Pirates Fall At Home To Winthrop, 70-55
December 17, 2004 | Men's Basketball
GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) _ Winning on the road never gets old for Winthrop coach Gregg Marshall. In the past two seasons, he has victories at Georgia and at Providence, and now he can add East Carolina to that impressive list.
James Shuler led a balanced attack with 18 points and the Eagles forced 20 turnovers to win its fifth game in a row, 70-55 against East Carolina on Friday night.
''It was a very big win for us,'' Marshall said. ''To win where Louisville, Memphis and Cincinnati are going to play is important. It's a monumental win in that regard for us. Now we know what it's like to win on a Conference USA court.''
Craig Bradshaw scored 12 points and Torrell Martin added 10 for the Eagles (7-2), who continued their best start in seven seasons under Marshall. Their streak includes a victory at Providence, and they dominated the final 30 minutes of this one.
''I'm not an old person, but I feel like an old coach sometimes,'' Marshall said. ''I am trying to enjoy it. It's a great group of young men. I'm excited by how our team played.''
Mike Castro gave the Pirates (4-5) their last lead at 15-13 with a pair of free throws midway through the first half. He added another after a jumper by Winthrop's Scott Draughn to make it 17-16, and that's as close as East Carolina would get.
Freshman Michael Jenkins, from nearby Kinston, N.C., made a 3-pointer to start a run of 12 consecutive points for the Eagles. Bradshaw finished it off with another 3 to give them a 13-point lead.
''It felt just like it's going to feel when I come home for Christmas break,'' Jenkins said. ''I just played. Like coach keeps telling me, in your freshman year, you're going to have ups and downs.''
The Pirates briefly rallied to get within 10 on a dunk follow by Moussa Badiane, but Winthrop closed the half by outscoring East Carolina 13-5. Torrell Martin began it with a 3-pointer, and Shuler added one of his own. Later, Phillip Williams made yet another 3, and the margin was 18.
''The last 10 minutes of the first half is a blur,'' Marshall said. ''So many good things happened for us. It's great to play ahead when you're in an arena like this.''
The Eagles were comfortably ahead until a hook by Badiane made it 51-40 with about 9 minutes left, but Bradshaw responded with a jumper from beyond the arc to end the threat.
''First of all, I'd just like to apologize to our fans for having to watch what they had to watch,'' East Carolina coach Bill Herrion said. ''I don't think that's East Carolina basketball. I think our kids have always played hard and that was not the case at all tonight.''
Corey Rouse had 11 points and 13 rebounds for the Pirates, who lost their third in a row. Badiane blocked two shots and moved into second place all-time in Conference USA; his total of 265 is 27 short of the mark set by Kenyon Martin at Cincinnati.
''Coach was right about what kind of effort we gave,'' Rouse said. ''It seemed like everybody was on their own page.''
Guard Marvin Kilgore was benched for academic reasons and sat behind the bench in street clothes, the first game he has missed this season. Leading scorer Mike Cook struggled throughout and finished with only eight points, less than half of his season average. He also contributed to East Carolina's ball handling problems with five turnovers.
Without Kilgore and with first-time starter Jonathan Hart in foul trouble, Herrion was forced to use walk-on Taylor Gagnon (16 minutes) extensively for the first time. Coming in, he had played a grand total of 10 minutes in eight games.
''He's by far the least-talented player in this program, but he works hard every day,'' Herrion said of Gagnon. ''I can look a kid like that in the eye.''
