Black Saturday for Pirate hoops

By Brian Bailey
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The Pirate women were looking to break a long losing streak.

The Pirate men were looking to open league play with a win before a tough stretch of games.

Both squads fell short of their winning goals on Saturday.

The East Carolina men couldn’t hold on to a 10-point, second half lead and fell to Central Florida 71-68. It was an especially frustrating outcome for Pirate coach Jeff Lebo.

“We’ve got to be better,” said Lebo. “We’ve got to be able to be tougher. We’ve got to have leadership. We’ve got to have guys who are going to be able to make some plays in the last three minutes of a game. We’ve struggled in that area mightily.”

The Pirates didn’t play a bad game against the Knights. UCF was a bit taller and bulkier inside, but Lebo’s team held its own. With the game on the line, though, things unraveled at times. That really has Lebo concerned.

“We’ve had multiple opportunities in the last three minutes of games in close games and haven’t been able to finish out,” Lebo continued. “Being tough enough to make a play; late in the game, through contact, a lot of refs are not going to call a lot of stuff late, and you’re going to have to be able to get some things accomplished. We panic a lot. I don’t know what it is, but sometimes the kids panic a little bit when it gets tight.”

ECU now faces road challenges at Tulsa and then at Temple. The Pirates return home to take on 15th-ranked SMU. They then go back on the road for the rematch with UCF.

Lebo had one message for his team after the loss.

“Everybody came in quiet, not saying too much,” Lebo said. “But I told them, ‘Let’s get ready for practice tomorrow and get two on the road.’ ”

The East Carolina women will be looking to snap a seven-game losing streak tonight when they host Tulane at 7 p.m.

Heather Macy and company are coming off of a 61-59 home loss to nationally-ranked South Floridea on Saturday. USF’s Courtney Williams hit a jumper with less than a second to play to win the game.

“I was asked if I needed a couple of minutes before I came in,” said Coach Macy as she sat down to address the media after the loss. “I said, 'No, because heartbreak doesn’t heal in five minutes.' ”

Macy’s squad has now lost back-to-back two-point games, falling at Tulsa 81-79 before losing Saturday to USF.

“I’m heart-broken because these kids are having to go through such a difficult stretch, and lose games in such a difficult way,” said Macy.

The encouraging part is that Macy’s squad is battling. It's a team that knows it can play much better.

“This is a group that never lets up,” Macy said. “The never let in and they always give us a chance.”

With the new year comes new hope for both the men’s and women’s teams.

Now both must overcome 'Black Saturday' to turn things around in 2016.

BB

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