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NO PLACE LIKE HOME
From wire and staff reports
Box Score
GREENVILLE — The road is a wonderful ally in college
basketball — if your team is the home team.
East Carolina, still bedeviled by a weeks-long shooting
slump, found other ways to overtake visiting Conference USA rival
Southern Miss in the second half Saturday night for a dramatic 60-57
win.
Derrick Wiley scored 17 of his 21 points in the second
half while Travis Holcomb-Faye added 16 as ECU improved its home record
for the season against conference foes to 3-2. The Pirates are 0-5 in
the league on the road.
Ironically, the Golden Eagles also continue to be
winless on the road in C-USA, at 0-4, yet have managed to compile three
wins against two losses at home.
The victory, which was not assured until USM missed a
three-point field goal attempt as time expired, snapped a string of
three straight ECU losses, all on the road, and proved to the team and
to the spirited crowd of 5,545 at Minges Coliseum's Williams Arena that
there's no place like home.
"The kids really persevered, they hung in there," said
Pirates coach Bill Herrion. "I was just very concerned about this time
of year and whether winning was still a priority with these kids. I
think the kids showed a tremendous amount of resolve and resiliency just
bouncing back."
Wiley and Holcombe-Faye, who nailed a couple of crucial
three-pointers, sparked a 15-0 run midway through the second half that
enabled ECU (12-9, 3-7 C-USA) to gain the upper hand.
The Pirates shot just 36 percent, but outrebounded the
Golden Eagles 45-31. USM shot 42 percent.
Mario Myles scored 15 points, all in the first half, to
lead Southern Miss (10-10, 3-6), but was shut down in the final frame,
largely due to an ECU defensive switch which matched Jonathan Moore
against the USM senior.
It didn't bother Herrion that Moore's only offensive
production on the night was a single three-pointer.
"Even though he did not score many points, I'm just so
proud of how far he's come defensively," said Herrion. "I thought he
played a very solid basketball game. He's a kid that has so much energy.
The reason he started tonight, we just needed energy on this basketball
team. He's learned to take care of the ball. I thought he played a good
game tonight."
The Golden Eagles led 50-41 with 8:53 to play before the
Pirates went on their run, finally tying the game at 50-all with 6:42
left on consecutive bombs from behind the arc by Holcomb-Faye.
East Carolina held Southern Miss to one field goal and
seven points in the final nine minutes.
Erroyl Bing had nine points and 14 rebounds for the
Pirates, who improved to 4-0 all-time against Southern Miss.
ECU's next game won't be until next Saturday, when the
Pirates will try once more to break their road jinx in a 2:10 p.m.
contest at C-USA opponent Saint Louis. The game will be televised on
ESPN Plus.
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BOX
SCORE
East Carolina
(12-9, 3-7) 60, Southern Miss (10-10, 3-6) 57
Southern Miss (57)
Player FG
FT PTS
Haywood 1-4
0-0 2
Johnson 3-10
0-0 6
Gaines
5-11 3-4 13
Stiggers 4-8
3-3 11
Myles
6-7 0-0 15
Johnson 4-10
0-0 10
Pattman 0-1
0-0 0
Carter
0-3 0-0 0
Forte
0-1 0-0 0
Totals
23-55 6-7 57
East Carolina (60)
Player FG
FT PTS
Moore
1-6 0-1 3
Bing
4-10 0-0 9
Mikulas 2-9
2-2 6
Wiley
10-18 1-2 21
Holcomb-Faye 5-13 3-4
16
Rivers
1-5 0-0 3
Rouse
0-1 0-0 0
Badiane 1-4
0-0 2
Totals
24-66 6-9 60
Halftime: Southern Miss 24, E. Carolina
22.
3-point goals: Southern Miss
5-15 (Myles 3-4, Johnson 2-7, Forte 0-1, Haywood 0-1, Johnson 0-1,
Stiggers 0-1); East Carolina 6-20 (Holcomb-Faye 3-7, Bing 1-3,
Rivers 1-4, Moore 1-6).
Rebounds: Southern Miss 31 (Stiggers
7); East Carolina 45 (Bing 14).
Assists: Southern Miss 11
(Gaines, Pattman 3); East Carolina 11 (Holcomb-Faye 6).
Total fouls: Southern Miss 14,
East Carolina 12.
Fouled out: Myles, Mikulas
Technical fouls: None.
Attendance: 5,545. |
02/23/2007 10:56 AM
Copyright 2003
The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Bonesville.net contributed to this report.
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