Much like last season, the Bucs were able to tame the Wofford Terriers in Freedom Hall 79-72 on Jan. 22, but going on the road to Wofford’s home court on Monday, the team could not bring home another win over the Terriers.
Up until the ninth minute of the second half, it seemed like the game was nailed down for the Bucs. However, Wofford went on a 12-0 run, taking the lead for the first time since tip-off.
It was the final moments of play that tripped up the Bucs, and the last few minutes of shooting was unsuccessful.
ETSU’s Coach Steve Forbes was unable to call anymore time-outs in the last minutes, and there was confusion on what plays to run. Forbes called a play while the players tried another, resulting in the final tally of 79-76 and no shot attempt by the Bucs.
“They ended up running the play that they thought would work and it didn’t,” Forbes said. “That’s my job, to organize them and get them in the right place. It was a golden opportunity to come on the road and get a win and we didn’t do it.”
Shooting for the Bucs in the first half was dominant. Senior guard T.J. Cromer (Albany, Georgia) led the team with 24 points. Teammate Tevin Glass (Norcross, Georgia) also made a showing 10 points, three assists and eight rebounds – the game high.
However, once again, turnovers made the difference for the Bucs even when they were ahead in the first half.
“The game was lost in the first half when we came in with 16 turnovers,” Forbes said.
Wofford scored 25 points off of ETSU for 21 total turnovers. While only five came in the second half when the game started to get close, that high amount in the first half could have made the lead stronger.
In the end, the Bucs were ultimately outshot by the jump-shooting Terrier team. Wofford players Eric Garcia and Fletcher Magee alone accounted for 51 of the 79 points, going a combined 9-of-16 from the three-point line.
“We didn’t finish around the basket when we had the opportunities to do so,” Forbes said.
The critical shots weren’t made by the Bucs, who as a team shot 50 percent on the night.
With this loss, the Bucs let go of a four-game winning streak and fall to 8-3 behind Furman, who now stands alone at first place in the SoCon.
The next three SoCon games for the Bucs will be in Freedom Hall, all of which are now crucial if the Bucs want to jump back ahead of Furman.
On Feb. 9, ETSU hosts Citadel and on Feb. 11, Mercer.
