NCAA BASKETBALL ::: Morrow, Paul, Straughn shoot down Hawks [bk-112611]

East Carolina converted more than half of its field goal attempts for the first time this season and turned up the heat defensively in the second half to shake off Division II Chowan and pull away to a 78-62 victory Saturday afternoon in Greenville.

Senior forward Darrius Morrow and junior guard Miguel Paul scored 20 points apiece and junior guard Erin Straughn had 17 as the Pirates improved to 4-1 heading into a stiff Tuesday night road challenge against Old Dominion.

Morrow was 8-of-10 from the floor and Miguel and Straughn each made 7-of-11. Paul was 5-of-8 on 3-point shots and Straughn hit 2-of-4 from long range.

There were six lead changes and eight ties before Straughn scored on an assist from Paul, was fouled and converted the free throw to nudge the Pirates ahead 38-35 with 1:59 remaining in the first half. ECU maintained the lead from that point on.

Chowan (2-4) shot 56.7 percent before intermission and led by four points on two occasions, but the Pirates clamped down and held the Hawks to 27.3 percent shooting in the second frame.

East Carolina held a 43-37 advantage at halftime but didn't get its first double-digit lead until Paul drained a 3-pointer to build the margin to 64-52 with 6:55 left in the game.

East Carolina pays a visit to Norfolk on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. matchup with Old Dominion.

BOX SCORE

EAST CAROLINA 78, CHOWAN 62

Date: Saturday, Nov. 26, 2011
Place: Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum, Greenville, NC
Attendance: 3,821
Records: ECU 4-1; Chowan 2-4

SCORE BY PERIODS     1   2  FINAL
Chowan              37 25 - 62
East Carolina       43 35 - 78

CHOWAN HAWKS
# PLAYER                    FG   3PT    FT R PTS MIN
01 Reddic, Antonio..... f 7-15   1-3   0-0 5 15 36
05 McDuffie, Quinton... f 8-16   1-3   5-9 9 22 29
12 Martin, Ricardo..... f   2-3   0-0   0-0 0   4 12
20 Davis, James........ g   2-6   2-4   0-0 0   6 25
25 Alston, Greg........ g   0-1   0-1   0-0 6   0 36
02 Mears, Kenneth........   1-4   0-0   0-0 2   2   4
04 Bethel, Kyree.........   0-2   0-1   0-0 1   0   6
23 Buright, Mark.........   0-0   0-0   0-0 0   0   5
30 Branscome, Lee........   1-5   0-2   0-0 1   2 13
33 Lamb, Rickey..........   1-4   0-1   0-0 3   2   8
44 Williams, Chris.......   4-7   0-0   1-1 5   9 26
TEAM.....................                    3
TOTALS................... 26-63 4-15 6-10 35 62 200
PERCENT.................. 41.3 26.7 60.0

EAST CAROLINA PIRATES
# PLAYER                    FG   3PT    FT R PTS MIN
01 Morrow, Darrius..... f 8-10   0-0   4-6 2 20 31
12 Sampson, Robert..... f   0-1   0-0   0-0 0   0   8
00 Paul, Miguel........ g 7-11   5-8   1-1 6 20 33
11 Gaines, Corvonn..... g   3-4   0-1   0-1 1   6 23
23 Straughn, Erin...... g 7-11   2-4   1-3 5 17 27
02 Kemp, Maurice.........   4-7   0-1   1-2 12   9 26
03 Torlak, Petar.........   0-2   0-1   0-0 2   0   2
10 Edosomwan, Francis....   0-1   0-1   0-0 0   0   1
20 Bowden, Shamarr.......   0-4   0-4   0-0 2   0 12
22 CAMPBELL, Paris.......   0-6   0-5   0-0 0   0 15
25 Steed, Austin.........   2-3   0-0   0-0 4   4 13
35 Morales, Darius.......   0-0   0-0   2-2 2   2   9
TEAM.....................                    1
TOTALS................... 31-60 7-25 9-15 37 78 200
PERCENT.................. 51.7 28.0 60.0

Fouled out: Martin
Technical Fouls: None
Officials: Ted Hillary, Clyde Owens, Steve Divine