Sheldon Cooley scored a season-high 20 points to lead six East Tennessee State players in double figures in an 88-73 win over South Carolina-Upstate on Wednesday night.
The Buccaneers (6-7, 1-2 Atlantic Sun Conference) took a 39-21 lead at halftime and held on despite the Spartans (8-7, 2-1) outscoring them 52-49 in the second half.
ETSU coach Murry Bartow, mourning the loss of his father, coaching legend Gene Bartow on Tuesday, saw his team shoot 56 percent from the floor (28 of 50) while forcing SC-Upstate into 24 turnovers off of 12 steals.
Adam Sollazzo added 18 points for the Buccaneers, Lukas Poderis had 14, Jarvis Jones 11 and Tommy Hubbard and Marcus Dubose 10 apiece.
The Buccaneers, coming off a 65-58 loss at Clemson, snapped a two-game skid.
Torrey Craig scored 29 points to pace SC-Upstate, which has lost two in a row after a two-game winning streak.
