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C-USA Rookies Surprise Big East's Rutgers
Bonesville.net Staff
Raleigh, N.C. — For a season or two, some
observers figured, East Carolina would probably be an embarrassment to both
itself and Conference USA, its new, highly-pedigreed basketball family.
After all, ECU has for years fielded ho-hum teams in the
mediocre Colonial Athletic Association. It's a program
whose players historically have had a better
chance of getting an invitation to the Big Dance at one of the night clubs
near the corner of 5th and Cotanche than to the extravaganza the NCAA
conducts each March.
The Pirates finally had to officially face the challenge on
Wednesday, risking their first taste of embarrassment against Big East
opponent Rutgers in the opening round of the Black Coaches Association
Invitational Tournament at Raleigh's Entertainment and Sports Arena.
But it was Rutgers which faced
the music.
And if a
conference was embarrassed, it was the conference of Georgetown and
Syracuse, UConn and St. John's.
Sophomore
Jonathan Moore, playing in his hometown, scored 23 points in his collegiate
debut as ECU climbed out of an 11-point second half hole to defeat the
Scarlet Knights, 79-74.
ECU head
coach Bill Herrion established a track record of March Madness appearances
at Drexel before migrating south to rebuild the struggling Pirate program
three years ago, but he rated the Pirates' victory on Wednesday afternoon
among his most satisfying.
"This is a
great win for us and for Conference USA," he said. "This was as good as a
team effort as I`ve been involved with in my 11 years of coaching."
The two teams
traded baskets throughout the first half as the lead-changed hands six times
prior to the intermission. Rutgers closed out the first half with an 11-3
run to take a six-point into the locker room, 40-34.
Jerome
Coleman paced the Scarlet Knights during the first half with four
three-pointers, Moore kept ECU (1-0) in the game by scoring 17 first half
points.
The second
half began just as the first half ended, with Rutgers scoring six of the
first eight points and eventually pushing its lead to 11, 49-38.
Trailing
54-43 with 13:55 remaining in regulation, the Pirates went on an 18-6 run
over the next 7:09 to take their first lead since moving ahead briefly,
14-13, in the game's early stages.
ECU scored 12
straight points on three-pointers as Travis Holcomb-Faye, Bryan Foxx and
Brandon Hawkins all drilled consecutive jumpers from behind the arc. Hawkins
second three-point field goal of the sequence pulled the Pirates within one,
capping a 12-2 run.
Erroyl Bing
completed a three-point play with 5:07 remaining to give the Pirates a lead
they never relinquished.
ECU lead by
as many as eight with 1:12 to play and made three of its final four free
throws to seal the victory.
After
managing just two points in the first half, Bing warmed up to score 15
second half points and garnered a team-high nine rebounds. Junior point
guard Travis Holcomb-Faye also finished in double figures for the Pirates
with 10 points.
Coleman led
all scorers with 24 points and Mike Sherrod added 17 points for the Scarlet
Knights.
In the tourney's other first round match-ups, host N.C.
State pummeled outmanned Prairie View A&M, 95-51; San Jose State conquered
Fairleigh Dickinson, 65-57; and Northwestern defeated Virginia Commonwealth,
78-73.
The Pirates
will play Northwestern, a member of the Big Ten, in the semifinals on
Thursday at 9 p.m., following a 7:00 p.m. game between the Wolfpack of the
ACC and WAC representative San Jose State.
The winners
will meet for the championship at 9:00 p.m. on Friday night.
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ECU's SID Office
contributed to this story.
02/23/2007 01:35:07 PM
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