Bucs suffer heartbreaking loss at Western Carolina
Published 8:35 am Thursday, February 16, 2023
- Contributed Photo Jordan King led all scorers with 23 points, six assists and three steals for ETSU.
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ETSU’s comeback falls short as game-winning three goes long at the buzzer
CULLOWHEE, N.C. – Trailing by 12 with eight minutes remaining, the ETSU men’s basketball team cut the deficit to two, but the Buccaneers were unable to complete the comeback. The Bucs’ attempt at a game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer went long and Western Carolina held on for a 68-66 win on Wednesday night inside the Ramsey Center.
The Bucs closed the game scoring 18 of the final 26 points, but Jalen Haynes’ (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) attempt at a tying lay-up was jarred loose and he found an open Jamarius Hairston (Salisbury, N.C.) in the corner for a three as time expired, but the shot was off the mark and ETSU suffered its ninth loss by four points or less this season.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
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ETSU, looking for back-to-back wins for the first time since New Year’s Eve, dipped to 10-18 overall and 6-9 in league play. Western Carolina picked up its first regular season series sweep over the Bucs since 1984-85 and improved to 15-13, 8-7.
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Both teams made 23 field goals, while the Catamounts were plus-one in made threes (7-6) and plus one in made free throws (15-14). The Bucs were 40 percent from the field and 26 percent from beyond the arc, compared to Western Carolina hitting 52 percent from the floor and 50 percent from long distance.
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ETSU forced 16 turnovers and cashed those into 22 points.
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The Bucs were plus-2 in bench scoring (21-19) and second-chance points (10-8), while Western Carolina was plus-2 in the paint (26-24) and plus-three in fastbreak scoring (10-7).
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The game featured five ties and nine lead changes. ETSU’s largest lead was three and Western’s was 12.
TOP PERFORMERS
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Jordan King (Albany, N.Y.) led all scorers with 23 points, six assists and three steals. King was 10-of-10 at the free throw line.
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Jalen Haynes registered his third career double-double, finishing with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
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DeAnthony Tipler (Ashland, Miss.) scored 12 points off the bench and accounted for two of ETSU’s six made threes.
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Tyler Harris led the Catamounts with 14 points as he was 4-of-5 from beyond the arc, while Colin Granger added 10 points and six rebounds.
GAME SUMMARY
The first half was nip-and-tuck and Western Carolina took a 32-30 lead into the break.
The opening 20 minutes featured five lead changes and two ties as the Bucs scored the first bucket and led 12-11 thanks to a turnaround jumper by Brock Jancek (Knoxville, Tenn.) with just over 12 minutes left in the stanza. From there, Western Carolina hit back-to-back threes and led for the remainder of the half. The Catamounts extended their lead to seven, but the Blue & Gold closed the final four minutes scoring nine of the last 13 points to pull within two.
King scored 10 of the 30 Buccaneer points in the opening half, while Tipler added seven points and knocked down ETSU’s lone three-pointer of the frame. Haynes picked up two early fouls and was limited to three points.
The second half featured large momentum swings as ETSU led by three when King netted a triple, making it 46-43 with 12:42 remaining.
From there, the Bucs were held to two points over the next four minutes and forty-two seconds, and the Catamounts built a 60-48 lead with exactly eight minutes to play.
With their backs against the wall, the Blue & Gold dug deep and mounted one final run.
Unfortunately, after using an 18-8 surge, ETSU pulled within two, but couldn’t get the go-ahead bucket.
The Bucs made it 68-66 thanks to Haynes laying one in with 49 ticks showing on the clock. The Bucs then got the defensive stop as DJ Campbell missed a jumper inside the paint and Haynes corralled the rebound with 15 seconds remaining. With one final chance to win or tie, Haynes got the ball under the basket and after the ball got knocked loose, he kicked it out to Hairston for a three in the corner, which went long – hitting off the back rim – as time expired.
UP NEXT
ETSU plays its final regular season road game on Sunday as the Bucs head to Greenville to take on league-leading Furman. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPNU.
For more information on Buccaneer men’s basketball, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men’s basketball page.
