ETSU Basketball - Bucs pumped for rematch against Mocs
By Kelly Hodge
Press Managing Sports Editor
khodge@johnsoncitypress.com
After muddling around for the better part of three months, East Tennessee State appears to be saving its best basketball for last.
The Bucs head into the final week of the regular season riding their first three-game win streak. And now along comes Chattanooga, a team that hammered them by 34 a month ago, for the home finale tonight.
Suffice it to say that the Bucs will be motivated.
?That game has been circled on my calendar since the last time we played,? said forward Dillion Sneed. ?Them sticking it to us the way they did and talking trash, I guess you could say we have a personal vendetta. It?s a big one for us.?
Both teams are coming off appearances in the ESPN Bracket Buster Saturday promotion over the weekend, with much different results. While the Bucs watched a 30-point lead all but evaporate before subduing Austin Peay 85-81, the Mocs were shot down 100-68 at Creighton, which hit a school-record 20 3-pointers.
Now all the Mocs have to do is rush back from Nebraska to another hostile environment and on one day?s rest face a team that has suddenly found its offense. The Bucs are averaging 94 points per game during the current win streak.
?We?ve got the momentum on our side now,? said ETSU?s Tim Smith after his 29-point, eight-assist, eight-rebound, 11-turnover odyssey against the Governors. ?We?re going to try to keep it going right on through the tournament and just see what happens. We definitely owe Chattanooga one.?
This will be the first visit to Memorial Center as a head coach for John Shulman, the Johnson City native, ETSU alum and former assistant coach. He?s had a good year. After starting 6-1 in the Southern Conference, the Mocs endured a bumpy stretch in which they lost four of five games, but they still lead the North Division at 9-5.
For ETSU, the standings don?t much matter at this point. The Bucs are fourth in the North at 4-10 but suddenly thinking they can play with anybody at the SoCon tournament.
?We?re a much different team than we were two weeks ago,? said coach Murry Bartow.
Tonight marks the last game in the Dome for seniors James Anthony and Sam Oatman. (The team?s third senior, Mike Tolliver, has a chronic knee problem that has kept him from suiting up this season).
For Oatman, a Wisconsin native, his time at ETSU has been a real education. He went through major knee surgery and had to sit out his sophomore season. He married his high school sweetheart, Laura, about 18 months ago. And this season, after playing invisible backup to Smith the last couple of years, he?s been back in the mix.
?I have a lot of emotions,? said Oatman. ?I?ve been here a long time, five years, and have had a lot of ups and downs. For the most part it?s been a great ride, winning like we have. I couldn?t ask for much more.?
Nor could Anthony, the Floridian who has been a key to ETSU?s late surge, with at least 20 points in three of the last four games.
?I?ve had a lot of great games in my four years,? he said. ?I?m just gonna appreciate the last one as well as all of them.?
There was a time, before Smith arrived on the scene, when Anthony actually shared point-guard duties. He laughs about that assignment now.
?That seems like a long time ago,? he said. ?Then again, it was only four years ago. I was having fun then and I?m having fun now.?
