Pirates Host Barton In Exhibition Finale
November 10, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Pirates Host Barton In Exhibition Finale
The East Carolina men's basketball will wrap-up its preseason exhibition schedule against Division II Barton College inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum Thursday night at 7 p.m. It will the Pirates' final test before opening the 2004-05 season against Pepperdine in the first round of the BCA Invitational at the RBC Center in Raleigh on Wednesday, November 17 at 12 noon.
The game against Barton can be heard over the 19-station Pirate Sports Network and at ECUpirates.com. "Voice of the Pirates" Jeff Charles handles the play-by-play with 2004 North Carolina Community College Person of the Year Si Seymour serving as the color analyst.
The series between East Carolina and Barton, formerly known as Atlantic Christian College, dates all the way back to 1931. Atlantic Christian won both of the games played during the 1931-32 season, but ECU leads the all-time series by 16 games, 47-31. Thursday night's game marks the first meeting between the two schools since the Pirates' scored a 77-57 victory over ACC in 1988.
East Carolina will look to continue to build upon a 45-point victory over Newberry College in its exhibition opener this past Thursday, 90-45. Five players scored double figures for the Pirates, led by sophomore Japhet McNeil and freshman Marvin Kilgore with 14 each. All-Conference USA candidate Mike Cook added 13 points, while junior Corey Rouse and freshman Josh King chipped in 11 each.
The Pirates shot 48.5 percent from the floor and handed out an assist on 22 of 32 baskets made. Kilgore led all players with seven helpers.
East Carolina forced Newberry into 26 turnovers and conversely turned those possessions into 37 points. Ten players dressed out for the game and seven of them recorded at least one steal with McNeil swiping four passes and Kilgore and King coming with a pair of steals each. The Pirates did a tremendous job of protecting the basketball themselves as they committed just seven turnovers.
Coming into the season, much of the concern was on scoring. With Moussa Badiane out of the lineup, East Carolina relied heavily on its perimeter players and received positive results. During the opening contest, the Pirate guards shot 48.1 percent from the floor (26-of-48). Shooting from behind the arc was good as ECU connected on 33.3 percent of its long distance.
Coach Herrion praised his team's effort on the defensive end as it held Newberry to 30 percent shooting from the floor and a dismal 14.3 from behind the arc.
Scouting the Barton College Bulldogs
After climbing into the regional rankings each of the last three seasons, Barton College is faced with a similar challenge to East Carolina, replacing veterans with fresh faces. The Bulldogs lost three seniors last season, including first team all-conference performer John Green.
Barton will depend upon its seniors to lead this season. Seniors Jacob Key, George Turner, Steve Burroughs, Sherman Holmes, Chuck Henry and Brian Young are vital to the Bulldogs' success in 2005.
Key was a consistent player throughout his junior campaign and has all-conference potential after averaging 11.0 ppg and 6.8 rpg last season. Turner and Holmes will each have too have outstanding needs in the post, if the Bulldogs expect a repeat performance of their 17-10 season a year ago.
Young and Gregory are both expected to provide the Bulldogs backcourt a lift. Young transferred to Barton from Pfeiffer University where he played for two seasons. Gregory is also a transfer player. He earned honorable mention All-Region X honors at Aiken Tech before migrating to Wilson.
The Bulldogs are coached by Ron Lievense, who is starting his ninth year at the helm of the Bulldog program. The winningest coach in Barton's NCAA Division II history, he has compiled an impressive 132-85 record during his tenure. Four of his teams have been ranked regionally, while two others reached the NCAA Tournament (1997 and 2003).
East Carolina and Barton share two common opponents this season: Belmont Abbey and Winthrop. ECU will host Belmont Abbey, a conference for for Barton, in its home opener on November 28 and host Winthrop on December 17. Barton at Winthrop on December 2 and has two games with Belmont Abbey.
Experimental Rules in Play
East Carolina will use experimental rules in its exhibition game against Barton College on Thursday, November 11 and throughout the BCA Invitational. There will be three experimental rules in place for those games: 1) The three-point line will be moved back nines inches from its current position to create a distance of 20-feet, six inches; 2) Widening the free throw lane by one and one-half feet on each side; 3) Placing a restricted area arc which is two feet from the center of the basket ring.
Bronson To Be Withheld Again
Freshman Charles Bronson will be withheld from Thursday night's exhibition game against Barton in order to concentrate on academics. Bronson was also withheld from the first exhibition game against Newberry for the same reason. Bronson was one of the first players to sign with the Pirates' during the early signing period last season. As a senior a Lutheran High in Philadelphia, he averaged 19 points and 11 rebounds per game.
