By
Al Myatt
©2013 Bonesville.net
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BUIES CREEK
— Akeem Richmond was in
another dimension at Gore Gym of Campbell's Pope Convocation Center on
Thursday night.
Richmond set arena records
for points (37), made 3-pointers (10) and 3-pointers attempted (17) to
lead a 79-71 East Carolina basketball win.
A crowd of 2,865, the eighth
largest at CU's basketball facility, which opened in 2008, was on hand,
although the Campbell students were still on semester break.
There were full sections of
ECU supporters behind the visitors bench.
The Camels (6-8) came back
from an 11-point deficit to lead 39-37 at the half as Reco McCarter had
18 of his 29 points in the first 20 minutes.
Richmond's third 3-pointer
of the second half with 17:39 left to play put the Pirates (11-4) ahead
to stay at 46-44.
Richmond, who played on the
high school level at nearby Southern Lee, had 24 points after
intermission.
"We rode him as long as we
could, the whole game, actually," said fourth-year ECU coach Jeff Lebo.
"He was terrific."
Story continues below the
following photo...
Senior guard Akeem
Richmond nails a three in the second half against
Campbell Thursday night in Buies Creek. The product of nearby Lee
County put on a show for family members and
friends attending the
game by scoring 37 points. (Photo by W.A. Myatt. ©Bonesville.net)
First-year Campbell coach
Kevin McGeehan had seen Richmond play at Rhode Island when McGeehan was
an assistant coach at the University of Richmond.
"I don't know what he drank
this morning but I need some of that," McGeehan said. "He's hard to
guard, an exceptional, exceptional shooter."
ECU made 27 of 48 field goal
attempts for 56.3 percent. That included 13 of 24 behind the arc, 54.2
percent.
"It feels good to get a win
after about two weeks," Richmond said.
Losses
to
N.C. State and
Georgia State preceded ECU's trip to Campbell,
which topped the Pirates 86-81 in overtime
last season in Greenville. ECU was 0-2 in Gore Gym.
Richmond said a phone
conversation with Miguel Paul, the Pirates' point guard during a 23-12
season in 2012-13, was part of his inspiration.
He also wanted to make a
good showing for family and friends from Sanford, who made the short
trip to see him play.
Most of all, he wanted to
shorten the bus ride back to Greenville.
"I hate to lose more than
anybody," Richmond said.
The Camels couldn't match
ECU's outside shooting, going five for 29 on threes, a meager 17.2
percent.
"We got the shots we
wanted," McCarter said.
The hosts had some good
looks from long range down the stretch but couldn't connect.
"We did a good job of
limiting them to one shot late in the game," Lebo said.
Campbell had a span of 4:39
without a field goal after a tip-in by Marvelle Harris cut ECU's lead to
70-66 with 5:02 remaining.
Harris had 16 points and 12
rebounds. Darius Leonard added 12 points for the Camels.
Antonio Robinson and Paris
Roberts-Campbell each had a team high seven rebounds for the Pirates,
including six off the defensive glass.
Story continues after the
following picture...
Junior point guard
Antonio Robinson secures a key rebound in ECU's
79-71 win over Campbell. (Photo by W.A. Myatt. ©Bonesville.net)
Roberts-Campbell fouled out
with 5:53 to go.
Robinson helped seal the win
with a 4-for-4 effort from the free throw line in the last 47 seconds.
Michael Zangari had 13
points for ECU and Caleb White added 12.
Zangari was 5-for-5 from the
floor and 3-for-4 at the line. White went 5-for-8 from the field and
dropped two of three from 3-point range. White had six assists.
Roberts-Campbell totaled
nine points, three assists, two blocks and two steals. Robinson had six
points and four assists.
Brandan Stith had the fewest
minutes (21) in ECU's seven-man rotation but contributed six rebounds
and some big blocked shots in the closing stages.
The Pirates open Conference
USA play at home on Jan. 11 with a 5 p.m. game against Old Dominion.
Stith's dad, Bryant, a star
at Virginia and a 10-year performer in the NBA, is an assistant coach
for the Monarchs.
GAME SUMMARY |
--------------------- |
East Carolina 79, Campbell 71 |
--------------------- |
Date: Thursday,
Jan. 2, 2014
Facility: Gore Arena at Pope Convocation Center
Attendance: 2,865
Records: ECU 11-4; CU 6-8
|
--------------------- |
SCORE BY PERIODS |
1 |
2 |
FINAL |
East Carolina |
37 |
42 |
79 |
Campbell |
39 |
32 |
71 |
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