Helped by 39 points from the free-throw line and another career-high output in points from Dimeco Childress, the Bucs made the race in the Southern Conference North Division much tighter.
ETSU defeated SoCon North Division leader Davidson College, 85-78, last Saturday afternoon in the Mini-Dome in a very physical contest that featured 44 personal fouls, four technical fouls and 60 free-throw attempts, 42 by the Bucs.
With tempers flaring throughout the game and each team being extremely physical, Childress once again led the way for ETSU with a career-high 36 points, surpassing his previous career-high (35) set just last weekend in the Bucs’ victory over Georgia Southern.
“It was a great basketball game, both teams played extremely hard,” said head coach Ed DeChellis. “Meco had an outstanding game, he made great shot after great shot.
“He’s been the guy to turn to, the other players are starting to know he’s the guy they have to get the ball to.”
The Bucs (14-9, 7-5) shot 92.9 percent from the line (39-42) well above their season average of 68.1 percent, with Childress a perfect 14-for-14, Ryan Lawson going 11-for-12 and Jerald Fields shooting 7-for-8.
“It was very important to get the right people at the right time to the foul line,” said Lawson, who leads ETSU on the season with a 92.9 shooting percentage from the free throw line.
Childress ranks second on the team in free-throw shooting (79.5 percent).
“The right guys shot them (free throws) and the right guys made them, it was a very important part of the game,” DeChellis said.
Childress’ 36-point output not only helped the Bucs to their fourth straight victory but marked the fourth straight game where a Buccaneer player has recorded a career-high in scoring.
Fields went for a career-high 27 in the Bucs’ Jan. 30 victory over VMI (96-77), Childress put up a then career-high 35 in the Feb. 2 win against Georgia Southern (100-65), Lawson scored a career-high 32 in ETSU’s Feb. 4 win at Western Carolina (86-76).
“We’ve had different guys step up for us in the last 10 days,” DeChellis said.
The Bucs, who moved within two games of Davidson (16-7, 9-3) in the North Division and within a game of UNC-Greensboro (in the loss column) for second in the division, went into halftime with a one-point lead, 41-40, after Lawson hit two free throws with 13.6 seconds to go.
Davidson came out in the second half and took a brief lead at 47-45 after a three-pointer by Michael Bree, who scored a game-high 19 for the Wildcats. Lawson answered right back with a three of his own.
ETSU then proceeded to go on a 15-2 run, building its largest lead of the game, 11 points, at 60-49. After a three-pointer by Childress, Davidson went on a run of its own behind eight points from seven-foot center Martin Ides, who had 14 points in the game, getting the Wildcats within two points at 67-65.
The Bucs then turned to Childress once again as the senior guard scored ETSU’s next nine points as the Bucs increased their lead back to seven (76-69).
“He was extraordinary,” said Davidson head coach Bob McKillop. “He played a marvelous game and hit a big three-pointer and jumpers for them.”
Bree once again got Davidson within four with a three-pointer, 78-74, but that would be as close as the Wildcats would get.
Childress scored 16 of the Bucs final 23 points, scoring 24 of his 36 points in the second half. The Bucs’ leading scorer (15.6 ppg) shot 10-for-21 from the field and was 2-for-5 on his three-point attempts.
“We’re getting better and it’s that time where we have to come together,” Childress said. “All the guys played great tonight.”
ETSU will get its shot to move up more in the North Division rankings when it faces UNC-Greensboro on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Memorial Center.
“We’re taking it one game at a time and if we do that we believe we can get the second seed in the division,” Lawson said.

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