BY BRIAN T. SMITH
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
Johnson City, Tenn. – Kevin Tiggs leapt, jumped and sliced through crowds like the circus was in town.
Courtney Pigram played with smooth confidence.
And East Tennessee State’s three departing seniors – Travis Strong, Andrew Reed and Kenyona Swader – could at times do no wrong.
The Buccaneers held on to defeat Tennessee Tech 88-80 on Saturday afternoon at Memorial Center before an announced crowd of 3,118 as part of ESPN’s BracketBuster promotion.
And for one game, ETSU’s chaotic, unpredictable season made perfect sense.
“We’re getting it going at the right time,” said Strong, who tied for a team-high 20 points, hit 6 of his 12 3-point attempts and picked up three steals. “We made extra passes and found the open shooter and we just hit our shots.”
The Bucs’ 1-3 record in their previous four games and Thursday’s disappointing 96-70 blowout loss to Gardner-Webb appeared to be in the rearview mirror for ETSU.
The Bucs’ offense ran smooth, streamlined sets, and ETSU’s defense recorded 11 steals, four blocks and forced 21 turnovers.
Yes, the Bucs watched a 20-point lead disappear and Murry Bartow’s squad looked lethargic during a 22-9 Tennessee Tech run in the second half.
But ETSU (16-12, 9-5 Atlantic Sun) played tight, focused, team-first basketball for the majority of the contest – something that’s been sorely lacking in the squad’s most-recent efforts.
“Coach showed us a highlight tape of our best moments this season,” said Swader, who scored 13 points and collected a team-high 11 rebounds. “I think that reminded us of what we can do when our offense is working right.”
Tiggs added 20 points (8-of-15 shooting), three rebounds and three steals for the Bucs, while Pigram scored 15 points and had six rebounds.
Daniel Northern scored a game-high 22 points for the Golden Eagles (12-18, 9-10 Ohio Valley Conference).
Tennessee Tech battled back to take a 65-63 lead when Amadi McKenzie (17 points, game-high 13 rebounds) converted a short-range 2 with 10 minutes, 55 seconds to go.
But ETSU held strong and rallied, and consecutive emphatic dunks by Pigram and Swader made it 79-69 Bucs with 7:09 left in the second half.
“We got back in it and we tied it up in the second half, and we had some opportunities to make some plays,” said Tennessee Tech coach Mike Sutton. “But they were very intense early and I thought, in the second half, we just ran out of gas.”
The Bucs took a 17-12 lead when Strong drilled a 3-pointer from the right wing with 14:11 remaining in the first half.
Six consecutive points from Pigram, courtesy of a swished 3 from the right baseline and a three-point play, allowed the Bucs to stretch their lead to 27-12.
Meanwhile, ETSU’s 2-3 zone defense plagued the Golden Eagles’ quick-set offense.
Tennessee Tech committed 13 first-half turnovers and was held to 33-percent shooting (4 of 12) from the field in the game’s first 10 minutes.
“We know when we play good defense that it helps our offense in transition,” said ETSU senior forward Andrew Reed. “We definitely had some extra effort with our defense today.”
And while the Golden Eagles struggled mightily in the early going, ETSU shot the ball like it had a magnet attached to the rim.
The Bucs hit 51.4 percent (18 of 35) of their field goals in the first half and knocked down 50 percent (9 of 18) of their 3-point attempts.
Tiggs, Strong and Pigram all hit the 8-point mark for ETSU before halftime, and the Bucs took a commanding 51-39 lead into the break.
The Bucs’ bench added to the barrage.
ETSU outscored Tennessee Tech 30-23 in bench points, while Buc reserves Jocolby Davis (five points, three rebounds, two assists, one steal), Mike Smith (four points), Greg Hamlin (four points, two blocks) and Micah Williams (seven points) all made significant contributions.
“The A-Sun tournament is coming up, so we have to be ready,” Strong said. “We all tried to do our part out there.”
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