ETSU advances to semis beating Mercer 73-66 (Mar 04, 2017)

By AP
Published

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) Desonta Bradford scored 21 points and Tevin Glass had 15 and East Tennessee State beat Mercer 73-66 in the quarterfinals of the Southern Conference Tournament quarterfinals Saturday night.

T.J. Cromer added 10 points for third seed East Tennessee State (25-7), which advanced to play No. 7-seed Samford in the semifinals Sunday. The Bulldogs upended No. 2 seed Furman with a 67-63 win on Saturday.

Bradford's 3-point play with the score tied at 45 at just a little more than 11 minutes left put the Buccaneers on top for good. Bradford finished an 11-0 run with a dunk and the Buccaneers controlled from there.

East Tennessee State controlled the interior and outscored the Bears 38-22. The Buccaneers also blocked 11 shots.

Demetre Rivers led Mercer (15-17) with 18 points, Jordan Strawberry 16 and Ria'n Holland 14. Mercer shot 22 for 61 (36 percent) and made all 14 of its free throws.