Appalachian State 108
ETSU 94
BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State’s Shawn Hall registered a career-high 37 points on 12-of-25 shooting from the floor as the Mountaineers used a torrid shooting pace in their victory over ETSU.
The Mountaineers netted 22-of-31 field goal tries (71 percent) in the second half. Appy made good on 7-of-9 tries from the floor over the last 6:28 to secure the victory.
ETSU recorded 21 steals, the most ever recorded against an ASU squad. The Bucs forced 27 turnovers while making 20 of thier own.
ETSU 96
UNC-Greensboro 94
In a game that featured a trio of freshmen playing like battle-tested veterans, ETSU true freshman Brad Nuckles stood above his youthful peers thanks to two critical buckets down the stretch, including the game winner.
Nuckles, a 6-foot-9 center, tapped in an errant shot by sophomore Tiras Wade with just two-tenths of a second left in overtime to give the Bucs a victory over UNC Greensboro in the Southern Conference opener for both teams. The win came in front of 5,479 fans, as well as a national television audience on ESPN2.
While he finished the game with eight points and four rebounds, Nuckles was not the only youngster who provided heroics for the Bucs. Fellow freshmen guards Tim Smith and Ben Rhoda also contributed. Smith finished with 13 points and six assists and Rhoda pitched in 15 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor.
ETSU 108
Juniata 57
ETSU breezed through their final non-conference tune up game with the pounding of Division III Juniata College.
Zakee Wadood scored 22 points and tied a career-high with seven steals to lead a batch of six Bucs that reached double figures in scoring.
Along with Wadood, Brad Nuckles scored 16 points, Tiras Wade collected 15, Jerald Fields and Michael Tolliver netted 12 points apiece, and Ben Rhoda added 10.
South Florida 68
ETSU 56
TAMPA, Fla. — ETSU had a two-game win streak snapped as the South Florida Bulls downed the Bucs in the finals of the South Florida Shootout from the Sn Dome on Dec. 29.
South Florida opened the game on fire, shooting 55 percent (17-31) in the first half, en route to a 42-28 advantage at the break. USF held the Bucs to just 33 percent (12-36) from the floor in the first stanza.
In the second half, the pace of the game slowed, as the Bucs outscored the Bulls, 28-26. East Tennessee State fired 13 three-pointers in the half, trying to shrink the lead, but connected on only four of their attempts.
ETSU 71
Belmont 61
TAMPA, Fla. — Jerald Fields, Zakee Wadood and Tiras Wade each scored 15 points as the Buccaneers beat Belmont in the first round of the USF Holiday Classic on Dec. 28.
Tim Smith added 10 points and six assists for the Buccaneers. Wade pulled down 11 rebounds while Wadood had 10 boards. Wadood and Fields tied for the Buccaneer team lead with three blocks each.
ETSU 93
Coastal Carolina 82
ETSU started the holidays off right with a victory over non-conference foe Coastal Carolina on Dec. 20.
Zakee Wadood led the way for the Buccaneers with a game-high 22 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field. He was joined by Tim Smith, who ended the night with 18 points, four assists and six steals.
Virginia 84
ETSU 76
Derrick Byars, a freshman swingman, scored all but two of his 16 points in the second half as Virginia held off a major threat in an 84-76 win on Dec. 17 over ETSU.
Virginia trailed 50-49 with 13:15 left in the game before Byars hit three straight 3-pointers and then added two more lay-ups to help lift the Cavaliers to a 69-56 advantage with 5:33 left to play.
The Buccaneers, however, managed to reduce that lead to 80-76 in the final minute on a 3-point play by Tim Smith. The Cavaliers had to make 10 of their final 12 free throws to secure the win.
Tiras Wade led the Buc with 23 points, while Zakee Wadood added 18 and Smith had 17.
East Tennessee State’s Tiras Wade was named Southern Conference Player-of-the-Week for leading the Buccaneers to a 106-70 win over Virginia-Wise on Dec. 14.
The 6-7, 190-pound sophomore from Tampa, Fla., scored 34 points, making his first eight attempts, including five straight 3-pointers. Wade’s performance set a new personal career high for scoring.
He left the game with over 11 minutes remaining in the second half and finished the night 13-of-16 from the field and 6-of-7 from 3-point range. In addition to his 34 points, Wade had just one turnover in 24 minutes of play.

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