By Al Myatt
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DENTON, TX � East Carolina made a closing run but fell short in a 53-51 Conference USA loss at North Texas on Saturday night.

Prince Williams missed a pair of jumpers in the final six seconds with the Pirates trailing 52-51. Chris Jones made one of two free throws for the final margin.

ECU trailed 50-38 after a 3-pointer by Brandan Walton of North Texas with 9:21 remaining.

Akeem Richmond assisted freshman Caleb White on a 3-pointer to start an 8-0 run for the Pirates. Williams fed White for a three that cut the Mean Green's lead to 50-44 with 8:16 to go. A layup by White with 7:44 left drew ECU within 50-46.

North Texas (12-13, 3-8) snapped a scoreless span of almost five minutes when Alzee Williams dunked for a 52-46 Mean Green lead with 4:36 to play.

Williams made two free throws with 1:29 left to close the gap to 52-48. Richmond's three with 49 seconds left cut the lead to 52-51 and the Pirates got a final possession with 15 seconds to go on a North Texas turnover.

Williams' jumper with six seconds to go was blocked by Jordan Williams of the Mean Green but Richmond got the loose ball. Prince Williams tried a three from the right side that bounced off the rim. Jones got the defensive rebound and was fouled by Paris Roberts-Campbell with seven-tenths of a second to go.

White led ECU (13-13, 2-9) with 17 points. He also had seven rebounds. Williams had 15 points and three assists.

Michael Zangari finished with seven points and 11 rebounds for the Pirates.

Richmond had six points, well below his average of 18.6. Paris Roberts-Campbell, who didn't score, had four steals. Roberts-Campbell was averaging 13.1 points, second on the team.

Vertrail Vaughns paced North Texas with 13 points.

The contest drew an attendance of 5,352 to The Super Pit.

The Pirates had won the previous two Saturdays.

ECU returns home to host Louisiana Tech at 7 p.m. Thursday. The Bulldogs blasted visiting Rice 85-46 on Saturday night to improve to 21-5 overall and 9-2 in C-USA.