ETSU demolishes W. Carolina to head to SoCon final

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Daivien Williamson scored 20 points on 7-of-9 shooting and Tray Boyd III scored 18 and East Tennessee State beat Western Carolina 97-75 on Sunday in a Southern Conference semifinal game.

The top seeded Buccaneers (29-4) advance to the championship game to play the winner between No. 6 Chattanooga and No. 7 Wofford on Monday night.

Bo Hodges and Isaiah Tisdale each scored 13 and Lucas N’Guessan scored 12 for East Tennessee State. The Buccaneers finished 34-of-58 (58.6%) shooting with 10 players entering the scoring column.

Mason Faulkner led Western Carolina (19-12) with 29 points shooting 15 of 17 from the foul line. Onno Steger scored 15 and Carlos Dotson 11.

East Tennessee State established a quick 7-0 lead and made it 25-15 midway through the first half. An 8-0 run made it 33-15 after Boyd’s layup with 6:25 before the break. They went to halftime up 48-30 and were never challenged in the second half.