It took the ETSU men’s basketball team 39 minutes to shake Appalachian State, but with sophomore guard Adam Sollazzo’s clutch late-game free throws, the Buccaneers defeated the Mountaineers 62-58 Saturday afternoon in front of 5,562 fans in their home opener at Memorial Center.”Adam’s two free throws at the end were huge,” ETSU head coach Murry Bartow said.

The Bucs only shot 56 percent from the free-throw line but made them when they counted.

Sollazzo, who led the team with 13 points, hit two free throws to put ETSU up 61-58 with only 16.2 seconds left to play.

“I just looked at the hoop and remained confident,” the sophomore guard said. “They rolled around the rim a little bit too much for me, but they fell.”

Despite the close game, Bartow said he was happy with his team’s performance.

“I’m so proud of our team,” Bartow said “We gutted it out. In a game like that, you have to make free throws at the end, which we did.”

While free throws came at the end, scoring was something the Bucs struggled with the whole night. ETSU only shot 41 percent from the field while shooting 20 percent from 3-point range, and the Buccaneer starters only had 21 combined points.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever, in my coaching career, had a starting team only score 21 points and still win,” Bartow said.

Both teams got off to a slow start in the first half. The Bucs shot 34 percent from the field, while the Mountaineers did not fare much better, shooting 41 percent.

Junior forward Tommy Hubbard and senior guard Mike Smith, two highly touted ETSU starters, sat out much of the first half with foul trouble after they each picked up their third personal fouls with eight minutes remaining in the first half.

Junior guard Justin Tubbs provided the Bucs with a spark off the bench by giving the Bucs 11 points, eight of which came in the second half.

“The difference in the second half was us just being calm and picking up the intensity on the defensive end,” Tubbs said.

The Bucs also got help from freshman guard Sheldon Cooley, who gave the Bucs 11 points in 20 minutes.

Smith returned to action after not playing in the two exhibition games due to injury concerns. In 10 minutes of play, Smith accumulated three fouls and three points, all of which came from the free-throw line.

Redshirt freshman J.C. Ward made his first appearance for the Bucs, giving ETSU four points in only nine minutes coming off the bench.

For the Mountaineers, junior guard Donald Sims led the offense with 14 points, while freshman forward Nathan Healy added 10.

Defensively, junior center Isaac Butts had three blocked shots while pulling down 12 rebounds.

The Bucs (1-0, 0-0 A-Sun) begin a three-game road swing which will kick off against UTC in Chattanooga on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

ETSU will return home on Nov. 25 to face former Southern Conference rival College of Charleston. Tip time is set for 7 p.m. inside of Memorial Center.

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