East Tennessee State led by as many at 18 in the first half and Tim Smith scored 25 points as the Bucs claimed a share of the Southern Conference title.
The victory moved the Bucs into a three-way tie atop the Southern Conference North Division standings.
Davidson used an 84-49 blowout over VMI to move its record to 17-9 overall and 11-5 in the league. So the Bucs have a No. 2 seed and Davidson will be No. 3 in the conference tournament, while Appalachian takes the first seed.
“I’m very proud of this team,” ETSU coach Ed DeChellis said. “This team has gone through a lot of adversity throughout the year. But 11-5 in the Northern Division, with the young squad we have. I can’t say enough about them.”
The Bucs (17-10 overall, 11-5 SoCon) have a bye for the first round and will play the winner of Wednesday’s game between Wofford and UNC-Greensboro. in Thursday’s quarterfinals (approximately 2:30 p.m.).
“We’re a little beat up and tired,” DeChellis said. “Not having to play until Thursday now is really big for us.”
The Bucs came out looking a little different than usual Saturday. It was ETSU’s final home game of the season and DeChellis started all of his seniors, which has become tradition at ETSU.
Seniors Ryan Lawson, Isaac Potter and Shannon Huffstetler finished their final regular season with the Bucs Saturday. The three combined for 13 points and 11 rebounds.
“It’s important for guys to leave here with a great feeling,” DeChellis said. “I think those guys will remember this game for the rest of their lives. They’ll remember stepping out there and starting against App. State and getting us another Northern Division banner. There’s nothing more important than your current players. That’s something I owe back to them.”
Smith, who scored 19 of his 25 points before the half and the Bucs used a 20-7 run to hold a 16-point lead (45-29) at intermission.
“Timmy just got going and we just kept getting him the ball and getting out of the way,” DeChellis said. “Sometimes that’s hard. He’s so quick and fast, we just try to get the heck out of his way. That’s how good an offensive coach I am. We’ve got all this stuff to run and I just give him the ball and get the hell out of his way.”
Appalachian double-teamed Smith in the second half and held the 5-9 freshman to six points.
“Making him do it against two people,” Appalachian State coach Houston Fancher said. “One of the big things is you have to make sure you keep him in front of you. He just blows by you and shoots those little floaters that he’s really good at.”
Smith got in foul trouble and went to the bench, but Sam Oatman stepped up for the Bucs. The sophomore guard began the season as the starter but had sat on the bench the past five games.
Oatman helped the Bucs push a 10-point lead to 11. He finished with two points and an assist in five minutes of play.
“He’s supported me since I’ve been starting,” Smith said. “He’s been a real good friend. It was good to see him do good.”
Appalachian still had some steam left. The Mountaineers came back on an 11-2 run early in the second half to trim the Bucs’ lead to seven (47-40).
“They’re a good basketball team,” DeChellis said. “They’re gonna make runs. I knew it would be tough for us. I told them to keep attacking. We’re not a really good pull-it-out, set-up kind of squad. We just kind of go. We don’t run very good motion. I call it commotion. We just kind of go down and we’re all over the place, which makes Timmy hard to guard.”
ETSU jumped back out to a 16-point lead, however, Appy rallied again, this time using a 21-10 run to cut the lead the five (72-67) with just over three minutes to play.
Then Lawson launched the biggest shot of the game. Even though he hadn’t hit a three in a while Lawson didn’t hold back. He nailed a long-range 3-pointer from the left wing to put ETSU up 75-67 with 2:26 to play.
“I told him after the game that was the biggest shot we saw,” Fancher said.
After that shot, Lawson and every ETSU fan in Memorial Center breathed a sigh of relief.
“I knew when I got the ball it was either do or die,” Lawson said. “They were making a run. I think that was the dagger that put them behind the rest of the game. It felt great for me. I ain’t hit one all conference season, but when it comes crunch time I do want the ball.”
Jerald Fields had a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Fields went 4-of-8 from the field and 5-of-6 from the foul line. Zakee Wadood and James Anthony also scored in double-figures for the Bucs each with 12.
Appalachian’s leading scorer, Shawn Hall, scored 20 points, unlike the last meeting between the teams where Hall posted 37. The Bucs held him to 6-of-25 from the field including just 2-12 from 3-point land.
Appy never really had anything to worry about. Even with the loss they are still tied for the first with the Bucs and Davidson in the SoCon North.
“I told our guys they’ve already done something that nobody, the media, coaches, nobody thought they could do,” Fancher said. “They finished in first place this year. That’s a wonderful achievement.”
Johnathan Mitchell scored 15 points and Chris McFarland Nate Carson added 12 and 10, respectively.

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