NCAA BASKETBALL ::: UMass holds off Pirates [bk-120611]

East Carolina roared back from a 19-point halftime deficit but was unable to close the deal in the final two minutes, enabling Massachusetts to escape with a 63-58 victory Tuesday night in Greenville.

The Minutemen (7-3) grabbed the advantage from the beginning, scoring the game's first four points and relying on hot shooting to dominate the first half. Shooting 53.6 percent, including 45.5 percent from long range, UMass built 22-point margins on two occasions during the frame and led 40-21 at the break.

The Pirates (4-4) struggled in all aspects of the game during the period, committing 9 turnovers, losing the battle of the boards 23-14, and making only 30.8 percent of their field goal attempts, 16.7 percent from behind the arc and 36.4 percent from the free throw line.

After intermission, senior forward Darrius Morrow, junior forward Maurice Kemp and junior guards Miguel Paul and Schamarr Bowden, all of whom finished in double figures, helped lead the Pirates back.

East Carolina started the second half on a 13-2 run to slice the deficit to 42-34 with 16:21 left. Morrow scored 8 of the points.

After that flurry, ECU whittled away at the gap in spurts, eventually pulling within three, 59-56, on a trey by freshman guard Paris Roberts-Campbell with 1:26 remaining.

The Pirates then regained possession on a shot-clock violation and Paul turned the opportunity into points, scoring a driving basket with 40 seconds left to whittle the margin to 59-58.

That was the end of the rally, as UMass capitalized on a pair of offensive rebounds and a turnover by Paul to earn multiple trips to the free throw line, making 4 of 8.

ECU was handicapped during crunch time as Morrow fouled out with 2:13 remaining.

Junior guard Freddie Riley scored 14 points and sophomore guard Chaz Williams added 10 to pace the Minutemen.

East Carolina was led by Morrow with 13 points and Kemp with 12. Paul and Bowden each had 10 points for the Pirates.

East Carolina has time to regroup before returning to action in a road game with UNC-Greensboro on Friday, Dec. 16.

BOX SCORE

MASSACHUSETTS 63, EAST CAROLINA 58

Date: Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011
Place: Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum, Greenville, NC
Attendance: 4,419
Records: ECU 4-2; UMass 7-3

SCORE BY PERIODS     1   2  FINAL
Massachusetts       40 23 - 63
East Carolina       21 37 - 58

MASSACHUSETTS MINUTEMEN
# PLAYER                    FG   3PT    FT R PTS MIN
.........................    ..
33 Vinson, Terrell..... f   1-4   0-2   1-4 9   3 33
34 Putney, Raphiael.... f   3-7   1-4   2-4 3   9 22
54 Carter, Sean........ c   3-3   0-0   3-4 7   9 22
03 Williams, Chaz...... g 4-11   1-4   1-2 3 10 36
05 Morgan, Jesse....... g   0-3   0-2   2-2 2   2 28
00 Farrell, Javorn.......   1-4   0-1   4-4 0   6 17
01 Esho, Maxie...........   2-3   0-0   0-3 4   4 14
04 Riley, Freddie........   5-7   4-5   0-0 1 14 10
10 Lalanne, Cady.........   2-6   0-0   2-2 6   6 18
TEAM.....................                    7
TOTALS................... 21-48 6-18 15-25 42 63 200
PERCENT.................. 43.8 33.3 60.0

EAST CAROLINA PIRATES
# PLAYER                    FG   3PT    FT R PTS MIN
.........................    ..
01 Morrow, Darrius..... f 4-11   0-0   5-8 7 13 32
12 Sampson, Robert..... f   1-4   0-2   0-0 3   2 17
00 Paul, Miguel........ g 4-13   2-7   0-5 1 10 37
11 Gaines, Corvonn..... g   1-5   0-2   0-1 2   2 28
23 Straughn, Erin...... g   1-3   0-1   0-0 10   2 28
02 Kemp, Maurice.........   5-8   0-0   2-5 4 12 21
20 Bowden, Shamarr.......   4-9   2-7   0-0 3 10 16
22 CAMPBELL, Paris.......   1-5   1-5   1-2 0   4 10
25 Steed, Austin.........   1-4   0-0   1-2 2   3 11
TEAM.....................                    5
TOTALS................... 22-62 5-24 9-23 37 58 200
PERCENT.................. 35.5 20.8 39.1

Fouled out: Morrow
Technical Fouls: None
Officials: Tom Eades, John Hampton, Bill Covington