East Tennessee State Buccaneers @ Mercer Bears
Cromer's 23 points leads ETSU past Mercer 67-58
MACON, Ga. -- T.J. Cromer scored 23 points and Desonta Bradford had 15 points to lead East Tennessee State past Mercer 67-58 on Saturday.
With the score tied at 27, Cromer hit a 3, a layup and another 3 to give East Tennessee State a 35-30 lead. The Bears then responded with a 12-0 run and led 42-35 with 11:41 to play.
Bradford's layup with 6:57 left gave East Tennessee State (13-3, 3-0 Southern Conference) the lead for good at 48-47. He followed with a dunk and Cromer added a 3 capping an 18-5 Buccaneers run.
Jordan Strawberry added a layup and Mercer (7-10, 1-3) couldn't get closer.
The Buccaneers are off to their best start since the 1990-91 season when they opened the year 14-1. ETSU won 21 of its first 23 games that season and reached No. 10 in the national rankings.
Game Information
Macon, GA
Referee:Byron Evans
Referee:Alex Langley
Referee:Landon Brandes
2025-26 Standings
| Southern Conference | CONF | GB | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|
| East Tennessee State | 13-5 | - | 23-11 |
| Mercer | 11-7 | 2 | 19-13 |
| Wofford | 11-7 | 2 | 19-13 |
| Samford | 11-7 | 2 | 18-14 |
| Furman | 10-8 | 3 | 22-13 |
| Western Carolina | 10-8 | 3 | 15-16 |
| UNC Greensboro | 9-9 | 4 | 15-19 |
| Chattanooga | 7-11 | 6 | 13-19 |
| The Citadel | 7-11 | 6 | 11-22 |
| VMI | 1-17 | 12 | 6-26 |
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