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Pirates start the climb with
crucial win
Box Score
ECUPirates.com Game Story
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Season-to-Date, Game-by-Game Scores, Attendance
& Links
GREENVILLE — Derrick Wiley
and Belton Rivers helped lead East Carolina to a vital 76-66 home
victory over Tulane Wednesday night that nudged the Pirates out of the
Conference USA basement and a step towards life after the regular
season.
CONFERENCE USA
STANDINGS/SCOREBOARD
(Through games of Wednesday, Feb, 18.)
Conference All Games
Team
W L PCT W L PCT
Memphis
9 2 .818 18 4 .818
UAB
9 2 .818 16 6 .727
Cincinnati 8
3 .727 17 5 .773
Charlotte
8 3 .727 16 6 .727
DePaul
8 3 .727 15 7 .682
Louisville 7
4 .636 17 5 .773
Texas Christian 6 5 .545 10 12
.455
Saint Louis 5 5
.500 12 9 .571
Southern Miss 5 6 .455
12 10 .545
Marquette
4 6 .400 13 8 .619
Tulane
3 8 .273 10 12 .455
East Carolina 2 10 .167 10
12 .455
Houston
2 10 .167 8 15 .348
South Florida 1 10 .091
7 15 .318
Tuesday's Games:
Texas Christian 71, Louisville 46
Wednesday's Games:
East Carolina 76, Tulane 66
Charlotte 84, South Florida 72
Southern Miss. 70, Houston 48
UAB 80, Cincinnati 68
Marquette at Saint Louis, 9 p.m. |
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Wiley scored 22 points and
Rivers added 16 for ECU (10-12, 2-10 Conference USA), which had lost 11
of 12 games since colliding head-on with its daunting league schedule.
Ben Benfield scored 15
points for the Green Wave (10-12, 3-8), who had their three-game
conference winning streak snapped.
The Pirates needed this
win to have much hope of reaching the C-USA tournament. Twelve of the
league's 14 teams qualify for next month's tournament, and the Pirates
were in last place with just five games left in the regular season.
East Carolina led by as
many as 14 points in the first half, but Tulane used several 3-point
shots and better defense to slowly get back in the game. The Green Wave
tied it twice in the second half, but never could push ahead.
Badiane turned Tulane away
several times. The 6-foot-10, 215-pound junior swatted five shots in the
first 12 1/2 minutes of the second half, two of which came on drives
while his team held a one- or two-point lead.
Kory Castine's layup
brought the Green Wave to 57-55 with 6:34 to play, but Rivers gave the
Pirates some breathing room. The sophomore guard hit a drive along the
left baseline, then followed with a 3 and three free throws after being
fouled behind the arc for a 65-59 lead with 4:02 left.
Badiane's turnaround
jumper in the lane pushed the lead to 67-59 with 3:17 left. The Green
Wave got no closer than seven after that.
East Carolina got off to a
quick start, using a 12-2 run to take a 22-12 lead. Wiley fueled the
run, hitting a 3-pointer from the left side, a driving layup and a 3
from the right side on consecutive possessions.
The Pirates twice pushed
the lead to 14 points, but the Green Wave closed the half with 11
straight points. Marcus Kinzer assisted on Chris Moore's 3 late then hit
two of his own, the last bringing Tulane to within 38-35 at halftime.
Next up for ECU is another
home opportunity to move closer to clinching a league tourney berth.
Texas Christian, which waxed No. 10 Louisville 71-46 Tuesday night in
Fort Worth, will be favored when it challenges the Pirates in Minges
Coliseum's Williams Arena on Saturday at 7 p.m.
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BOX
SCORE East
Carolina 76, Tulane 66
Records: East Carolina 10-12, 2-10
C-USA; Tulane 10-12, 3-8.
TULANE 66
Player FG FT
PTS
Castine
3-6 1-2
7
Tinsley
1-8 2-4
4
Davis
4-7 3-6 11
Moore
1-4 0-0
3
Kinzer
6-12 0-0 14
Camper
1-1 0-1
2
Fitzgerald 0-2
0-0 0
Benfield 4-7
4-6 15
Tatarunas 4-11
0-0 10
Brown
0-0 0-0
0
Totals 24-58
10-19 66
EAST CAROLINA 76
Player FG FT
PTS
Bing
4-9 4-4 12
Badiane
4-8 1-3
9
Robinson 1-2
0-0 3
Wiley
7-11 6-6 22
Cook
4-13 6-8 14
Rivers
4-9 5-7 16
McNeil
0-3 0-0
0
MacKay
0-0 0-0
0
Rouse
0-2 0-4
0
Totals 24-57
22-32 76
Halftime: East Carolina 38-35.
3-point goals: Tulane 8-22 (Benfield
3-4, Kinzer 2-3, Tatarunas 2-6, Moore 1-3, Fitzgerald 0-2, Tinsley
0-4); East Carolina 6-13 (Rivers 3-6, Wiley 2-2, Robinson 1-1, Bing
0-2, McNeil 0-2).
Fouled out: Benfield, Badiane.
Rebounds: Tulane 41 (Moore,
Tatarunas 6); East Carolina 36 (Bing 11).
Assists: Tulane 10 (Kinzer 6);
East Carolina 9 (Cook 6).
Total fouls: Tulane 23; East
Carolina 17.
Technical fouls:
Attendance: 4,632. |
02/23/07 11:01 AM
From Associated
Press reports with Bonesville.net staff contributions. Copyright 2004. All
rights rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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