Pirates' confidence intact after loss

By Brian Bailey
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East Carolina's double-overtime loss to Houston on Saturday looked just like an old-fashioned, western shootout.

The Pirates were riding a two-game winning streak when the Cougars came to town. Wins over Memphis on the road and Temple at home seemed to have given this ECU basketball team a brand new sense of confidence.

The Pirates played well against the Cougars.

Jeff Lebo showed the pride in his face afterwards.

"That was a heck of a college basketball game,” said Lebo. "If you are a fan of college basketball you will not get much more exciting to watch than that. I'm disappointed for my team that we came up short.”

ECU came up short on the scoreboard, but the effort was certainly winning in nature. Had it not been for a couple of incredible performances by a couple of Cougars, the Pirates would have come home with the win.

“We battled and I am not sure how we got it to overtime, but we showed resilience,” said Lebo. “[Houston's] Rob Gray (31 points) was absolutely terrific out there; he looked like Akeem Richmond shooting balls. [Wes] VanBeck comes off the bench and hits a couple of dagger shots.”

Gray’s 31 points tied his career high. VanBeck came in cold and fired in a trio of triples that ultimately won the game for Houston.

"When everybody is bringing it, everybody is very close on any given night,” said Pirate junior Caleb White. “Any player can go off for 20 points – as you can see today, it was for 30. Teams are good and teams are complete, so we have to compete every day."

Lebo said he had a hurting group in his locker room after the loss. This team has improved immensely over the last month. That improvement is sometimes hard to see because the competition is so very difficult.

East Carolina certainly had an emotional, roller-coaster ride of a week.

"Every game has been a thriller, so we have to step up to the plate like we did today,” said Pirate senior Prince Williams. “We came up short. I am still proud of our guys and it has been a good week for us. Now we need to go back to the drawing board and go to UConn."

Connecticut has had its share of struggles this season. The Huskies are 14-6 on the season, but just 4-3 in league play. The Pirates are just 1-7 on the road this season, but that win was last week’s stunner at Memphis. That’s your early viewing choice for Super Bowl Sunday on the CBS Sports Network.

The Pirates now certainly have sights set on a strong finish and moving up in the American Athletic Conference standings for the conference tournament.

Saturday’s loss was disappointing but the atmosphere and effort by the squad made the day one to remember.

ECU basketball doesn’t have a rich history, but the double-overtime loss to Houston will go down as one of the best games ever in Williams Arena.

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