Pirates just short against AAC leaders

By Al Myatt
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GREENVILLE — Tulsa remained unbeaten in the American Athletic Conference but not without a battle against East Carolina in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum on Saturday.

The Golden Hurricane improved to 14-5 overall and 7-0 in league play as De'Andre Wright assured the outcome by hitting two free throws with three seconds left.

ECU's Antonio Robinson connected on a 3-pointer as time expired to trim Tulsa's final margin to 66-64.

The visitors shot 29 free throws to 12 for the Pirates, finishing with a 14-point advantage at the foul line.

"The difference was their ability to get to the foul line and get some points in the paint," said ECU coach Jeff Lebo. "That is something that's going to be challenging for us all year and that's not going away."

Tulsa led 26-16 in scoring production from the lane.

"I guess everybody we play feels like they can get something inside, because that is what we're lacking right now," said forward Michel-Ofik Nzege of the Pirates. "Our guards are doing all the work and for us to win we need to have a more balanced offense. We can not rely on the guards all the time, so I have to bring some energy inside. It is not only about the points. It's about the blocks, diving on the floor, and deflections on the rebounds."

Nzege hit six of his eight field goal attempts as he scored 13 points and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds. He also contributed five assists, one block and two steals.

A dunk by Nzege tied the score at 61 with 2:09 to go. Tulsa went ahead to stay on a free throw by Shaquille Harrison with 1:09 left.

Pirates junior guard Terry Whisnant dropped six of his nine attempts from beyond the arc to lead all scorers with 22 points.

ECU (8-11, 1-5 AAC) had just eight turnovers in a generally well-played game. The Golden Hurricane committed just six. Tulsa held a 36-34 rebounding advantage as Wright controlled 10.

James Woodard paced the AAC leaders with 17 points and Harrison added 13.

The Pirates led 35-29 at the half before Tulsa hit 10 of 20 shots from the floor (50 percent) in the second half.

Only six players scored for ECU and just seven tallied for the Golden Hurricane.

Robinson totaled 10 points and six assists. Caleb White had eight points. Paris Roberts-Campbell had six points and B.J. Tyson scored five.

The Pirates play at Memphis at 9 p.m. Wednesday in a contest to be shown on the CBS Sports Network.

PAGE UPDATED 01/25/15 02:42 AM.

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