JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (AP) Tray Boyd scored 23 points and Mladen Armus added 17 with nine rebounds as East Tennessee State pulled away from Sam Houston State in the second half to take a 77-63 victory in the Cayman Islands Classic Mainland Tuesday night.

Jeromy Rodriguez grabbed 12 rebounds while adding 11 points for East Tennessee State (4-2) which has won three straight and four of its last five games.

The game was a tale of two halves as Sam Houston State (3-4) was up 42-29 at the break. The Buccaneers took control in the second half, opening the period on a 15-4 run, and taking the lead for good after Boyd drilled two straight from long range to go up 52-49 with 10:42 remaining. They pushed their advantage to 77-60 in the closing seconds. ETSU outscored the Bearkats 48-21 in the second period.

Kai Mitchell had 16 points with eight rebounds for SHSU (3-4).

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