One thing is certain this basketball season: it won’t be like last year.
The Bucs’ dropped two straight games and lost to Fresno State at home 90-73 on Saturday. The loss ended ETSU’s 14-game home winning streak.
It was evident in Saturday’s highly anticipated rematch with the Bulldogs that this was not going to be an easy game. The Bucs (1-2) were just 14-of-36 from the floor in the first half but they managed remain within four at the half.
The loss of Brad Nuckles and senior experience in the post were the keys to the losses at Marshall and Fresno St.
“We just did not get the key stops defensively when we needed them,” said ETSU coach Murry Bartow. “Good teams get key stops at the right times.”
The Bulldogs like ETSU brought a young roster Saturday. They have nine freshman and 10 newcomers in the lineup. But they did not play like freshmen as they pulled away in the second half.
The Bucs pulled within two at the beginning of the second half on Dillion Sneed’s free throws. The Bulldogs (2-0) went on a 9-0 run with a Mustafa Al-Sayad dunk. Next Dominique White blocked a Tim Smith shot and went the floor for a layup at 45-39.
Al-Sayad made it a nine-point lead on another dunk. He lead Fresno with 19-points.
ETSU had one last chance to come back and they did from being 14 points down at 68-54. Ben Rhoda’s layup put the Bucs within six points but ETSU couldn’t stop them on defense. The Bulldogs held ETSU to just 10-points in the last 6 minutes of the game.
Smith led the Bucs with 24-points and James Anthony followed with 12 points. As a team ETSU was only 17-of-26 from the free-throw line, 4-of-15 from 3-point range, and 26-69 in field goals.
“It’s going to come we just have to feel each other out,” Smith said. “My first year here we lost 11 games. As long as we can win a big stretch of games like last year and play good in conference everything will be alright.

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