Micah Williams scored 23 points and Mike Smith added 21 as East Tennessee State built a commanding first-half lead and hung on to beat Jacksonville 80-64 on Friday night.
The Buccaneers (18-9, 13-3 Atlantic Sun Conference) closed the first half on a 23-5 run to lead 51-27 at the break, shooting 54.5 percent from the field (18 of 33).
The Dolphins (16-8, 10-5) rallied to cut the deficit to 10 points, at 70-60 with 3:09 left. East Tennessee State hit 10 of 10 from the free-throw line to seal the win.
Isiah Brown had a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds and Adam Sollazzo chipped in 13 points and seven assists for the Buccaneers, who have won 14 of their last 16 games.
Keith McDougald scored 13 points to pace Jacksonville, which saw its two-game winning streak end. The Dolphins fell 2.5 games behind second-place East Tennessee State in the conference standings.
