Courtesy of ETSU Athletics
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In a battle for the ages, the ETSU Bucs drove down and faced the Furman Paladins on Wednesday, February 18th at Timmons Arena in Greenville, South Carolina. In an almost packed out arena, 2500 were in attendance in a matchup for who can truly lead the SoCon, with a tipoff at 6:30pm EST.
First Half; Back and Forth
The Bucs are on a hot streak, no denying that. At tipoff, Strother, Morris III, Taylor II, Johnson and McCullum take center stage. Throughout the entire first half, the Bucs and Paladins were neck and neck in scoring with 10 lead changes and 8 different moments either side tied up the scoreboard. You could sense the urgency from the Paladins to keep The Bucs from running away in the first. Furman wanted to ensure they didn’t dig themselves into a deficit too large to come back from, since The Bucs thrive in that situation.
As a whole, The Bucs shot 12-31 on FG’s, 5-13 on 3’s, and 5-5 on FT’s. Some leaders on The Bucs side were Taylor II with 11 points and 6 rebounds. Meanwhile, Strothers and Matthews II both ended the half with 6 points a piece as well. With 18 player rebounds, The Bucs kept steady even in a back and forth ball control situation. Regardless of those stats, The Paladins and The Bucs ended the first half tied at 34-34.
Second Half Shootout
During the first 7 minutes of the 2nd half, The Bucs were keeping the score close but still inevitably trailing The Paladins. Once very well timed 3 from Matthews gave The Bucs a much needed 3 point advance, and the lead didn’t change for the rest of the matchup, and at one point having a 13 point lead (2:04, 3 by Matthews).
Milton Matthews III ultimately was the weapon The Bucs needed in the second half. Matthews ended the game with a stellar 18 points, 2 rebounds, 2 steals, and shooting 66% from the arc. He led the way for The Bucs to secure that much needed win. Other game leaders were Brian Taylor II, ending the game with 5-15 FG’s, 2-4 3’s, 5-6 FT’s, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block. The 3rd player to hit double digits was Cam Morris III. He shot 4-6 FG’s, 1-1 3’s, 3-5 FT’s with 7 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block.
The Path to March
The Bucs now have 20 wins under their belt, and only 3 more stops til they head to Asheville seeking a SoCon championship title. Next Up, ETSU heads to Greensboro, NC to challenge The Spartans at Fleming Gymnasium with a 4 pm tipoff. You can catch the action on ESPN+.
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