ECU zone slows Greyhounds
By
Al Myatt
©2013 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.
Bradsher: Pirates' P.R. machine
running fast break
Post-game audio: ECU coach Jeff
Lebo...
Post-game audio: Loyola coach
Jimmy Patsos...
Post-game audio: Maurice Kemp &
Robert Sampson...
GREENVILLE — Sometimes
success is as easy as changing defenses.
Loyola of Maryland reacted to a zone
defense from East Carolina like they had entered some disabling
dimension of the Twilight Zone on Tuesday night and ECU delighted a
raucous house in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum with a closing run to
a 70-58 victory.
The Minges maestro, Jeff Lebo, made a
significant tweak and kept the Pirates' party rocking full blast into
the semifinals of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.
"We didn't really go over zone in
practice but Coach Lebo realized they weren't hitting their threes and
made the adjustment," said ECU and ESPN star Maurice Kemp.
The zone, which looked a lot like a
basic YMCA 2-3, helped ECU to a decisive 23-8 run from a tie at 45 with
10:49 remaining. The Pirates advanced to meet Evansville
in the CIT semifinals at home on
Saturday at 5 p.m.
Article
continues after the following picture.
Paris Roberts-Campbell gives a fist bump to
'Voice of the Pirates' Jeff Charles during the introduction of starting
lineups for Tuesday night's CIT quarterfinal. (W.A. Myatt photo)
Kemp had 20 points. Robert Sampson
added 13 points and 11 rebounds. Miguel Paul totaled 12 points and nine
assists.
"When we went to the zone, that was a
big factor in slowing them down a little bit," Lebo said. "They're good
in their man-to-man (offense). They hurt us inside for the first 22 to
24 minutes but our zone was effective. They didn't shoot it particularly
well."
The Greyhounds were just 2 for 20
behind the arc for 10 percent. The zone seemed to force Loyola into long
possessions of working the ball around the perimeter. They struggled to
finish drives amid the traffic in the middle, and their bigs were
stymied by Sampson, Ty Armstrong and Kemp.
"We couldn't finish inside," said Jimmy
Patsos, a former assistant to Gary Williams at Maryland, who guided
Loyola to the NCAA Tournament last season. " ... You have to score
inside and then you can kick it out. We couldn't make anything inside so
then they were right on us and we're working to make threes."
The Greyhounds (23-12) made just one of
nine from long distance in the second half. Robert Olson, who drew boos
from a crowd of 4,512 every time he touched the ball, went 0-for-8 from
distance and teammate Dylon Cormier was 0-for-6. Patsos said Olson
played despite illness.
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continues after the following picture.
Miguel Paul dribbles off a screen during
ECU's CIT quarterfinal matchup with Loyola (MD). The senior point guard
had 12 points and 9 assists. (W.A. Myatt photo)
Struggles from long range were not
limited to the small Jesuit institution from Baltimore.
Pirate marksman Akeem Richmond was an
uncharacteristic 0-for-6 on threes. He still managed nine points and
three assists. Armstrong had eight points. Paris Roberts-Campbell
connected on a pair of 3-pointers as the Pirates erased a seven-point
Loyola lead over the last two minutes of the first half. Kemp had a dunk
and made a free throw to tie the score at 32 just before the break.
"It's a game of runs," Lebo said.
The Greyhounds scored the first six
points of the second half but the Pirates scored the next seven.
Kemp scored six of eight straight
points by ECU that put the Pirates ahead to stay at 53-45.
Kemp said he was eating barbecue potato
chips Monday when he saw his dunk against Rider in the round of 16 was
ESPN's top play on SportsCenter.
"I did a double take," he said.
Patsos said his team was a little
awestruck after seeing Clark-LeClair and Dowdy-Ficklen stadiums.
"We don't even have seats in the end
zone in our basketball gym," said the Greyhounds coach.
The Pirates have plenty of seats in
comparison and ECU personnel were thankful they had ardent supporters in
them on Tuesday night.
"I want to thank the students and our
crowd," Lebo said. "It was unbelievable, again. Just phenomenal."
Article
continues after the following picture.
Seniors Miguel Paul (0) and Maurice Kemp
fire up the fans during ECU's CIT quarterfinal win over Loyola (MD)
Tuesday night in Greenville.(W.A. Myatt photo)
ECU is 21-12, adding another digit to
its record win total on the NCAA Division I level.
"I'm happy for our seniors," said the
Pirates coach, who is 54-44 in three years at ECU. "We live to play
another day, another couple of practices. I'll give them off
(Wednesday). I'm getting soft on 'em.
"It's just exciting to see what's
happening. ... Talking to Jimmy (Patsos), he was just amazed at our
crowd and amazed at our students. I want to thank them because they were
big factors in our energy level tonight."
ECU is in a final four. It's not the
Final Four but the Pirates and their fans like where they're at.
"We're going to keep on trying to write
some history," Sampson said. "The crowd and the fans, they all love it.
It's an entire community thing. It's not just us playing basketball."
CollegeInsider.com Tournament |
Quarterfinal Round |
East Carolina 70, Loyola MD 58 |
--------------------- |
Date: Tuesday,
Mar. 26, 2013
Facility: Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum
Attendance: 4512
Records: ECU 21-12; Loyola 23-12
|
--------------------- |
SCORE BY PERIODS |
1 |
2 |
FINAL |
Loyola |
32 |
26 |
58 |
East Carolina |
32 |
38 |
70 |
Send an e-mail message to Al Myatt.
PAGE UPDATED
03/27/13 09:24 AM.
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