Despite holding three players out, the ETSU men’s basketball team used hustle and depth to dominate Milligan 113-61 in their first exhibition game Tuesday night in Memorial Center.Senior guard and Atlantic Sun All-Team selection Mike Smith, junior guard Justin Tubbs and redshirt freshman J.C. Ward watched from the bench as six different Buccaneers scored in double-digits and forced 25 turnovers for the Buffaloes.

“I’m really pleased with our effort tonight,” head coach Murry Bartow said. “Six different guys in double figures was nice, and I think we saw a lot of positives tonight.”

“Tonight was just one of those games where we wanted to go out there and accomplish a lot of things, defensively and offensively, and get everybody on the same page,” said junior forward Micah Williams.

ETSU started fast by opening the game with a 15-5 run. The Bucs rotated 10 players during the first half, all of whom contributed to what would eventually be a 50-30 halftime lead. Freshman guard Sheldon Cooley scored nine of his 19 points to lead the Bucs at the break.

“Cooley grows on you,” Bartow said. “He’s not really a ‘wow’ guy, but tonight he wowed me.”

The Bucs wasted no time adding to their lead in the second half, as they opened with a 16-3 run. Williams led ETSU offensively in the second half by scoring 14 of his 19 total points. The crowd of 3,472 began filing for the exits after ETSU went up 67-33 with 14 minutes left.

Williams and Cooley led the Bucs with 19 points apiece, while forwards Tommy Hubbard and Isiah Brown each added 14. Two Buccaneers recorded double-doubles as Sollazzo tallied 15 points and 11 rebounds, and freshman forward Lukas Poderis added 14 points and 10 rebounds.

ETSU plays its second and final exhibition game against Carson-Newman on Monday at Memorial Center at 7 p.m.

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