Men's Basketball Rolls In Exhibition Opener By 31
November 07, 2002 | Men's Basketball
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- East Carolina outscored the U.S. Marine Corps by 24 points in the second half en route to a 96-65 win to begin 2002-03 exhibition play here Thursday night. Five players scored in double figures as the Pirates improved to 6-1 in exhibition games under fourth-year head coach Bill Herrion.
Five players scored in double figures for the Pirates, led by junior forward Gabriel Mikulas' 19 points. Fellow junior Erroyl Bing poured in 18 points to go along with a team-high nine rebounds. Returning junior forward Jonathan Moore added 10 points.
Newcomers Derrick Wiley, a junior college transfer from Durham, N.C., and freshman Belton Rivers also scored double figures. Rivers connected on 5-of-7 field goal attempts for 13 points and dished out a game-high six assists. Wiley chipped in 12 points and grabbed five rebounds.
"I am very pleased with the performance of our basketball team tonight," said Herrion. "We accomplished what we needed to accomplish and that is playing hard and competing hard for 40 minutes."
In the first half the score was tied twice and there were 10 lead changes. Clinging to a 36-35 lead with 3:37 remaining until halftime, the Pirates closed out the half on a 7-1 run to take a seven-point lead into the locker room. Bing scored 11 of his 18 points prior to halftime.
In the second half, the Pirates' went on a torrid shooting spree, making 20-of-31 shots from the field (64.5 percent). They led by as many as 31 points five times during the half, holding on to that margin for the victory.
U.S. Marine Corps was led by Jelani Nix, who scored 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Phillip Moss added 14 points for the Corps, while Nathan Sales led all rebounders with 12 boards.
East Carolina hosts EA Sports All-Stars in its second exhibition game, Tuesday, Nov. 12. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. at Minges Coliseum.
