JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – The Wofford men's basketball team struggled to find its rhythm early on for the second straight game, allowing the Bucs to shape into form and catch fire in the second half to come away with a 71-49 victory at Freedom Hall on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Bucs were 60 percent from the floor in the second half (15-for-25) and 4-of-7 from beyond the arc (57.1%), as Wofford falls to 9-5 in the Southern Conference and 12-8 overall.
 
"I was proud of our defensive effort. To hold them in their 30s in the first half … the last eight minutes of the first half, I thought we really played hard and battled and rebounded," said head coach Jay McAuley of the team's initial effort. "We just couldn't sustain it with all the missed shots that we had … We've got to see some shots go in and continue to play for each other and be simple. I think you saw late there, we deviated from some things, jump passes and silly turnovers, that fueled a lot of their run there at the end."
 
Senior Storm Murphy led the Terriers as the lone double-figure scorer with 11 points on 3-for-9 from deep range (33.3%), five assists and two rebounds in a team-high 34 minutes. Sophomore Messiah Jones was perfect from the field with nine points (3-for-3), including three free throws, and three rebounds, followed by senior Tray Hollowell with eight points and a team-high six boards.
 
Freshman Max Klesmit registered seven points and four rebounds in 23 minutes, while classmate Keaton Turner provided another solid performance with six points and two rebounds in 19 minutes.
 
The Terriers weren't able to bounce back offensively in the second half, finishing 34 percent from the floor and 8-for-32 from 3-point range on the night (25%). Additionally, ETSU edged Wofford on the boards for the contest, 32-29.
 
The Bucs came out the gates executing offensively, seeing two threes from Ledarrius Brewer push a 10-3 lead by the 15:02 mark. Brewer came out the timeout burying another trey for the Bucs before finishes from Tray Hollowell and Messiah Jones pushed a 15-7 margin just four minutes later.
 
The Bucs pushed its first double-digit spread of the contest (20-7) after a pair of Wofford turnovers, prior to a Max Klesmit three and Jones turnaround jumper beating the shot clock to make for a 20-12 score by the under-8 media timeout (7:44). The Terriers strung together a couple of stops to see Ryan Larson dime Murphy on a corner three, though, the Bucs continued to answer on the offensive end, extending its largest advantage with 3:43 left, 28-15.
 
The Terriers then clamped down to hold ETSU scoreless for the remaining three minutes, as Murphy then went on his own 6-0 run to bring the deficit within seven. Morgan Safford dished to Murphy for a corner three before a crucial stop then set up his third 3-pointer of the half from the top of the key to trail 28-21 by the end of the half.
 
Murphy was 3-for-3 beyond the arc in the first half, marking his 13^th game this season recording at least three made threes in game, to pace the Terriers with nine first-half points.
 
The Bucs used 11 Wofford first-half turnovers in return for 12 points to hold an early lead, though, both teams played scrappy through the opening 20 minutes, seeing the Terriers hold ETSU to just 9-of 24 from the field (37.5%).
 
Safford opened the second-half scoring to bring the score within five, 28-23, though, ETSU's David Sloan and Brewer connected on back-to-back threes to fuel a 13-0 run that rekindled a Bucs double-digit advantage by the 14:47 mark, 41-23.
 
Wofford scored nine of the following 16 points to trail by 11 with 8:15 to play, 49-38.
 
Keaton Turner would blow by a Bucs defender to convert an and-one finish at the rim, as Austin Patterson nailed his third three in the last four games to cut the deficit to 12 (45-33). Another Turner three-ball followed prior to the under-8 media timeout to produce the 49-38 margin.
 
It would be the closest the Terriers would get for the remainder of the contest, as a controversial call on a screen that materialized into a Wofford flagrant foul, followed by a technical, set up four ETSU free throws to bring back a 15-point edge (53-38). ETSU's Brewer then continued his heroics for the Bucs, burying a three on the ensuing possession to push a 56-38 lead.
 
Wofford scored 10 of the next 13 points, behind a Murphy layup and back-to-back threes from Hollowell, however, ETSU answered with an 8-0 run that ultimately firmed its grip over the contest to extend leads as large as 24 points with 1:43 left to play (71-47) and ultimately come away with the 71-49 victory at the end of regulation.
 
The Terriers' bench provided 19 points compared to the Bucs' 17 from their reserves, though, ETSU outscored Wofford in points from turnovers (20-14), points inside the paint (26-16), second-chance points (9-3) and fast break points (11-7).
 
The Bucs were led by Ledarrius Brewer with 30 points and four rebounds and David Sloan with 16 points and five assists.
 
Wofford (12-8, 9-5 SoCon) returns to Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium on Wednesday, February 17, hosting The Citadel for a 7 p.m. tip.