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Pirates survive high
drama in Birmingham
By The Associated Press
BIRMINGHAM — Japhet McNeil
hit four free throws in the final 35 seconds and East Carolina survived
a scare at the buzzer to upset UAB 67-64 on Wednesday.
McNeil's final two free
throws gave East Carolina a 67-64 lead with 4.3 seconds left. UAB moved
the ball down floor quickly and Richard Jones got off a 3-point shot at
the buzzer that fell well short.
But McNeil was whistled
for a foul on the shot, giving Jones three free throws with no time left
on the clock. The first free throw bounced off the front of the rim,
ending the game.
Freshman guard Tom
Hammonds scored 16 points to lead East Carolina (8-16, 3-9 Conference
USA). Corey Rouse added 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Pirates.
Marques Lewis scored 17
points for UAB (16-8, 6-5). Donell Taylor added 12 points and Caldwell
``Squeaky'' Johnson had 10 for the Blazers, who lost their third game in
a row.
The victory was East
Carolina's first on the road this season.
For much of the night, it
looked like the Pirates would come up short again. UAB led by as many as
10 points in the first half and went into intermission with a 35-32
lead.
The Blazers built another
10-point lead early in the second half. But East Carolina battled back
to take a 59-57 lead when Moussa Badiane scored six points in a row.
UAB tied it at 59-59, but
Rouse worked inside for a layup to give East Carolina a 61-59 lead with
just under three minutes left. The Pirates stayed in front the rest of
the way, thanks to McNeil's clutch free throw shooting.
With the upset of the
Blazers, the Pirates improved their chances of securing one of the 12
spots in the 14-team league's tournament by performing well in their
final four regular season games.
East Carolina will
continue its road swing with a C-USA game at South Florida on Saturday.
Tip-off for the contest is 7 p.m.
After battling the Bulls,
ECU will close out its slate with home games against Southern Miss on
Wednesday, Feb. 23, and Houston on Saturday, Feb. 26, and a
season-ending matchup at Tulane on Saturday, Mar. 5.
Memphis will serve as the
host for the conference tournament Mar. 9-12.
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BOX
SCORE EAST CAROLINA 67,
UAB 64
Records: ECU 8-16, 3-9; UAB
16-8, 6-5.
Halftime: UAB 35-32.
EAST CAROLINA
Name FG FT
Pts
Rouse 3-6
6-7 12
Badiane 2-2
5-6 9
Kilgore 4-8
0-1 8
Hammonds 6-7
1-1 16
Cook 2-11
1-2 7
McNeil 0-5
7-8 7
Gagnon 0-0
0-0 0
King 0-1
0-0 0
Hart 0-0
2-2 2
Castro 3-4
0-0 6
Totals 20-44 22-27
67
ALABAMA-BIRMINGHAM
Name FG FT
Pts
Lewis 7-11
3-6 17
Eddins 1-4
0-0 3
Johnson 4-9
0-2 10
D. Taylor 4-12
4-4 12
McDonald 2-7
2-2 7
Delaney 1-3
3-4 5
Holmes 0-3
0-2 0
Little 3-3
0-1 6
Jones 0-2
2-3 2
Broom 0-3
0-0 0
Tobias 1-1
0-2 2
Totals 23-58 14-26
64
3-Point goals: East
Carolina 5-10 (Hammonds Jr. 3-3, Cook 2-3, Kilgore 0-1, King
0-1, McNeil 0-2); UAB (Johnson 2-6, Eddins 1-2, McDonald 1-6,
Jones 0-1, Broom 0-2, D.Taylor 0-3).
Fouled out: Badiane, Lewis,
D. Taylor.
Rebounds: East Carolina 38
(Rouse 13); UAB 30 (Eddins, Holmes, D.Taylor 5).
Assists: East Carolina 9
(McNeil 4); UAB 13 (Johnson 4).
Total fouls: East Carolina
23, UAB 20.
Technical fouls: None.
Attendance: 4,378.
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02/23/07 10:56 AM
©2005
The Associated Press and Bonesville.net. All
rights rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Bonesville.net contributed to this report.
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