By Brian T. Smith
Assistant Sports Editor / Bristol Herald Courier
Published: February 3, 2008

BY BRIAN T. SMITH
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
Johnson City – East Tennessee State guard Courtney Pigram bolted hard for a loose ball and jumped through press row.
When Pigram leaped back on the court, the disparate crowd inside the Memorial Center stood in unison, shouted and cheered.
The Buccaneers were back.
After being held scoreless for the final 7 minutes, 16 seconds of the first half and watching Kennesaw State head off on a 17-3 run, ETSU had finally regained its form.
“Coming out of that second half, I felt like I had to push my teammates to do better,” said Pigram, who scored 7 of his 10 points in the second period, dished out three assists and picked up a steal.
Pigram’s inspired play also keyed the Bucs’ come-from-behind rally in a raucous and controversial second half, and helped push ETSU to a 72-66 win over the Owls in an Atlantic Sun conference matchup before an announced crowd of 3,287.
“He’s a fighter, he’s a great competitor,” said Bucs coach Murry Bartow, referring to Pigram. “He’s player of the year in the league last year. And even in a win where he gets 10 points, he’ll be one of the happiest guys in the locker room. He’s just a winner.”
The Buccaneers (13-9, 7-2) improved to 9-1 at home this season with the victory. ETSU has now won five straight and is 8-2 in its last 10 contests.
“It’s different playing at home and it’s different when you’re not playing those money games – you lose a lot of those,” Bartow said. “Our chemistry is better and we’re getting a little bit better as a team.”
Kevin Tiggs scored a team-high 18 points, hit 10 of his 12 free-throw attempts and pulled down eight rebounds to lead the Bucs, while Travis Strong added 13 points.
Ronell Wooten scored a game-high 28 points – including seven made 3-pointers – for the Owls (6-17, 3-6).
Defense got ETSU going on Sunday afternoon. And defense saved the Bucs’ day.
ETSU forced 16 turnovers and scored 20 points off Owls giveaways. The Bucs also picked up 11 steals and outrebounded Kennesaw State 38-30.
“Those first 10 minutes of the second half, the key was [our press defense],” Bartow said.
ETSU jumped out to an early 11-2 advantage after Tiggs double-pumped and sent an inside jumper off the glass and into the hoop with 14:38 remaining in the first half. 
The Bucs’ then stretched their lead to 21-8 when Pigram sank a 3-pointer from the left baseline.
Yet the bottom suddenly dropped out for the Bucs.
As Kennesaw State’s half-court pressure defense came to life, the Owls’ milk-the-clock half-court offense slowly lulled the Bucs to sleep.
And while ETSU sputtered, the Owls found their mark.
Kennesaw State hit 53.8 percent (7 of 13) of its 3-point attempts in the first half, and the Owls’ hot hand from the perimeter allowed them to take a 31-29 lead into the break.
But a re-charged, re-energized ETSU emerged in the second half.
“We together now,” Tiggs said. “We’re not making the same mistakes we was making earlier in the season.”
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