ETSU was away from home as they traveled to Jacksonville, Alabama, to take on the Jacksonville State Gamecocks in this non-conference match. ETSU left with a close win with a final score of 61-59.
Through the first 10 minutes of play, the Bucs found themselves in a closely contested game, and after a made bucket from the home team, the Bucs were down two.
A three-point bucket from Ebby Asamoah (Rockville, Md.) tied things up at 19 a piece. However, after a 10-2 run by the Gamecocks, they ended the first half with a 29-21 lead. Asamoah led all scorers in the first half with nine.
Going into the second half behind, the Bucs looked to make a comeback. An 11-0 run to start things off seemed to put the Bucs back on track to do just that. Asamoah poured in seven points to help lead the Bucs and establish a 32-29 lead during the run. The Gamecocks answered back by scoring 10 of the next 12 points.
Basketball is said to be a game of runs, and these teams proved that in this match. A 13-3 run from ETSU raised the score to 47-42 with just over seven minutes left to play. Jacksonville State kept fighting as they regained the lead after a made jumper to make the score 50-49 with 3:58 on the clock.
Quimari Peterson (Gary, Ind.) came up clutch late in the game as he hit back-to-back buckets to make it a four-point game in favor of the Bucs. A made layup by Jacksonville State with 15 seconds left cut the Bucs lead to only two.
Karon Boyd (Concord, N.C.) drew a foul with 11 seconds left and missed them both to give the Gamecocks one chance to try for a game-winner. A half-court shot was no good, and the Bucs snuck away with a win.
ETSU improves to 4-4 on the season, while Jacksonville State falls to 4-5. The Bucs play again on Dec. 10 against Tennessee Tech inside Freedom Hall.
