Bucs stumble in closing minutes at home to Chattanooga
Published 8:43 am Tuesday, January 31, 2023
- Contributed Photo Jamarius Hairston finished with career highs with 13 points (13) and 11 rebounds to collect a double-double in his third start of the year.
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Mocs finish game on 8-0 run
JOHNSON CITY – Trailing by one with 1:49 remaining, ETSU men’s basketball saw Chattanooga score the final eight points as the Buccaneers were edged by the Mocs 73-64 on Saturday evening inside Freedom Hall.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
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ETSU suffered its eighth straight home loss as the Bucs moved to 8-15 on the season and 4-6 in league play. Chattanooga snapped a four-game losing skid as the Mocs improved to 12-11 overall and 4-6 in SoCon action.
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Three-point shooting proved to be the difference maker as Chattanooga – the league’s leading three-point shooting team – netted 12 of its 23 made threes and the Bucs were 6-of-26.
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ETSU shot 35 percent from the field (21-60), while making all 16 of its free throw attempts; whereas, the Mocs finished with a 42 percent clip (23-55) and went 15-for-18 at the charity stripe.
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Both teams combined for just 18 turnovers with ETSU only losing the ball eight times.
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For the second straight game, the Bucs were outrebounded with Chattanooga finishing plus-7 on the boards, 39-32.
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ETSU was eyeing the regular season sweep over the Mocs after winning by 16 points one week ago in Chattanooga. The Mocs now regained a six-win advantage in the series, 52-46.
TOP PERFORMERS
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Jamarius Hairston (Salisbury, N.C.) collected a double-double in his third start of the year. Hairston finished with career highs in points (13) and rebounds (11).
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Jalen Haynes (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) ended with 16 points and five rebounds. Haynes also went 8-of-8 at the free throw line.
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Jaden Seymour (Charlotte, N.C.) was the final Buccaneer to score in double figures as he totaled 12 points (6-6 at the free throw line), eight rebounds and two blocks.
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Four Mocs scored in double figures with Dalvin White scoring a team-high 15 points, while dishing out four assists and pulling down three rebounds.
GAME SUMMARY
Despite digging itself an early hole, ETSU fought back to pull within one at halftime, 33-32.
The Bucs trailed by seven four minutes in and were down by as many as 10 (28-18) with less than eight minutes remaining in the half. ETSU fought back as they scored 14 of the final 19 points of the half – including the final eight – to pull within one at the break.
The second half was tightly contested as the largest lead over the first 18 minutes was five points.
ETSU quickly tied the game up at 36 in the opening minute of the frame and eventually went ahead by three when Seymour’s second-chance layup made it 42-39 with 16:57 remaining. The Mocs then answered with an 8-0 run, but the Bucs countered.
Over the next two minutes, ETSU scored the next eight points to go back up by three, while the Bucs took their largest lead of the half when Braden Ilic (Morristown, Tenn.) netted a triple, pushing the score to 53-49 at the 13:11 mark.
The game of runs continued with Chattanooga scoring the next six points, but a quick 4-0 Buccaneer spurt put the good guys back ahead, 57-55 with less than nine minutes to go.
However, that was the last Buccaneer lead of the night, as the Mocs scored six unanswered to go back up four, 61-57. ETSU was able clip the deficit to one on two different possessions, but could never regain the lead.
UP NEXT
ETSU will look to end its home skid on Wednesday night when the Bucs host Wofford at 7 p.m. inside Freedom Hall.
For more information on Buccaneer men’s basketball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men’s basketball page.
