View from Courtside Monday, November 16, 2015 By Al Myatt

Lebo reaches milestone

By Al Myatt
©2015 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.

Post-game Audio: Jeff Lebo, Mark Price, Caleb White, Michel Nzege...

GREENVILLE — East Carolina showed some of the skills Jeff Lebo possessed as a player at North Carolina in handing the sixth-year Pirates coach his 300th career win on Monday night in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

ECU outscored Charlotte 88-74 with some Lebo-like shooting – 56.6 percent overall from the field and even better behind the arc, 63.6 percent.

The Pirates were busy on the boards and at the free throw line, too.

ECU held a 39-26 rebounding advantage and made 21 of 28 foul shots.

The Pirates are 2-0 and the leading scorer from last year's team, B.J. Tyson, has one field goal in two games.

"We have a team with a lot of talent so if somebody is not having really a great performance, somebody else can step up to the plate," said ECU's Michel Nzege, who had a team-high 21 points.

Clarence Williams didn't just step up, he leaped up. The junior college transfer supplied nine points and a team-high 11 rebounds.

Caleb White played with customary efficiency, 20 points on six of seven shooting with five rebounds and five assists.

Prince Williams made six of seven shots and had 15 points.

Lebo noted that point guards Prince Williams and Lance Tejada combined to play 40 minutes without a turnover.

Prince Williams had no choice but to pull the trigger on a 3-pointer with the shot clock about to run out with 2:29 to go. The ball dropped through for an 84-69 ECU lead.

It was that kind of a night for the Pirates, a far cry from the 31.1 percent field goal shooting that accompanied the 61-53 season-opening win over Grambling.

Lebo didn't push the panic button after the first game.

"You try not to address shooting," said the ECU coach. "If you have to address shooting, then you've got a problem. I just try to give them confidence that they've shot and they've shot. Maybe get them in the gym a little bit more. When I was a shooter, you have to see it go down a little bit.

"We saw it go down tonight. That really helps from a mental standpoint.

"We didn't really talk about it. We talked about it from the standpoint of, hey, we won this game against Grambling. We shot 30 percent. We're a much better shooting team than that. The next game we'll make 'em."

While Lebo credited assistant coaches and players for their roles in his 300 wins, which includes previous stops at Tennessee Tech, Chattanooga and Auburn, his sideline counterpart, former Georgia Tech and Cleveland Cavaliers star Mark Price, is still looking for his first victory with the 49ers.

"We knew this would be a tough place to play," Price said. "East Carolina hit shots and kept us at bay."

Price was hoping Charlotte (0-2) could hang around and make a late run.

A 14-2 Pirates flurry from a deadlock at 51 spoiled that notion.

Lebo had the upper hand in two matchups from their playing days, too, including a contest at the Omni in Lebo's freshman season with the Tar Heels.

UNC was ranked No. 1 and the Yellow Jackets were No. 2.

Price stole an inbounds pass by Lebo in the closing seconds with the Heels holding a two-point lead.

Price, one of the best free throw shooters in NBA history, missed one of two and Carolina held on to win.

"I was probably the happiest guy in the building," Lebo said.

The ECU coach may have been more relieved than happy as his team found the range against its former Conference USA foe.

The Pirate crowd of 4,276 left with a bit of a swagger after ECU pulled away.

The next challenge is to improve road performance and that starts with a game at California, ranked No. 14 in the coaches poll, on Friday night at 11, Eastern time.

PAGE UPDATED 11/17/15 01:36 AM.

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