Lester Wilson’s game seems to be coming back around, and that’s a key development for the East Tennessee State basketball team.The redshirt sophomore scored 19 points to spark a lethargic offense Sunday as the Bucs finally shook off Kennesaw State 86-73 at the Dome.It was Wilson’s second-best scoring output of the season and came on the heels of 14- and 13-point performances his last two times out. He had been averaging less than eight points a game after going for 13 his freshman season.“I’ve been working on it,” said Wilson. “I’m shooting a lot more in practice and trying to get my confidence back. I think it’s been back for about the last three games.”The Bucs (12-11 overall, 5-5 Atlantic Sun) certainly needed a boost to pull out their 17th straight victory over the Owls, who fell to 4-20, 1-10. They managed just four points in the first 10 minutes, hitting 1 of their first 14 shots, and didn’t get their first lead until 7½ minutes into the second half.Preparing for the last-place team, one that has won only three of its last 47 conference games, was a mental hurdle. The Bucs also had a hard time letting go of that 90-77 loss to league-leading Mercer on Thursday night.“It was sort of a hangover effect,” said senior forward Kinard Gadsden-Gilliard, who collected 16 points, five rebounds and three assists. “We talked a lot about not letting that happen, but it happened anyway.”Right from the start. Kennesaw State spurted out to a 9-0 lead and extended it to 18-6 before ETSU finally got its bearing.Coming off the bench, Wilson got hot at the end of the half, scoring eight points as the Bucs finished on an 11-2 run. A free throw by Jalen Riley with five seconds left tied things at 35, despite 29 percent shooting by the Bucs.They were still playing catch-up when Wilson heated up again. He scored seven straight points and finally put his team on top with a 3-pointer from the top of the key that made it 53-50 with 12:32 to play.“I saw we were stagnant out there and knew we needed to get rolling,” said Wilson.It was still just a three-point game when ETSU forward Lukas Poderis got into a scuffle under the boards with the Owls’ Andrew Osemhen, and the two ended up rolling around on the floor. It took a couple of minutes to get everybody separated and calmed down, and after an official review, both players were ejected with 11:20 left.The Bucs seemed to get a charge from seeing Poderis, who has been accused of being a bit too docile at times, on the floor in a headlock with a 6-9, 270-pound guy. They soon embarked on a 16-2 run that would put the game out of reach as a Super Bowl Sunday crowd of 2,303 cheered them on.“It ignited us,” said Gadsden-Gilliard. “Seeing Lukas get fired up … we want to see him fired up more.”Said Bartow, “I’m not advocating what Lukas did, but the team took some energy from that and the crowd took some energy from that. Anytime Lukas shows passion and energy, I like that.”Down 17, the Owls did get back to within eight, but no closer. Down the stretch they simply looked like a team about to suffer its 20th loss of the season.“You look at the paper and see their record,” said Gadsden-Gilliard. “But if you watch film, they have some good players. I don’t know why their record is what it is.”Senior point guard Delbert Love scored a game-high 22 points for Kennesaw State to go over 1,000 for his career. Bernard Morena added 13 and Nigel Pruitt 10.The Bucs got 16 points from Rashawn Rembert, 14 from A.J. Merriweather and 12 from Riley. Merriweather, showing renewed energy on both ends, pulled down nine rebounds, and Wilson had six.The team had another big day at the foul line, making 29 of 34 (85.3 percent). It also committed just nine turnovers while forcing Kennesaw State into 17.The Bucs completed a four-game homestand with a 3-1 record and will now hit the road for games Thursday night at Northern Kentucky and Saturday at Lipscomb. They were originally scheduled to host USC Upstate tonight, but that has been pushed back to Feb. 10.The Spartans knocked off Mercer on Sunday, sending the Bears into a tie in the loss column with Florida Gulf Coast atop the A-Sun standings. ETSU is now alone in fifth.
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