Despite crawling out of the starting gate, ETSU men’s basketball came roaring back from an early hole to defeat the UNC-Greensboro Spartans at Freedom Hall Civic Center on Saturday night, by a final score of 82-65.
Within the first six minutes of play, The Buccaneers found themselves in a hole down 19-5, much to the dismay of the home crowd of 5,838. Quickly, the Bucs managed to go on a 10 point run midway through the first half, and with just seconds left in the half, managed to tie the game 37-37, running into the tunnel with all the momentum of the electric home crowd on their side.
The Buccaneers found their first lead with 18:33 remaining in the second half, at the score of 40-39, by the hands of two senior Tray Boyd III (Memphis, Tennessee) successful free throws. The Bucs didn’t look back after that, gradually adding to their lead, which amassed to a 17 point overall lead before the night was done.
The Bucs were carried on Saturday afternoon by the pure firepower of Boyd, who had struggled heavily in the previous game against Mercer, had a bounce back for the ages, shooting 10 of 16 field goals, and 6 of 9 from beyond the arc, to put together an entirely dominant 30-point performance in a statement victory.
Occasionally during the game, between time-outs, an electrified and enthusiastic Boyd could be seen throwing his arms in the air to inspire the crowd, and passed out a few high-fives to fans towards the end of the second half.
“[My shooting] was very disappointing, missing the way I was,” said Boyd. “For tonight to finally hit those shots that I work so hard on, it felt so good, it was hard not to smile.”
While Boyd’s dominance proved to be the overall difference, he was not the only Buccaneer to impress on Saturday afternoon; junior guard Bo Hodges (Nashville, Tennessee) had himself 14 points with 11 rebounds, while 7-footer senior center Lucas N’Guessan (De Lier, Netherlands) shot 5 of 7 field goals for 10 points, accompanied by 2 blocks.
The Buccaneers’ victory results in a 2-0 sweep of the Spartans on the season. While the Bucs’ overall record improves to a most impressive 19-4 (8-2 within the Southern Conference), the victory may prove to be a potential crucial tiebreaker, as the UNC-Greensboro Spartans remain hot on their trail with an overall record of 17-6 (7-3 within the Southern Conference).
The Bucs will next travel to play Chattanooga Mocs for the second time this season on Wednesday, February 5th, with tip-off at 7 p.m. The Mocs carry a 14-9 overall record after falling short against Western Carolina on Saturday afternoon.
