JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Siarre Evans stretched forward, picked off the pass and sped away down the left sideline. Seconds later, the East Tennessee State University junior guard sunk an easy layup, putting the Bucs up 74-66 with 5 minutes, 56 seconds left in the second half.
ETSU’s comeback was complete.
The Buccaneers rallied from an eight-point halftime deficit to pull out an 86-77 victory over the Jacksonville Dolphins on Saturday afternoon in an Atlantic Sun conference contest inside the Memorial Center before a crowd of 2,820.
The come-from-behind victory marked the Bucs’ third win in their last four games.
“Once this team realizes their capabilities and how good they can be, if we do play 40 minutes of basketball, we’re going to do some good things,” ETSU coach Karen Kemp said.
Latisha Belcher tied for a game-high 19 points on 6-of-9 shooting and pulled down seven rebounds – five offensive – to lead ETSU (4-6, 2-1). TaRonda Wiles added 16 points and a team-high eight rebounds for the Bucs, while Tara Davis scored 14 points and Gwen Washington contributed 11. Evans chipped in with six points and tied for a game-high 11 rebounds for the Buccaneers.
DaVina Hamilton scored 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting to lead Jacksonville (5-7, 1-2).
The Bucs outrebounded the Dolphins 49-38 overall and shot 50 percent (19 of 38) from the field in the second half, as ETSU outscored Jacksonville 49-32 in the period.
Kemp credited her bench, which picked up 29 points, with playing a major part in the Buccaneers’ turnaround.
“That second five that I brought in, I really felt like they came in and they gave us that lift that we needed,” Kemp said.
The Bucs shot 81 percent (17 of 21) from the free-throw line and attempted 10 more foul shots than the Dolphins, while ETSU held Jacksonville to 41.3 (31 of 75) percent shooting from the field.
btsmith@bristolnews.com|(276) 645-2569
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