JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - At the midway point of the Atlantic Sun Conference schedule, the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers needed a big win against visiting Belmont University to keep pace in the logjam at the top of the standings.
Instead, the Bucs gave one of their worst performances of the year, sleepwalking through the first half and falling to the Bruins, 82-70, their second straight loss at home on Monday in the mini-dome.
“They were picking our defense apart,” said junior guard Sheldon Cooley, who finished with a game-high 18 points. “We picked it up offensively in the second half, but we couldn’t stop them.”
The first half was so bad there was no place to go but up.
The Bucs (10-9, 5-4 A-Sun) shot 4 of 25 from the field, and scored only 12 points. The visiting Bruins (14-7, 7-2 A-Sun) were showing no sympathy either, and put on a clinical passing display during a 7-0 run to end the half in their final visit to the dome as a member of the A-Sun.
“It was a pitiful first half,” said ETSU coach Murry Bartow. “We tried a little bit of everything defensively, they just picked us apart.”
Even more alarming for the Bucs are the recent shooting woes of point guard Adam Sollazzo, the team’s leading scorer and offensive catalyst. Sollazzo has shot a combined 6 of 27 over the last two games, and tallied only one assist against Belmont.
“The shots that he normally makes, they haven’t been going in,” said Bartow. “And when you start playing the way you don’t want to play, Belmont will capitalize.”
The Bucs found some rhythm in the second half, largely thanks to the perimeter shooting of Cooley and teammate Marcus Dubose, who combined to shoot 5 of 10 from the 3-point line. But the Bruins always had a quick answer, usually by forward Mick Hedgepeth, who scored 17 points and helped the Bruins gain a 48-16 scoring advantage in the paint.
But the senior-laden Bucs know the season is far from over, and despite their poor performance they will have at least one more shot at their old rival before they leave for the Ohio Valley Conference.
“We’ve got to move on,” said senior forward Tommy Hubbard, who chipped in nine points and nine rebounds. “We have to think about going to their place and splitting the series.”
The Bucs will return to action Friday at USC Upstate, and then return home for a game against James Madison on January 30th.
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