Tough as nails: ETSU rallies from 17 down to beat WCU

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — East Tennessee State vanquished its recent Western Carolina curse with a comeback for the ages. The Bucs rallied from its largest first-half deficit of the season, 17 points, to score a 69-67 victory in Sunday's Southern Conference basketball semifinals at Harrah's Cherokee Center. The Catamounts had the Bucs' number recently with a regular-season sweep and wins in nine of the previous 10 games in the rivalry. It appeared Western was on its way to another victory, but the regular-season champion Bucs (22-10) kept fighting. They held the Catamounts (14-16) without a field goal the last 8:50 of the game. Western Carolina, which came into the game on a seven-game win streak, made only one of its final 17 field goals. "I thought we did a great job in transition defense and were really locked in," ETSU coach Brooks Savage said. "I'm super proud of our group how they hung in there. They made a couple more plays in the regular season, but tonight we made a couple more. It was a fitting ending to what was a great series between us." Blake Barkley scored 11 straight points for ETSU to give them a first lead, 68-67, since 7-6 early in the game. Barkley ended with 19 points and eight rebounds. Brian Taylor II led the Bucs with 22 points. Jaylen Smith scored 13 points and Jordan McCullum hit double digits with 11. "God is good. I keep my faith really high, and always feel I have trust in him where everything is going to work out," Barkley said. "Coach was calling plays for me. He and my teammates have a lot of trust in me. Jaylen and B.T. had it going, and they had the trust in me to make plays." No. 1 seed ETSU will play the winner of Sunday's late game between Furman and UNC Greensboro in Monday's championship game at 7 p.m. The Bucs will be going for their ninth SoCon tournament championship and 12th tournament title overall, counting the Ohio Valley and Atlantic Sun. Western Carolina scored the first five points, but was answered with five straight points by the Bucs' Jordan McCullum. The Catamounts dominated the glass earlier. They had a 16-6 rebounding advantage with eight offensive rebounds as they opened up a 31-17 lead. The lead grew to 17 points, the largest first-half deficit that ETSU has faced all season. The Bucs trailed 38-24 at halftime with that margin just one point less than they faced at North Alabama. But, the Bucs kept fighting and forced 14 turnovers in the game, which helped overcome a 37-29 rebounding disadvantage. "I thought our guys were tough as nails," Savage said. "We were fortunate around the basket. They really battled on the glass. We just dug our heels in. We showed a video on Friday night of all our conditioning. All that built our armor and toughness as a team. That and the edge we had all showed up." Marcus Kell led the Catamounts with 18 points, followed by Cord Stansberry with 16 points and seven rebounds. Tidijane Dioumassi totaled 14 poitns. "I tip our hats to East Tennessee State. They didn't give in and we didn't expect them to," Western Carolina coach Tim Craft said. "Down the stretch, Barkley and Taylor were so good. We won seven straight and felt like we were going to get eight. Our players deserve all the credit for what they've done." WOMEN Samford 72, Chattanooga 67 The No. 6 seed Lady Bulldogs completed a three-day sweep of the three teams which tied for the regular-season title in the women's championship game. Two days after beating No. 2 ETSU, they rallied from 11 points down to defeat No. 1 Chattanooga. Kaylee Yarbrough led Samford with 25 points, followed by Francie Morris with 23 points. Southern Conference Player of the Year Caia Elisaldez paced the Lady Mocs with 20 points. Izzy McPherson was next with 17 points. After trailing by double-digits, Samford stormed back and led by as many as 13 points in the second half.