Determined to avenge a 64-61 loss to Florida Gulf Coast on Jan. 12, ETSU grabbed an early hold on the lead and never looked back in their 102-78 win Saturday afternoon in Memorial Center.
In addition to the victory, the Buccaneers (17-6, 11-2 A-Sun) were also awarded sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Sun Conference, thanks to a 72-71 Jacksonville loss to Mercer. The Eagles (10-16, 6-9) dropped to seventh place in the conference standings.
“This was a good win for us,” ETSU head coach Murry Bartow said. “We wanted to try to score a lot of points, which we were able to do.”
The game marked the first time the Buccaneers eclipsed the 100-point margin since a 112-89 win over Mercer on Feb. 24, 2007.
“We had a really good week of practice, and it led into this,” Bartow said. “Once our ‘Big Three’ get going, we can score points.”
ETSU’s “Big Three” sparkled in the win over the Eagles. Consisting of senior guard Courtney Pigram, junior guard Mike Smith and senior forward Kevin Tiggs, the Big Three accounted for 73 of the Bucs’ 102 points. As a team, ETSU shot 51.5 percent from the field and 11-of-22 from 3-point range.
For the Bucs, Tiggs led the game in scoring with 29 points, while Smith added 17 points and 10 rebounds, recording his third double-double in four games.
“I’m trying to do whatever it takes for (Tiggs and Pigram) to go out as champions,” Smith said. “I just want to push it and help them go as far as possible this year.”
Pigram reached a Buccaneer milestone as his 27 points pushed him two points past Buccaneer legend Calvin Talford (1988-1992) for fourth on ETSU’s all-time scoring list with 1,874 career points.
“I can’t really say anything about it,” Pigram said of his achievement. “Calvin’s a great ball player, and I still play with him at the gym. But it feels good, I guess.”
While having some early success shooting the ball, Florida Gulf Coast struggled throughout most of the game, shooting only 37.3 percent. Sophomore guard Reed Baker and freshman guard Reggie Chambers each led the Eagles in scoring with 18.
The Eagles’ hot shooting helped edge the Buccaneers in the early goings of the game. Two Chalmers 3-point shots helped Gulf Coast establish a 23-15 lead with 13:04 remaining in the first half. From that point onward, ETSU switched from man-to-man defense to a 2-3 zone, forcing the Eagles to shoot just 1-of-18 over the next six minutes and going on a 19-2 run to put the score at 36-25.
The Buccaneers refused to let up. With a halftime score of 52-35, ETSU kept the pressure on the Eagles by working the ball inside and scoring eight quick points after intermission to put the score at 60-35. Gulf Coast spent the rest of the evening attempting to chip away at the lead, but never managed to cut the deficit below double-digits.
“We did a good job tonight,” Bartow said, “but we’ve got seven hard games left, and we need to keep getting better.”
The Bucs will attempt to hold on to their conference lead when they host Stetson (10-12, 7-7) tonight at 7 p.m. in Memorial Center.

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