By
Al Myatt
©2013 Bonesville.net
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Audio: Coaches and players post-game...
GREENVILLE — East Carolina's last home
basketball win was last year, Dec. 19 to be exact,
against VMI, but the Pirates broke a five-game
losing streak within Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum on Saturday with
an 81-71 Conference USA win over Texas-San Antonio.
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East Carolina freshman
forward Brandan Stith (25) looks to make an offensive move.
(Photo by Al Myatt. ©Bonesville.net) |
Akeem Richmond had 31 points
as ECU improved to 13-11 overall and 2-7 in league play. The senior
guard from Sanford made all 15 of his free throws to set a school record
for the most foul shots in a game without a miss.
The previous record of 13 by
Earl Thompson against Atlantic Christian had stood since Dec. 9, 1967.
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Caleb White (2) and Akeem
Richmond converge on defense. Richmond scored 31 points and
White added 18 on Saturday. (Photo by Al Myatt. ©Bonesville.net.)
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Richmond's remarkable effort
at the line matched the ECU men's Williams Arena mark of 15 made free
throws set by Jontae Sherrod against Texas-El Paso on Feb. 23, 2011.
A jumper by Caleb White, who
had 18 points on seven of 11 field goal shooting, put the Pirates ahead
to stay at 17-15 with 6:25 left in the first half and started ECU on an
11-1 run. Brandan Stith scored on an assist from Prince Williams during
the flurry, Richmond dropped a three off a feed from White, Williams
assisted Stith again, and White registered on another jumper to give the
Pirates a 26-16 advantage with 4:38 left in the first half.
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The Pirates huddle as
officials review video in the first half. The shorter
official at the scorer's table is Scott Smith, son of former
North Carolina basketball coach Dean Smith. (Photo by Al
Myatt. ©Bonesville.net.) |
ECU led 33-25 at
intermission. Richmond scored 23 points in the second half.
The biggest lead for the
Pirates was 20 points, at 58-38 after Stith scored on an assist by Paris
Roberts-Campbell with 10:35 left in the game. The Roadrunners (7-15, 3-6
C-USA) closed within five points at 67-62 with 2:41 to go but ECU put
the game away by making all 14 of its free throws over the last 2:21.
Mike Zangari had 11 points
and nine rebounds for the Pirates. Williams had 10 points and five
assists. Stith had seven points in 16 minutes.
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ECU basketball lettermen
were recognized at halftime of Saturday's game. (Photo by Al
Myatt. ©Bonesville.net.) |
Keon Lewis led UTSA with 16
points before fouling out. Jordan Sims had 14 points in the loss. Hyjii
Thomas and Phillip Jones added 11 and 10 respectively for the visitors.
Edrico McGregor had eight points and six assists for the first-year
C-USA program.
"We haven't won at home in a
while, so it was nice to get that," said ECU coach Jeff Lebo. "Akeem and
Caleb were terrific offensively."
The Pirates have road games
next week at Tulsa (Thursday, 8:05 p.m.) and North Texas (Saturday, 8
p.m.). ECU swaps opponents on those dates with travel partner Old
Dominion, which was defeated by league-leading Texas-El Paso 63-49 on
Saturday night in Norfolk.
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GAME SUMMARY |
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East Carolina 81, Texas-San
Antonio 71 |
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Date: Saturday,
Feb. 8, 2014
Facility: Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum
Attendance:5,188
Records: ECU 13-11 (2-7 C-USA); UTSA 7-15 (3-6)
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SCORE BY PERIODS |
1 |
2 |
FINAL |
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Texas-San Antonio |
25 |
46 |
71 |
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East Carolina |
33 |
48 |
81 |
View full box score and stats on ecupirates.com