No. 1 seed ETSU 70, No. 9 seed VMI 57
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – The top seed ETSU Bucs dispatched upstart VMI 70-57 Saturday in the first quarterfinal matchup of the 2020 Ingles Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship presented by General Shale. It wasn’t a dramatic finish, but the Keydets gave the Bucs everything they wanted on short rest after opening tourney play at 5 p.m. Friday.
 
Daivien Williamson led a quartet of double-figure scorers for the favored Bucs with 15 points. Tray Boyd III and Isaiah Tisdale has 12 apiece with another 11 from Joe Hugley. The bench duo of Sean Conway and Greg Parham paced the Keydets with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
 
The Bucs were in cruise control leading by 15, 58-43, after Patrick Good’s 3-pointer with 7:12 to play. VMI provided a speed bump in the fast lane to the semifinals.
 
Conway sparked his squad with outstanding offensive board work. Kamdyn Curfman missed a trey and Conway recovered it and kicked it out to Travis Evee, whose immediate effort was off target. Conway again rebounded the ball and tried a third option. Parham drilled it from the right wing.
 
A third straight defensive stop for the Keydets was quickly rewarded by Curfman splashing a triple with just over five minutes to play, cutting the lead to eight, 60-52. Boyd ended the drought the next time down for the Bucs, floating in a 3 from in front of his bench. That steadied the ship as the lead never dipped its toes inside double digits again.
 
The Bucs advance to the semifinals and await the winner of Mercer-Western Carolina in Saturday’s second quarterfinal. The semifinal begins at 4 p.m. Sunday in Harrah’s Cherokee Center Asheville broadcasting on select Nexstar affiliates as well ESPN+.
 
RECORDS: ETSU 28-4 | VMI 9-24
 
3 NOTES TO KNOW
- ETSU moves on to the semifinals for the 18th time. The Bucs are making their fifth consecutive final four appearance.
- VMI fell short of its first semifinal berth since 2003, when the Keydets lost to Chattanooga on this date in North Charleston, South Carolina. They own one of the two best postseason runs in recent league history with an Elite Eight berth in 1976. Davidson also reached the Elite Eight in 2008, while Chattanooga fell one game short in 1997.
- The Bucs won all three games against VMI this season with Saturday’s serving as the easiest finish. It was a six-point game (61-55) in Johnson City on Jan. 11 and just a five-point margin (72-67) in Lexington on Feb. 15.
 
3 STATS TO KNOW
- VMI flipped the script on the Bucs’ vaunted board reputation. It was +6 in rebounding, 38-32, allowing just four on the offensive glass for ETSU.
- The Keydets set a tournament record with 18 3-pointers made in Friday’s first-round win over Samford. They managed just eight today, hitting 32 percent (8-for-25).
- ETSU took full advantage of live-ball turnovers. It had just a +2 turnover margin (16-18) but was +7 in points off turnovers (17-10).
 
No. 5 seed Western Carolina 70, No. 4 seed Mercer 56
ASHEVILLE, N.C. – Fifth-seeded Western Carolina claimed a 70-56 win over No. 4 seed Mercer in Saturday’s second quarterfinal game of the Ingles Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship presented by General Shale. It broke open a close game early in the second half.
 
The Catamounts took control with defensive stop after defensive stop to the midway point of the second half. They held Mercer without a field goal for more than six minutes. Djordje Dimitrijevic (16:36) and Ethan Stair (10:30) 3-pointers were separated by just a Maciej Bender free throw.
 
Western’s 11-1 run over that period extended its lead to 14, 49-35, on an emphatic Xavier Cork finish. Stair’s triple stopped the bleeding. Back-to-back scores from Kamar Robertson made it a seven-point game, 50-43.
 
The Catamounts did not allow the momentum to shift the game further. Two Onno Steger free throws ignited an 11-2 spurt he capped with a 3 at 4:21. The lead surged to 61-45. The Bears never threatened again.
 
Mason Faulkner paced the Catamounts with 22 points, five rebounds and four assists. Carlos Dotson added 19 with another 13 from Steger. Robertson’s 17 was high for Mercer followed by 11 for Dimitrijevic.
 
Western Carolina moves on to a semifinal date with regular-season champion and tournament top seed ETSU. It begins Sunday at 4 p.m. in Harrah’s Cherokee Center Asheville broadcasting on select Nexstar affiliates as well ESPN+.
 
 
RECORDS: Mercer 17-15 | Western Carolina 19-11
 
3 NOTES TO KNOW
- The Catamounts are making their 15th semifinal appearance. It’s the first since 2016, a 73-69 loss to Chattanooga. That ended a run of three straight including a narrow 56-53 2014 finals loss to Wofford.
- Mercer is now 2-6 in the SoCon tourney since making the move to the league in 2015.
- Western Carolina won the season series 2-1 with both teams winning at home. The Cats claimed a 79-71 triumph in Cullowhee on Jan. 11 before losing 11 days later in Macon, 85-79.
 
3 STATS TO KNOW
- Western Carolina was +3 in turnover margin (13-16). It turned that into a 9-point advantage, 20-11, scoring off the miscues.
- 27 second-half points for Mercer is a season low. Today was just the sixth time the Bears were limited to fewer than 60 points in 2019-20, games in which Mercer went 1-5. The win was over Wofford 59-47 in the regular-season finale in Macon.
- The Catamounts’ 52.4 percent shooting came on a 22-for-42 effort from the field. They hit 75 percent (15-for-20) of their efforts INSIDE the arc. They’re currently on a strange statistical downturn in shooting percentage making 52.6 percent two games ago in the win over Samford before a 52.5 percent performance in the regular season-ending loss at ETSU.
 
2020 Ingles Southern Conference Men’s Basketball Championship presented by General Shale
Harrah’s Cherokee Center Asheville, Asheville, N.C.
 
Friday, March 6 (ESPN+)
Game 1 - (9) VMI 96, (8) Samford 78
Game 2 - (7) Wofford 93, (10) The Citadel 76
 
Saturday, March 7 (ESPN+/Nexstar)
Game 3 - (1) ETSU 70, (9) VMI 57
Game 4 - (5) Western Carolina 70, (4) Mercer 56
Game 5 - (2) Furman vs. (7) Wofford, 6 p.m.
Game 6 - (3) UNCG vs. (6) Chattanooga, 8:30 p.m.
 
Sunday, March 8 (ESPN+/Nexstar)
Game 7 - (1) ETSU vs. (5) Western Carolina, 4 p.m.
Game 8 - Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 6:30 p.m.
 
Monday, March 9 (ESPN)
Championship game, 7 p.m.