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From hot to cold, from lead to loss

From Electronic and Staff Reports
©2008 Bonesville.net
All rights reserved.

East Carolina built a four-point halftime advantage on hot shooting but lost its touch in the second half, opening the door for Southern Mississippi to capture a 72-62 victory Saturday night in Greenville.

Junior guard Courtney Beasley scored 17 points and sophomore guard Sai'Quon Stone added 16 as the Golden Eagles overcame the deficit to complete a season sweep of the Pirates. USM routed East Carolina 92-69 on Feb. 2 in Hattiesburg.

Sophomore guard Jeremy Wise contributed 12 points and freshman guard R.L. Horton had 11 for Southern Miss.

The Pirates shot better than 52.2 percent (12-23) from the field in the first half, including a torrid 58.3 percent (7-12) from three-point range. But after extending their lead to 38-32 on a basket by sophomore forward Gabe Blair 11 seconds into the second half, field goal conversions became the exception rather than the rule for East Carolina.

The Pirates cooled down to 4-25 shooting (16 percent) in the second half, 2-11 (18.2 percent) from behind the arc, while Southern Miss seized and maintained the momentum on 14-28 field goal accuracy (50 percent). USM had made 11-24 (45.8 percent) in the first half, good enough to stay within striking distance until ECU lost its hot hand.

The Golden Eagles moved in front 45-44 on a basket by senior center Gjio Bain with 12:49 left and maintained the lead the rest of the way.

Senior guard Darrell Jenkins scored 13 points and junior guard James Legan added 10 for East Carolina.

Blair hauled in a game-high 10 rebounds for the Pirates, but ECU lost the battle of the boards to USM 37-29.

Southern Miss improved to 13-11 (5-5 C-USA), while the Pirates fell to 8-15 (2-8) on their third loss in a row.

East Carolina will have a chance to break its skid when it challenges Central Florida Wednesday night on the road. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m.  UCF edged the Pirates 71-66 in Greenville on Jan. 19.

BOX SCORE

SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI 72, EAST CAROLINA 62

Date: Saturday, Feb. 16, 2008.
Site: Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum, Greenville, NC.
Attendance: 4,812.
Officials: David Maracich, Bret Smith, Kyle Neve.
Technical Fouls: None.

SCORE BY PERIODS     1   2  FINAL
Southern Miss       32  40  -  72
East Carolina       36  26  -  62

SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI (13-11, 5-5 C-USA)
PLAYER                  FG   3PT    FT   R  PTS  MIN
Stephens.............  0-3   0-0   3-4   1    3   17
Bain.................  4-4   0-0   0-0   5    8   28
Beasley..............  6-9   0-1   5-5   6   17   28
Wise................. 5-16   1-7   1-2   4   12   37
Horton...............  4-9   1-1   2-2   4   11   27
Stone................  5-5   0-0  6-10   6   16   28
Craft................  1-6   0-2   3-4   6    5   28
Dotson...............  0-0   0-0   0-0   0    0    7
TEAM.................                    5
TOTALS...............25-52  2-11 20-27  37   72  200
PERCENT.............. .481  .182  .741

EAST CAROLINA (8-15, 2-8 C-USA)
PLAYER                  FG   3PT    FT   R  PTS  MIN
Abrams...............  2-2   0-0   0-0   2    4   19
Blair................  1-6   0-0   3-4  10    5   24
Legan................  2-8   2-7   4-7   3   10   25
Farmer...............  2-8   1-4   2-2   1    7   20
Jenkins..............  5-8   3-4   0-0   0   13   28
Hinnant.............. 2-10   2-6   2-2   1    8   27
Young................  0-1   0-1   1-2   0    1   12
Gagnon...............  1-2   1-1   0-0   1    3   14
Fields...............  0-1   0-0  9-14   4    9   23
Sherrod..............  0-1   0-0   0-0   1    0    5
Evans................  1-1   0-0   0-0   1    2    3
TEAM.................                    5
TOTALS...............16-48  9-23 21-31  29   62  200
PERCENT.............. .333  .391  .677
 

PAGE UPDATED 02/17/08 05:39 AM.

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