GREENVILLE — East Carolina's Kenyatta Brown has delivered under pressure
a number of times this season, nailing crucial late-game baskets to help the
Pirates seize nerve-wracking Conference USA wins over Louisville, Saint
Louis and Southern Mississippi.
This
time, the Brooklyn, NY, shooting guard went on the offensive against a
non-league opponent — and he didn't wait until the clock was ticking down to
shape the outcome.
Brown got started early and and scored 16 points on a perfect shooting
night to spearhead a 73-61 ECU victory over Birmingham-Southern Saturday
night. He made 5-of-5 field goals, including four 3-pointers, and was 2-of-2
at the free throw line.
The Pirates as a team weren't too shabby in the shooting accuracy
department, either, connecting on 62.8 percent of their first half field goal
attempts and 50 percent for the game.
ECU (10-15) opened the game with a 24-9 run and led by ten at halftime.
When the Panthers (12-13) threatened in the middle stages of the second
half, cutting the lead to six at one point, the Pirates responded with
another run, outscoring BSC 11-2 to push the margin back to 15.
Aggressive defensive tactics helped ECU gain control of the tempo from
the outset.
"I thought the three-quarter court press was good. It gave us early
energy," said Pirate coach Bill Herrion.
ECU scored 17 first half points off turnovers and, for the game, tallied
25 points off 18 Panther miscues.
East Carolina's Erroyl Bing had 15 points, Gabriel Mikulas 13 and Bryan
Foxx and Travis Holcomb-Faye each added 11.
Foxx, a senior, has emerged from relative obscurity to play a steady,
productive role as the Pirates have won three of their last five games. His
contributions have not gone unnoticed.
"Bryan Foxx is playing solid, solid basketball and really taking
advantage of his opportunity and making shots," said Herrion. "That is why
he is getting minutes."
With the regular season winding down, Foxx and Brown, also a senior, are
among those who have stepped forward, according to their coach.
"We have some guys who are playing really good basketball for us,"
Herrion said.
Josiah James led Birmingham Southern with 14 points, Willie Rashard had
12 and Jimmy Amerson added 10.
BSC head coach Duane Reboul, noting the Pirates have established momentum
in their scramble for a life beyond the regular season, had no complaints
about his team's effort and execution.
"They (the Pirates) are playing good basketball right now and are hoping
to lock up a spot in the Conference USA tournament," he said. "We played
about as good as we could against their size and their athleticism, but just
couldn't overcome some good shooting on their end."
The win gained ECU a measure of revenge for a 76-74 double-overtime loss
to the Panthers in Birmingham last season.
Anspach 1-2 1-2 3, Bilostinnyi 3-6 1-2 7, Sigurdarson 1-5 2-2 5, Willie
4-7 1-2 12, Reed 2-5 0-3 6, Moss 0-0 0-0 0, Montrimas 0-0 0-0 0, James 6-9
1-1 14, Amerson 4-6 0-0 10, Mbyirukira 1-1 2-2 4. Totals 22-41 8-14 61.
EAST CAROLINA (10-15)
Brown 5-5 2-2 16, Bing 5-10 4-8 15, Mikulas 2-5 9-9 13, Foxx 4-6 0-0 11,
Holcomb-Faye 3-7 4-4 11, Hawkins 0-0 2-2 2, Boddie 0-1 0-0 0, Badiane 2-6
1-1 5, Moore 0-2 0-1 0. Totals 21-42 22-27 73.
Halftime: East Carolina 39-29.
3-Point goals: Birmingham Southern
9-19 (Willie 3-5, Amerson 2-4, Reed 2-5, James 1-2, Sigurdarson 1-3); East
Carolina 9-17 (Brown 4-4, Foxx 3-5, Holcomb-Faye 1-2, Biong 1-4, Boddie 0-1,
Moore 0-1).
Rebounds: Birmingham Southern 22
(Reed 6); East Carolina 26 (Bing 9).
Assists: Birmingham Southern 11
(Willie 4); East Carolina 12 (Holcomb-Faye 7).
Total fouls: Birmingham Southern 22,
East Carolina 17.
Fouled Out: Anspach, Bilostinnyi, Brown.
Technical fouls: Birmingham Southern bench.
A: 5,132.
