 made field goals as well as nine of the 13 made threes. Sloan also dished out four assists and totaled two steals, including a critical one at midcourt on an inbounds pass as he took it to the rim, making it 82-81 with 1:42 remaining.
Mohab Yasser (Giza, Egypt) scored 12 of the Bucs’ 15 bench points, while the Brewer brothers – Ty and Ledarrius – combined for 22 points on 9-of-18 shooting. Ledarrius added 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting and Ty posted 10 points, six rebounds and three steals.
Jaden Seymour (Charlotte, N.C.) made his first collegiate start as Charlie Weber (Owings, Md.) was sidelined with an ankle injury. Seymour finished with three points and five rebounds before fouling out in 22 minutes of action.
Georgia was led by Noah Baumann’s 25-point effort as he was 7-of-9 from three. Aaron Cook added 17 points and six assists and Kario Oquendo netted 15.
GAME SUMMARY
The Bucs opened up on fire as Sloan scored nine of ETSU’s first 12 points and the Blue and Gold led by eight three and a half minutes into the contest. ETSU led by eight twice later in the half before Georgia used a 13-3 run to regain a 30-29 lead with 6:27 remaining before intermission. However, Ledarrius Brewer quickly put the Bucs back ahead with a three-pointer on ETSU’s next trip down the floor, fueling a brief 7-0 spurt to go up by six at the 5:05 mark. The Blue and Gold eventually led by as many as 10 in the half and a tip-in by Mohab Yasser at the buzzer sent ETSU into the locker room up, 48-39.
For the half, ETSU shot 59 percent (20-34) from the field and 50 percent from three (8-16); however, the Bucs missed all four free throw attempts. King (14 points) and Sloan (11 points) accounted for 25 of the 48 points and Yasser pitched in with nine points.
ETSU started the second half just as they did the first with Sloan scoring the first five points and the Bucs led 53-39 with only 48 seconds coming off the clock.
The Blue and Gold were unable to extend the lead and Georgia got back into the game in a hurry. The Bulldogs mounted a 17-5 run with a over the next four-plus minutes, making it 58-56 with 14:54 remaining.
ETSU was able to push the margin back to six on two different occasions, but with the Bucs ahead 67-61, Georgia again used another surge – this time an 18-5 run – to go up seven, 79-72, with 4:34 showing on the clock.
The Bulldogs eventually led by eight with exactly four minutes left, but ETSU didn’t back down.
The Blue and Gold closed the final minutes on the 12-2 run, including 10 straight scores to pull even at 82. The 10 consecutive points came from a lay-up by King, followed by a Ledarrius Brewer three and then the Sloan steal and score. The run was capped by Yasser as he grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled – where he hit one of two free throws – tying the game at 82 with 57 seconds left.
Georgia regained an 84-82 lead when Baumann made a jumper with 35 ticks remaining, setting up the heroics from Sloan. With the shot clock counting down, Sloan stepped up and hit a three from the wing, putting the Bucs up for good at, 85-84, with 8.4 seconds left. The Bulldogs had one last look but Baumann’s corner three was off the mark and King grabbed the rebound. King was fouled with 0.6 seconds left – and after he made the first free throw – his intentionally missed the second, allowing Georgia to call timeout with three-tenths remaining. The Bulldogs heaved one three-quarters of the court and the Bucs deflected the pass to run out the clock.
UP NEXT
The Bucs open Southern Conference play on Thursday, Dec. 30 when ETSU takes on Chattanooga at 7 p.m. inside McKenzie Arena. The game will be televised on ESPNU.