When ETSU freshman guard Sheldon Cooley stole the ball from a Belmont player, ETSU thought that the game was in their hands. It would have tied the game at 67, but as Cooley went up for the dunk, the ball, instead of going through the hoop, clanked off the back rim, bringing the Bucs a 74-67 loss to Belmont Monday night inside the ETSU/MSHA Athletic Complex.

“This was a tough loss obviously,” head coach Murry Bartow said. “We just didn’t do enough. I thought we made a gallant fight there at the end to cut it to two, but we missed the dunk there at the end to tie the game.”

Bartow called the missed dunk “discouraging” but was still happy with the play of his freshman guard. “There was just a magnifying glass on that play,” he said.

Sophomore center Isiah Brown led the team with 17 points, and deflected some of the attention on the missed dunk. “There were many other reasons why we lost this game, we can only hope to learn from them and get better.

“Sheldon is a great player and he is going to bounce back and stay focused, that’s not going to faze him at all.”

ETSU’s largest lead of seven came in the first half with 8:07 to play. However the Belmont Bruins would close out the half on an 18-8 run and lead 33-30.

The Bruins would continue their run in the second half as they pulled ahead by 17 with 7:08 left to play. But the Bucs would then go on an 18-3 run over the next six minutes which ended on Cooley’s missed dunk attempt.

Bartow was upset with his team, as well as the fans. “I’m frustrated with my team,” he said. “But I’m also frustrated with our fans bailing out on us with 45 seconds to play and it’s a five-point game. Pretty short memories, because this was a team that played Pittsburgh down to the freakin’ wire last year. But I’m much more frustrated with my lack of ability to get these guys playing harder on the offensive end.”

The Bucs were also led by junior forward Tommy Hubbard who recorded his 11th double-double of the season with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Juniors Micah Williams and Justin Tubbs only accounted for two points after coming in averaging 25 combined.

Belmont had three players in double figures, with fifth year senior Keaton Belcher scoring 18 points, sophomore Mick Hedgepeth scoring 16 and sophomore Drew Hanlen finished with 15.

With the loss ETSU falls into a three-way tie for fourth place at 7-5 in conference play. The leader is Jacksonville with a record of 9-3 in the A-Sun. The Bucs return to action Thursday as they travel to Florida Gulf Coast.

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