Dunkfest for Pirates in First Exhibition Game
November 06, 2003 | Men's Basketball
GREENVILLE, N.C. ? East Carolina defeated the World HoopStars here Thursday night by a convincing score of 104-31 in the Pirates' first exhibition game of the 2003-2004 season.
The game featured 13 dunks, four of which came from sophomore Corey Rouse. Rouse recorded a double-double with game-highs in both points (20) and rebounds (15). Senior Derrick Wiley scored 16 while newcomer Frank Robinson poured in 15 in his first collegiate appearance.
The Pirates started the game off with a 37-9 run in the first 11:04 that was capped off by a Moussa Badiane slam dunk.
Sophomore Belton Rivers got the 3,790 fans in attendance to their feet with an alley oop pass from just inside half-court line to Robinson who ran the baseline and finished the play with an explosive dunk.
Rivers displayed his passing ability again on a fast break when he threw the ball off of the backboard to a trailing Corey Rouse who slammed it home, putting the Pirates up 45-18 with 2:39 to play in the first half.
East Carolina went into halftime with a 60-15 lead and came out in the second half scoring 17 unanswered points, extending the lead to 77-15.
Six players scored in double figures for ECU including senior Erroyl Bing with 13 points, senior Gabriel Mikulas with 10 points and Rivers with 12. Freshmen Japhet McNeil and Mike Cook led the way in assists with McNeil dishing out 12 and Cook adding six assists.
"I thought we were extremely unselfish tonight and our passing was excellent," said ECU head coach Bill Herrion. "I thought our guys made the extra pass and got the ball to people when they were open."
As a team, ECU shot 61.9 percent on 45-of-77 from the field while the HoopStars shot just 26.9 percent on 14-of-55 shooting. East Carolina out-muscled its opponent in the paint, out-rebounding the HoopStars 55-26.
The HoopStars were led by Stevan Milosevic who recorded a double- double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
East Carolina will return to the court Saturday at noon for the Purple- Gold scrimmage with the next exhibition game on Thursday, Nov. 13 against the Charlotte Stars. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at Minges Coliseum.
