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3/7/2009 - MEN'S BASKETBALL
Bucs Roll on to NCAA's with 85-68 Defeat of Dolphins
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NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The ETSU Buccaneers dominated the low post in an 85-68 win against the Jacksonville Dolphins in the General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Championship game earning their first trip to the NCAA tournament as a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference.
ETSU (23-10, 14-6 A-Sun) scored 22 of its first 29 points in the paint and had 23 second-chance points in the win.Mike Smith led ETSU with 22 points and 12 rebounds. Tournament Most Valuable Player Kevin Tiggs added 21. Tiggs scored nine points to lead ETSU on a 13-0 run over three minutes to take a 32-16 lead with 13:30 left in the first. Jacksonville (18-13, 15-5 A-Sun) was led by Ben Smith with 29.
Behind key layups by Micah Williams along with a tip-in and three by Smith, the Buccaneers expanded their lead to 16 with 8:18 to play before the break. Jacksonville was unable to bring the game any closer than 13 before ETSU took a 43-28 lead at the half. Last year, the Dolphins faced a 45-23 deficit to Belmont.
ETSU opened the second half on an 11-2 run to expand its lead to 24 at 54-30. The lead grew to its largest at 30, 69-39 with a 3-pointer by Mike Smith with 9:05 left. Ben Smith hit three free throws, a jumper, and a 3-pointer to lead Jacksonville on a 13-2 run to cut ETSU’s lead to 18 with just over four minutes left.
ETSU outrebounded Jacksonville 40-34 but the Dolphins’ Lehmon Colbert did pull down a career-high 13, the most in school history in an A-Sun Championship game.
ETSU, the 16th different school to win the A-Sun Championship, will make its first appearance in the NCAA tournament since receiving the SoCon automatic bid in 2004. The Bucs will learn their NCAA tournament fate during the selection show live on CBS on Sunday, March. 15 at 6:00 p.m.
ETSU will enter the NCAA Tournament on a season-high tying five-game win streak. In those five games, the Bucs have averaged 89.4 points per game and not scored fewer than 81 points in any contest. They have outscored the five opponents (Kennesaw State, Mercer, Stetson, Belmont and Jacksonville by a combined 447-345 count. They won all five by an average of 20.4 points per game and won all five by least 14 points.
Jacksonville earned an automatic bid to the NIT by capturing the regular season title. It was the second consecutive season that Jacksonville lost in the tournament championship.
Joining Tiggs on the All-Tournament team was Lehmon Colbert (Jacksonville), Courtney Pigram (ETSU), Alex Renfroe (Belmont), Ben Smith (Jacksonville), and Mike Smith (ETSU).
The Atlantic Sun Conference is an 11-member league committed to Building Winners for Life. The A-Sun stands for achievement with integrity in both the academic and athletic arenas, with a focus on the balance between the two for our student-athletes. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun boasts six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun includes a blend of the most prestigious and dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.
