JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Nov. 19, 2018) – It took over 30 minutes of game play, but midway through the second half, the ETSU men’s basketball team finally found its stride – and Chicago State had no chance to keep up.

Leading by four at 50-46 with nine minutes left in regulation, the Buccaneers went on to outscore the Cougars 36-15 the remainder of the game to take an 86-61 win in the first round of the Cayman Island Classic Mainland Monday evening inside Freedom Hall.

Individually, junior forward Jeromy Rodriguez (Santiago, Dominican Republic) continued his impressive early-season play, collecting his third double-double in four games with a team high 18 points and 12 rebounds. Meanwhile, junior guard Tray Boyd III (Memphis) matched Rodriguez with 18 points, while teammates Patrick Good (Johnson City) and Daivien Williamson (Winston-Salem, N.C.) had 14 and 10 points, respectively.

The Bucs will be back in action again tomorrow night in the final round of the Cayman Island Mainland Classic, taking on Sam Houston State at 7 p.m. inside Freedom Hall. Sam Houston State defeated Jackson State 75-60 in the early game on Monday to advance to Tuesday’s night game. Chicago State (0-6) will face Jackson State at 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

“The numbers might have looked good, but it didn’t feel that way,” said ETSU head coach Steve Forbes, whose team improved to 3-2 on the year. “I didn’t think we played hard in the first half and the message in the locker room was that this isn’t rocket science. If we keep playing like that we’re going to get beat. We did change some things up and put in a new offense during the break, and I think that helped us get the ball inside more. But we still aren’t as consistent as we need to be and we’ve got to get that corrected.”

In the first half, the Bucs appeared in control of the game early on, moving ahead by 12 at 21-9 with 11 minutes left before the break. However, at that point the Cougars outscored the Bucs 19-6 to take a 28-27 lead into the intermission.

Despite that early play, ETSU managed to take control in the second half thanks to its inside game. Along with Rodriguez’s production, fellow post Mladen Armus (Belgrade, Serbia) finished with nine points and 11 rebounds. As a team, the Bucs outscored the Cougars 18-0 in second chance points, and out-rebounded Chicago State 37-21.

As a team, the Bucs also held a 38-0 advantage in bench points, shot 50 percent from the field for the game, 58 percent from 3-point range in the second half, and dished out 17 assists on the night.

Meanwhile, Chicago State was led by Anthony Harris’ game high 20 points, while Rob Shaw netted 18.

For more on ETSU men’s basketball throughout the 2018-19 season, visit ETSUBucs.com and click on the men’s hoops link.