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BAILEY'S TAKE
ON PIRATE SPORTS
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From the Anchor Desk
Tuesday, January 13, 2008
By Brian Bailey |
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C-USA schedule a
long, hard journey
By
Brian Bailey
©2008 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
Mack McCarthy’s Pirates
had a great chance to
steal a Conference USA win on
the road over the
weekend.
East Carolina and
Marshall were tied at 33
at halftime on Saturday
in Huntington, WV. The Pirates
then bolted out of the
gate in the second half
with an 8-0 run.
The Pirates held off the
Herd for the most part,
still leading 56-51 when
Marshall went on a 15-0
run to win the game. The
Pirates did get within
three at 67-64, but
that’s as close as they
would get,
falling
72-64.
“The encouraging thing
is that we played harder
for a longer amount of
time,” said McCarthy. “Last
year we got beat up
there by a bunch.”
The Pirates fell to 9-6
overall and 1-1 in
the conference.
Coach Mack says he
thinks he and his staff
are getting a great
effort from his team.
“They’ve been extremely
coachable,” McCarthy
said. “We’ve had
good chemistry, but it’s
been tested like with
the four-game losing
streak. We’re getting a
lot out of the guys.”
This is a weird
schedule, as the Pirates
have a bye in the
Conference USA rotation
this week, and then host
Texas-El Paso this
Saturday night. McCarthy
calls UTEP a contender
to battle Memphis for
the league’s
championship.
“They’ve got two of the
best players in the
league in (Randy)
Culpepper and (Stefon)
Jackson,” said McCarthy.
“They’ve got tremendous
size. Their point guard
is 6-6, so that presents
a problem for Brock
Young.
They are
certainly a contender in
Conference USA and they
provide a really tough
match up for us.”
The schedule certainly
takes on a Texas flavor
over the next couple of
week. East Carolina has
two, separate Lone Star
State visits set before
January ends.
The Pirates visit
Houston next Wednesday,
and then head to Dallas
for a Saturday game
against Southern
Methodist. Then, the
Pirates return home to
play Memphis in
Greenville before
completing the Texas Two-Step with a trip to play
at Rice in Houston to
end the month.
“Travel is hard for
everyone in
Conference USA,”
McCarthy explained.
“It’s especially hard
for those of us on the
outer core of the
league, like us, UTEP,
UCF and Marshall. I wish
I had a solution. I know
that they’re not moving
Texas any closer to us!”
Joyner on the mend
The Pirates did receive
some good news on
Monday. Daquan Joyner,
who has been out of
action with a stress
fracture, is on schedule
to return to action very
soon.
Joyner is moving forward
with his recovery, and
will work on
strengthening the
muscles near the injury
and getting in shape
over the next week or
so.
Coaches were waiting to
see how the injury had
healed in trying to
decide if they would get
a medical redshirt for
Joyner. Plans are now,
though, to welcome
Joyner back soon.
Ice Pirates
win a pair
Hockey is a club sport
at East Carolina, but it
continues to get a good
following for the team’s
home games at Bladez on
Ice in Greenville.
This past weekend the
team beat UNC-Wilmington
in a pair of games. The
Pirates won both at home
on Friday and then in
Wilmington on Saturday
night.
The guys put on a
good show and they have
drawn great crowds over
the last couple of
years.
The Ice Pirates are at
home this Friday,
hosting Loyola College
on Friday night at 9:30.
On Saturday,
they host George
Washington at 3:30. ECU
beat Loyola 6-5 but lost
to GW 4-3 in overtime
back in November.
BB
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01/13/2009 01:42:45 AM |
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