Second Half Surge Propels East Carolina Past Radford
December 30, 2003 | Men's Basketball
GREENVILLE, N.C. --- East Carolina shot nearly 70 percent from the field in the second half and outscored Radford by 24 after halftime to down the Highlanders, 87-50, inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum Tuesday night.
ECU (8-1) trailed by one midway through the opening half, 13-12, but back-to-back three-point baskets by senior Derrick Wiley ignited a 20-6 Pirate run that surged it into a 34-21 halftime lead. Wiley scored a game-high 26 points to lead four Pirates in double figures.
Missed shots were few and far between in the second half for ECU as it connected on 18-of-26 field goal attempts (69.2%). The Pirates shot 52.5 percent from the field for the game, while limiting Radford (4-6) to a mere 30.2 percent shooting night.
The Pirates pushed their lead to 20 less than five minutes into the second half and held a 30-point advantage with 12:34 remaining in the contest, 63-33. ECU's largest lead of the night was its final margin of victory, 37.
Senior Gabriel Mikulas scored 15 points for the Pirates, which did an excellent job of protecting the basketball as it committed just nine turnovers. Freshman point guard Japhet McNeil dished out six assists and did not turn the ball over. ECU handed out 19 assists on 32 field goals made.
Fellow freshman Mike Cook scored all 10 of his points in the second half, while senior Erroyl Bing scored eight of his 10 points after intermission.
Sophomore Whit Holcomb-Faye led Radford in scoring with 13 points, while Kyle Zaharias chipped in 10.
East Carolina returns to action on Saturday, Jan. 3 against Ole Miss. Tip-off is slated for 8 p.m. EST in Oxford, Miss.
