Davis dashes upset bid

From electronic and staff reports
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Senior forward Dwayne Davis made a pair of pressure free throws with 28 seconds left in regulation to keep Southern Miss alive and scored seven points in overtime to help the Golden Eagles capture an 86-82 Conference USA victory over East Carolina Saturday evening in Greenville.

Davis, who finished with 23 points, was instrumental in lifting USM from a seven-point deficit in the final 3:32 of the second half and making certain in the extra period that the Golden Eagles fended off what would have been a major upset.

Davis’s clutch performance took some of the luster away from a stellar outing by ECU junior guard Akeem Richmond. A transfer from Rhode Island, Richmond stroked in a school-record eight threes and led all scorers with 25 points.

Story continues after the following picture.

Akeem Richmond sets to fire in one of his
school-record 8 threes. (Photo: W.A. Myatt)

After a Davis free throw put Southern Miss (20-6, 9-2 C-USA) in front 84-82 with 15 seconds remaining in overtime, the Pirates (14-10, 5-6) had a chance for a final shot to tie or win. But sophomore guard Paris Roberts-Campbell passed up a look and turned the ball over on a pass out of bounds with one second left.

Following a 30-second timeout, Roberts-Campbell fouled USM junior guard Cedric Jenkins, who converted two free throws to cap off the win.

Senior point guard Miguel Paul produced 22 points and 8 assists and junior forward Robert Sampson added 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Pirates.

Story continues after the following picture.

Robert Sampson throws down a big dunk
to give East Carolina an 8-point lead with
6:23 left in regulation. (Photo: W.A. Myatt)

ECU senior forward Maurice Kemp, C-USA’s leading scorer, was held to 9 points but recorded 6 assists and 7 rebounds.

Senior forward Neil Watson had 17 and 8 rebounds and junior guard Jonathan Mills contributed 14 points and 8 rebounds for the Golden Eagles.

USM outshot the Pirates 50 percent to 44.3 percent and won the battle of the backboards 40-30.

ECU led at the half 35-31.

The Pirates begin a three-game road stretch on Wednesday with an 8:05 p.m. clash at Tulsa.

PAGE UPDATED 02/17/13 01:46 PM.

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