It was the ETSU Buccaneers’ first game of the year but senior forward Mike Smith played like he was in mid-season form. Smith, who sat out last year due to a knee injury, scorched the Carson-Newman Eagles with 23 points in the first half. He led his team to a 96-61 win in its first exhibition game of the season inside the ETSU/MSHA Athletic Center.

“It was just falling so I kept shooting,” the senior said. “Coach [Murry Bartow] always said if you’re, open shoot it, so I got a couple of open looks and I did.”

Asked about Mike’s performance, Bartow said, “That’s just Mike. He’s a good player and he finds ways to get things done.”

Smith finished the game with 25 points, but owned the first 12 minutes of the game, going on a 13-0 run and scoring 21 points. He gave the Bucs a lead of 32-12.

Carson-Newman kept the game respectable by hitting 9 of 24 3-pointers in the first half and winning the last seven minutes, 18-10.

That was Bartow’s only disappointment of the game. “The last six or seven minutes of the first half were not very good,” he said. “But other than that, there were some good numbers.”

The Bucs went into halftime leading 47-33.

ETSU came out strong in the beginning of the second half, going on a 26-2 run with a relentless press. The Bucs forced 16 turnovers in the second half and continued the scoring.

When Smith cooled down, another Buccaneer caught fire.

Senior Micah Williams scored 17 points in the second half after not scoring any in the first.

“Coach has always told me to be aggressive,” Williams said. “Whether that’s scoring the ball or on the defense end.”

The Bucs had three other players score in double figures. Senior Justin Tubbs finished with 12, junior Isiah Brown and sophomore Sheldon Cooley each had 10. The Bucs were led at the point guard position by junior Adam Sollazzo who finished with 10 assists.

The ETSU Bucs return to action Monday, as they host the Tusculum Pioneers inside the Mini-Dome. Tip is set for 7 p.m.

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