GREENVILLE — A variety of factors conspired against East Carolina in an 86-81 overtime loss to Campbell in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum on Wednesday night.

The Pirates started 0-for-20 from behind the 3-point arc and lost point guard Miguel Paul and leading scorer Maurice Kemp to fouls. ECU (8-4) started slowly and the Camels took advantage. The Pirates' first lead didn't come until Shamarr Bowden's 3-pointer put ECU on top 71-69 with 38 seconds left.

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Akeem Richmond fires in the fifth of his six 3-pointers, all coming in the second half. [W.A. Myatt photo]

The Camels (5-9), coming off a 72-60 win over UNC-Wilmington at home on Saturday, pulled even at 71 as Reco McCarter assisted Andrew Ryan with 21 seconds to go.

Ryan defended ECU marksman Akeem Richmond in the right corner on a three that missed the mark in the closing seconds, and Campbell's Darren White, who led all scorers with 25 points, got the last rebound of regulation.

Richmond finished 6 of 13 behind the arc with two of his threes helping ECU close a 14-point deficit over the last 3:31 of regulation.

The Pirates made a strong stretch drive but their intensity level didn't match Campbell's for much of the nonconference game.

"It was not a particularly good effort," said Pirates coach Jeff Lebo. "Give them credit. They played well. They had a pep in their step. They played tougher than us and they deserved to win the game."

The visitors jumped out to a 14-4 lead and ECU had a 13-4 run to get within a point.

But the Camels never went away and extended the lead to 36-25 by halftime.

Campbell led 60-44 after a jumper by Leek Leek on White's assist with 7:44 left.

The Pirates extended their defensive pressure and began their comeback. The Camels were without point guard Trey Freeman, who tried to go despite a leg injury, in the final minutes.

"I wanted him out there because he's our best free throw shooter," said Campbell coach Robbie Laing. "He didn't want the ball because he couldn't move. I finally took him out and Darian Hooker did a good job of filling in."

Paul fouled out with 1:09 left in regulation.

Kemp scored eight seconds into overtime for a 73-71 ECU lead. He picked up his fifth personal 41 seconds later.

Auburn transfer Ty Armstrong scored on an assist by Corvonn Gaines for a 78-75 ECU lead with 2:09 to go. Hooker answered to draw the Camels within a point before Armstrong was stripped on the right wing. Their appeared to be contact, but Marvelle Harris was credited with a steal and he passed to Leek for a go-ahead dunk in transition.

"I thought (Armstrong) got raked," Lebo said.

So did the ECU faithful among a crowd 3,770.

Reco McCarter's steal and layup with 1:05 left put the Camels up 81-78 and the re-energized Camels pushed the margin to eight points before Richmond dropped a three at the buzzer.

It was only the second Campbell win in Greenville in 21 games. ECU leads the overall series, 37-20 but the Camels have made vast strides over the last decade.

"The first game I coached at Campbell was here," Laing said. "We got beat 93-54 (Nov. 22, 2003). It's good to come in here and have a chance to win."

The Pirates' Saturday matchup with North Carolina Wesleyan may have been viewed as a tuneup for the Conference USA opener at Memphis next Wednesday.

Now it becomes an opportunity for correction.

"We played soft," a subdued Kemp said.

Lebo asserted that the Pirates didn't quit. That was a positive, but Campbell's aggressive man-to-man exposed some weaknesses that weren't solved by Paul's dribbling and ECU's inability to convert open looks from long distance. The Camels' tenacity on the boards also led to a 42-41 rebounding advantage.

"We've got to do it from the beginning of the game instead of trying to come back," Richmond said.