NCAA BASKETBALL ::: Solid effort comes up short for ECU [bk-021112]

Senior point guard Damier Pitts, a product of Charlotte Christian High School and Hargrave Military Academy, scored a career-high 27 points to lead Marshall to a hard-earned 78-68 Conference USA victory over East Carolina Saturday night in Huntington, WV.

One of the nation's most touted prep recruits four years ago, Pitts blitzed the visitors from his home state for 17 points in the second half, frustrating an ECU push to seize the momentum that didn't falter until the middle of the final frame.

Pitts was 9-of-17 from the field with four assists and just one turnover. He got scoring support from senior guard Shaquille Johnson with 14 points and junior forward Robert Goff with 11.

Senior guard Miguel Paul and sophomore forward Robert Sampson scored 19 points apiece and senior forward Darrius Morrow added 11 points to fuel a solid offensive effort by East Carolina. Paul had a game-high 11 assists and Sampson pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds to record double-doubles.

Both teams were on the mark in their shooting games. Marshall shot 54 percent from the field including 50 percent from 3-point range, while the Pirates hit 53.5 percent including 52.6 percent from beyond the arc.

There were five ties and the lead changed hands 10 times before the Herd gained the upper hand for good. After Sampson nailed a trey to nudge the Pirates in front 52-21 with 10:17 remaining, the Herd answered with an 11-0 run capped by a 3-pointer by Pitts with 7:13 to go.

Marshall (15-10, 6-5 C-USA) outscored the Pirates 16-2 off turnovers, committing just five giveaways while the Pirates (12-12, 3-8) gave up 12.

Despite being edged 25-24 in the battle of the boards, East Carolina maintained the advantage inside, outscoring the Herd 24-18 in the paint.

East Carolina, already beset by attrition in a season of peaks and valleys, went into the game further depleted by the absences of junior guard Erin Straughn and junior forward Maurice Kemp. Straughn was called away for a death in the family and Kemp was sidelined with a toe injury.

Marshall also lacked its full complement of players as sophomore guard DeAndre Kane attended his father's funeral on Saturday.

The Pirates will have a week to regroup before hitting the road for a rematch next Saturday (7.m.) with Central Florida. ECU was trounced by the Knights 81-63 in Greenville on Jan. 7. UCF (18-7, 7-4) is coming off a 78-74 Saturday night loss to Southern Miss in Hattiesburg.

BOX SCORE

MARSHALL 78, EAST CAROLINA 68

Date: Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012
Place: Cam Henderson Center, Huntington, WV
Attendance: 6,447
Records: ECU 12-12 (3-8 Conference USA); MU 15-10 (6-5)

SCORE BY PERIODS     1   2  FINAL
East Carolina       35 33 - 68
Marshall            36 42 - 78

EAST CAROLINA PIRATES
# PLAYER                    FG   3PT    FT R PTS MIN
.........................    ..   ...    .. . ... ...
01 Morrow, Darrius..... f 5-11   0-0   1-1 4 11 40
12 Sampson, Robert..... f   7-8   3-4   2-4 10 19 31
00 Paul, Miguel........ g 4-11   2-6 9-10 1 19 37
11 Gaines, Corvonn..... g   2-3   2-2   0-0 5   6 30
20 Bowden, Shamarr..... g   2-3   2-3   0-0 1   6 26
03 Torlak, Petar.........   0-0   0-0   0-0 0   0   1
22 CAMPBELL, Paris.......   3-7   1-4   0-0 1   7 26
35 Morales, Darius.......   0-0   0-0   0-0 1   0   9
TEAM.....................                    1
TOTALS................... 23-43 10-19 12-15 24 68 200
PERCENT.................. 53.5 52.6 80.0

MARSHALL THUNDERING HERD
# PLAYER                    FG   3PT    FT R PTS MIN
.........................    ..   ...    .. . ... ...
01 Tinnon, Dennis...... f   3-8   0-0   1-2 8   7 33
02 Goff, Robert........ f   5-6   0-0   1-2 5 11 29
03 Pitts, Damier....... g 9-17   3-7   6-7 0 27 34
10 Pena, Dago.......... g   2-4   2-4   0-0 2   6 32
23 Johnson, Shaquille.. g   4-6   1-2   5-5 3 14 35
00 Martin, Chris.........   3-6   3-6   0-0 1   9 22
04 Hanner, Jamir.........   1-2   1-1   0-0 1   3   3
11 Spikes, Nigel.........   0-1   0-0   1-2 2   1   8
34 Mbao, Yous............   0-0   0-0   0-0 2   0   4
TEAM.....................                    1
TOTALS................... 27-50 10-20 14-18 25 78 200
PERCENT.................. 54.0 50.0 77.8

Fouled out: Paul Miguel
Technical Fouls: None
Officials: James Breeding, Jeff Malham, Brent Dugas