From staff and wire reports
Courtney Pigram’s 30 points weren’t enough, as ETSU dropped its season-opener 78-74 to Dayton on Saturday afternoon in front of 12,115 at the University of Dayton Arena.
Pigram shot 11 of 23 from the field and knocked down 5 of his 11 3-point attempts. He also grabbed three rebounds, dished out two assists and had one steal.
“I really felt like we could win this game, so I just went out and tried to take it to ‘em,” Pigram said. “I wasn’t looking at my numbers. I was just trying to score to help us win.”
The Bucs (0-1) led by as many as nine points midway through the first half. But the Flyers (1-0) went on a 7-0 run to close out the period, and pulled to within 41-40 at the break.
ETSU held a hot hand in the first 20 minutes. The Bucs shot 50 percent (15 of 30) from the field and 46.7 percent (7 for 15) from beyond the arc.
But Dayton slowed the game down in the second half, and Flyers guard Brian Roberts (game-high 31 points, five assists) and forward Chris Wright (18 points, 13 rebounds) slowly took control.
“They’ve got great players in Wright and Roberts,” said Bucs coach Murry Bartow.
Roberts knocked down a three to give Dayton a 67-64 lead with 4:42 left in the second half.
But the Bucs battled back to make it 76-74 when junior-college transfer Jacolby Davis scored on a lay-up.
“I saw a lot of encouraging things,” Bartow said. “[Courtney Pigram] played a heck of a game. And we played a good team to the end in a hostile environment.
“And I don’t remember the last time we made 11 3-pointers in one game.”
The Flyers shot 53.8 percent (14 of 26) from the field in the second half, outrebounded ETSU 43-31 during the game, and took 15 more foul shots than the Bucs.
“I’ve got make sure that we get a better shot towards the end of games,” Bartow said. “We had some empty possessions late, in the last seven or eight minutes of the game.”
ETSU takes on Milligan College in an exhibition at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at the Memorial Center.
Bristol Herald Courier staff writer Brian T. Smith contributed to this report.