Pirates close out Cincinnati
By
Al Myatt
©2015 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
Post-game Audio: Lebo & players...
GREENVILLE — East Carolina scored the
last 11 points of Sunday's American Athletic Conference contest with
Cincinnati in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum for a 50-46 win.
Freshman B.J. Tyson led ECU (9-12,
2-6 AAC) with 18 points as the Pirates halted a three-game losing streak
with their first triumph in nine tries against Cincinnati (15-6, 6-3).
The Bearcats
had beaten ECU 69-48 on Jan. 6
at Cincinnati.
"It was a great win for our kids and
I'm really happy for them," Pirates coach Jeff Lebo said. "They've been
resilient all year long and they found a way to win."
The statistics provided some
confounding numbers for the Pirates, whose offense is based on their
outside shooting. ECU was coming off of a 70-58 loss at Memphis on
Wednesday night.
"Basketball is such an odd game,"
Lebo said. "We go 13-of-27 from three against Memphis and lose by double
figures. Today, we shoot 4-of-19 from three at home against Cincinnati
and win. We got outscored by Memphis by about 25 or 30 in the paint,
then we outscore Cincinnati in the paint (26-20). It's just a weird
game.
"If you had told me we had won with
Caleb (White) and Terry (Whisnant) going 0-of-9 from three, no way. But
the kids found a way. They've stayed together and there's nothing harder
I think as a coach than trying to keep them together when they've lost
and we've lost some close games."
ECU made just 21.1 percent behind the
arc but Cincinnati associate head coach Larry Davis said his team still
had to respect the Pirates' range.
"They can shoot the three so good,"
Davis said. "Even though the three didn't beat us, it forces you to
spread out a little bit, and they did a smart thing. They threw it to
the high post, and those guys made shots. They drove the ball in there,
and they have a freshman (Tyson) blow by us two or three times and make
shots."
The Pirates were behind 46-39 as a
crowd of 4,574 cheered the comeback and a CBS Sports Network television
audience looked on as well.
A jumper by Tyson brought ECU within
46-41 and Whisnant registered on a tip-in. Marshall Guilmette had a free
throw before a layup by Whisnant tied the score at 46 with 1:47 to go.
The Pirates took the lead at 48-46 on
a layup by Tyson with 1:02 remaining. White made two big free throws
with nine seconds left.
Antonio Robinson rebounded a missed
three by the Bearcats with three seconds showing. Robinson didn't score
but had four assists and five steals.
Tyson and White each had five
rebounds for ECU. Guilmette netted seven points. Scoring six points each
were Michel Nzege, Whisnant and Paris Roberts-Campbell.
Octavius Ellis led Cincinnati with 14
points and 14 rebounds.
ECU made 13 of its 28 field goal
attempts in the second half for 46.4 percent. The Bearcats made just
seven of 24 (29.2 percent) from the floor after leading 23-18 at the
half.
The Bearcats joined a list of former
NCAA Tournament champions to lose at ECU that includes Louisville,
Marquette, N.C. State and Texas-El Paso.
The Pirates travel to 2014 NCAA
champion Connecticut for a 7 p.m. game on Wednesday (ESPNU).
Post-game Audio: Lebo & players...
PAGE UPDATED
02/02/15 03:17 PM.
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