Men's Basketball Loses Exhibition at ETSU

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The Lions' men's basketball team lost an exhibition game at East Tennessee State University, 119-83 Saturday afternoon at the ETSU/MSHA Athletic Center.

Boxscore...

Devonte Williams and Carter Wright led the Lions scoring 15 and 14 points in the loss, respectively. Williams added nine assists, five rebounds and four steals in the game. Jalen Witherspoon recorded 11 points while Thomas Anderson scored 10 points for Mars Hill. Anderson and Witherspoon led the Lions on the boards with six rebounds apiece.

A.J. Merriweather led the Buccaneers scoring a game high 27 points with seven boards. Lester Wilson added 17 points while Hunter Harris scored 12. ETSU hit 58.2% (46-79) of their field goal attempts. MHU hit 46.7% (28-60) of their shots from the floor but only converted 37.9% (11-29) in the second half. After trailing only four points (49-45) at halftime, ETSU outscored the Lions 70-38 in the second half of play.

MHU jumped out to a 19-10 lead with 13:01 left in the first half after Witherspoon hit a shot from behind the arc. The Bucs went on a 14-0 run over the next six minutes to lead 24-19 after Merriweather hit a shot in the lane. ETSU led by as many as 10 points (39-29) with 4:09 remaining in the first stanza after Harris hit a layup. MHU then went on a 16-10 run to end the half capped off by a 3-pointer from Wright to send the teams into the locker room at the intermission with the score 49-45 in favor of the hosts.

The Bucs used a 30-8 run to start the second half to pull away with the win. A high percentage shot by Lester Wilson with 10:03 left in regulation gave ETSU a 26-point (79-53) advantage. The Bucs would maintain a double-digit lead for the remainder of the contest.

Mars Hill will open regular season play on Saturday, November 9. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. in Stanford Arena against non-conference rival Limestone College.