
Southern Conference
We are in a packed house at Harrah’s Cherokee Center for this quarterfinal game of the Wofford Terrier vs EtSU Buccaneers. The crowds are about to erupt for the starting lineups These teams will be evenly matched and it promises to be an amazing atmosphere.
The game started with ETSU controlling the opening tip and started off hot with a 7-0 lead after a three from Peterson. After a rough start Wofford would put together a run of their own and take a 10-9 lead after a three from Dillion Bailey and fast break layup by Justin Bailey. After the first time out ETSU would bounce back going on a 5-0 run and taking the lead 14-10.
We went to the first media time out with a tight one and with ten minutes left to go in the first half we would continue to have a tight one. Peterson would score another basket and show why he was SoCon player of the year to give them a 16-14 lead.The bucket seemed to have a lid on it for Wofford as they could not stop the streak shooting of ETSU. The Buccs would come out of the media timeout and open up a ten point lead as Wofford would take a timeout. Wofford came out of that timeout and trying to drive more to the lane as they were able to get to the line back to back times to draw a bit closer and cut the Buccs lead to 24-17.
After Sivills three pointer bring the lead to 24-20 the Wofford crowd would come to life and force ETSU to call a timeout with 3:40 left in the half. The game would get fierce in the final 2 minutes. A Corey Tripp three point and Kyler Filewich with the the layup to close out the half with both teams tied at 27.
The 2nd half would start out all Wofford as the would open up the half on a 13-7 run and take a 40-34 lead to the first media timeout. After the media time out Luke Flynn with jack a three pointer which would keep Wofford in the lead 43-37. following a pair of ETSU free throws with 15:08 left in the game. After some tough defense from ETSU and agressive offense ETSU would get to the line to cut the lead to 44-43. with 12:56 left in the game. ETSU would then follow up with back to back three’s which would open up a four point lead to take us into the media timeout.
Following the media timeout Wofford would make the next 2 baskets to tie the game at 49 off of a Filewich turnaround jump shot. On the next few possessions both teams would struggle. They would trade fouls but Wofford would gain the lead 51-50 with 7:33 left in the ball game. This game was set to go down to the wire. Both of these two teams were fighting for every loose ball and bodies were hitting the floor. These teams know that a trip to the SoCon semifinals was at stake and they would play with that passion. The intensity was growing and the fans of both teams became even more hostile going into the media timeout with seven minutes left and Wofford clinging to a 53-52 lead. However, Jabari Peterson would not be denied and continued to show why he was the Socon player of the year by putting scoring his 21st point and tying the game at 54 with 5:30 left.
Justin Bailey would follow that up with a 4 point play as he would be fouled on the three point shot and put the Terriers up 58-54 with just under 5 minutes left. The defense would continue to pick and both teams were scrapping for every possible point they could have.
e
The Terrirs would continue their hot streak while ETSU would go cold . With 2:30 Homes would hit a layup and Corey Tripp would drain another three pointer. This would open give Wofford their biggest lead of the game 65-54 and force ETSU into a timeout with 2:16 left in the game Following a time out ETSU would go on a 5-0 run to cut the lead to six. However, this would be Wofford’s night as Dillion Bailey would drain a pair of three pointers and would knock down their free throws. Wofford would close out strong and finish with a 72-60 victory. Jackson Sivillis would lead The Terriers in scoring with 17 points. Filewich would have a double with 13 pts and 10 rebounds.
Tomorrow Wofford will face the darling os fhte Socon VMI. VMI knocked off the number 2 seed UNC Greensboro earlier in the day and will be playing their third game in a row.