Basketball season is finally here. In the opening game Friday night, the men’s basketball team put University of Virginia-College at Wise away with no problems, 90-43.
ETSU’s team is younger and faster this year starting three freshmen and a sophomore. “A lot of these guys have a playground style to their game,” said Eryk Thomas, senior forward. “Being my second year here I lead the guys in practice. I also give guidance for the freshmen.”
Thomas made a crowd-pleasing dunk right before halftime, this put the audience on their feet and helped the team break out.
Despite the speed, the shooting was a little slow off the ground.
The game was tied at 10-10 with 12:54 to go in the half. After that, the Bucs found their shooting and went on to a 41-18 halftime lead, shooting 48.4 percent at the half.
The second half was still a little slow with the Bucs shooting 47.1 percent, but the defense stepped up not letting the Cavs score for three minutes. This gave ETSU a chance to really expand on the lead and the Cavs never caught up.
Coach Murry Bartow said, “Defensively we are a little better. But there is still room for improvement.”
Bartow said there were many other bright spots during the game. “We have an 11-guy rotation right now and every one of them wants playing time,” said Bartow. “Eighty minutes is not enough time to get them in. Also, we had 20 assists tonight, which means we had a lot of passing.”
Sophomore guard Dante Williams, who had 14 points in the game, discussed the running game. “We do better on the fast break opportunities,” he said. “We like to push the ball. Our defense definitely helps our scoring because of the transition basket.”
The guys hustled after loose balls and really fought for rebounds. Petras Balocka collected 10 rebounds in 18 minutes.
Bartow mentioned that he has five guys wanting to play the same position.
When asked about the roles that the freshmen would play, he said, “That is in progression. Each game will be different,” Bartow said. “That is one of the things about a young team. You never know what to expect.”
The next game will be at Eastern Kentucky on Monday at 7 p.m.

Author