ETSU defeats Florida Gulf Coast 66-59
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Mike Smith scored 16 points and East Tennessee State held off Florida Gulf Coast 66-59 on Friday night.
ETSU opened the second half on a 21-11 run to grab its biggest lead of the game at 51-34 after a layup by Smith with 12:07 remaining.
The Eagles went on an 11-0 run to cut the lead to 55-50 with 5:10 to play. But a 7-1 surge gave ETSU a 62-51 lead with 2:16 left and the Eagles could get no closer than seven the rest of the way.
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ETSU scored 26 points off 20 Florida Gulf Coast turnovers, but the Eagles outscored the Buccaneers 17-5 on second-chance points on the strength of a 35-31 rebounding edge.
Michah Williams added 15 points for ETSU (17-8, 12-2 Atlantic Sun Conference), which has won four straight.
Christophe Varidel scored 19 points, and Anthony Banks and Kevin Cantinol each added 11 for the Eagles (5-16, 2-10), who have lost three in a row.