Pigram Finds Game, Bucs Blow Out Owls

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The chant started early. “Court-ney Pi-gram! Court-ney Pi-gram!” shouted the Memorial Center crowd, as fans of the East Tennessee State University men’s basketball team attempted to lift up and inspire the Buccaneers’ struggling senior guard.

Pigram heard his name and responded, and ETSU followed his lead. The Bucs senior leader scored a game-high 16 points, pushing East Tennessee State to an 81-46 victory over the Kennesaw State Owls on Thursday evening in an Atlantic Sun conference matchup before a crowd of 3,149.

“I just want to thank the fans for staying with me, staying behind me, staying with the team,” said Pigram, who dished out seven assists and grabbed five rebounds. “Hopefully, we can keep rolling.”

Pigram said a week’s worth of shooting practice and supportive e-mails sent in by blue-and-gold fans gave him inspiration and encouragement to break out of a recent three-game slump.

Meanwhile, ETSU’s blowout victory halted a rough slide in which the Bucs (19-10, 13-6 Atlantic Sun) had dropped four of their last five contests and fallen into third place in the A-Sun.

ETSU freshman guard Jarvis Jones tied a career-high with 13 points, while Kevin Tiggs and Adam Sollazzo added 11 apiece for the Bucs.

Kurtis Woods’ team-high 12 points topped the Owls (7-21, 3-16).

ETSU outscored Kennesaw State 40-12 in the paint and outrebounded the Owls 47-31. The Bucs shot 49.2 percent (30 of 61) from the field, while Kennesaw State was held to 26.3 percent (15 of 57) shooting and committed 21 turnovers.

“I thought all 10 guys really contributed,” ETSU coach Murry Bartow said.

Pigram’s solid night appeared to end a downward spiral in which the former Atlantic Sun player of the year was averaging just 4.3 points and shooting 17.2 percent (5 of 29) from the field in his last three games.

Pigram attacked his self-proclaimed slump head on, scoring five quick points. He then shot his arm skyward after draining a 3-pointer from the right wing with 12 minutes, 41 seconds left in the first half.

“I thought Courtney kind of broke out,” Bartow said. “[He] got the crowd behind him.

“He looked a little bit more like himself.”

Despite Pigram’s renewed confidence and ETSU’s convincing 35-point victory, it was nowhere near a perfect game for Pigram or the Bucs.

Pigram shot 5 of 14 from the floor and tied for a game-high with five turnovers, while ETSU struggled at times against an Owls squad ranked 337 out of 344 NCAA Division I teams in the Pomeroy and Sagarin computer rankings systems.

ETSU jumped out to a 10-2 advantage, propelled by Pigram’s soft touch and an attacking press defense. A three-point play by Pigram then gave the Bucs a 25-12 lead.

But a 13-2 Kennesaw State run followed. And a swished 3-pointer from the left baseline by Owls guard Kelvin McConnell pulled Kennesaw State within 27-25 with 4:40 left in the first half.

ETSU halted the Owls’ charge by tightening up its defense. The Bucs closed out the first half on a 7-0 run and took a 34-25 lead into halftime.

“I thought, ‘Hey, we’re down nine,’ ” Kennesaw State coach Tony Ingle said. “I felt pretty fortunate, to be honest with you.”

ETSU looked recharged after the break. The Buccaneers kicked up the tempo and turned to their black press to disrupt Kennesaw State’s offensive sets, sending the Owls into chaos.

“Coach just calls it ballin’,” Sollazzo said.

East Tennessee State outscored Kennesaw State 47-21 in the second half and held the Owls to 7-of-30 shooting from the field, as the Bucs once again looked like a team with aspirations of winning the A-Sun conference tournament and earning a trip to The Dance.

“Hopefully we just keep rolling, rolling and rolling,” Sollazzo said.

ETSU plays its final home game of the 2008-09 season when the Bucs face Mercer at 4 p.m. Saturday inside the Memorial Center. An East Tennessee State victory could give the Buccanners the No. 2 seed in the Atlantic Sun conference tournament, which will be held Mar. 4-7 at Allen Arena in Nashville, Tenn. The winner of Saturday’s Jacksonville-Belmont contest will clinch the A-Sun regular-season title.

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