Pirates Keep C-USA Tournament Hopes Alive With Win
February 28, 2004 | Men's Basketball
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- East Carolina sent its five seniors out in proper fashion Saturday afternoon in its final home game of the season and in the process remained in the hunt for a spot in the Conference USA Tournament, beating USF here, 69-60.
Seniors Erroyl Bing, Garth Grindley, Luke MacKay, Gabriel Mikulas and Derrick Wiley were all honored prior to tip-off, but it was during the game that the ECU underclassmen paid tribute to their teammates. Junior Moussa Badiane, sophomore Belton Rivers and freshman Mike Cook made sure that their teammates walked out of Minges Coliseum with a win, as they combined to score 40 of ECU's 69 points.
Badiane and Cook netted 14 points each, while Rivers added 12. Wiley led ECU in rebounding with nine, with Badiane and Bing grabbing eight boards each.
ECU (12-12, 4-10 C-USA) fell behind by seven in the first 4:11 of the game, but used a 20-7 run over the next eight minutes to take a six point lead, highlighted by a pair of driving layups from Cook. His jumper with 2:46 remaining before halftime gave ECU the lead for good and it held a three-point halftime advantage, 37-34.
Wiley, who finished with a team-high 17 points, opened the second half by hitting a pair of jumpers in the lane. USF's Brian Mosley responded by scoring the Bulls' first four points of the half and got them within one.
After Mosley's layup cut the lead to one, ECU went on a 12-2 run to give itself an 11-point cushion, 51-40, with under 10 minutes remaining and led by as many as 14 late in the contest. The lead never again dipped below seven points.
Despite a subpar shooting performance, East Carolina dominated the glass and forced USF (7-18, 1-12 C-USA) into taking tough shots all afternoon. ECU out-rebounded the Bulls, 47-35, and held them to 38.6 percent shooting form the floor, including 26.7 percent in the second half.
Mosley led all scorers with a game-high 20 points, while Terrence Leather added 13.
East Carolina vs. USF
2/28/04
Postgame Quotes
ECU Head Coach Bill Herrion
On USF
"This team we played today is extremely competitive. Everyone on the outside thinks on paper it is an easy win, but this is how they have played everyone all season, with six or seven guys."
On the win
"This was a great win and a really solid effort from our basketball team. But this is how we have been playing for the last month and a half to two months. I think that we are getting better and we're starting to understand how to handle late game situations better. For a while, we have been playing with a lot more leads than we have every had here at East Carolina and particularly in Conference USA. It's nice when you are up eight or 10 and you can spread the floor and let people come after you for a bit."
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On Moussa Badiane
"Moussa was obviously a tremendous factor today. Erroyl Bing got the early fouls and the quick fouls in the second half and really had to sit a lot of minutes today. Moussa did a great job just protecting the paint, the basket and really gave us a great lift offensively."
"His confidence level right now is through the roof. When Gabe went down, we pulled if off to the side and told him its time to play. A couple of years ago I don't know if we would have gone to him inside for a couple of buckets. Now he is blocking shots, he is very aggressive, running the floor and had a couple of dunks that came out of no where that we unbelievable. He is getting better and better each day.
On the defensive play
"Our defensive effort in the second half was so much better than the first. They shot 26 percent from the floor in the second half and shot 51 percent in the first. We clamped down and did a great job on (Brian) Swift and (Bradley) Mosley in the second half. "
On the fans
"The support that our fans gives this basketball team is absolutely great. There is no question that they helped us win this basketball game and others this season."
On the Seniors
"We are really going to miss them. Erroyl and Gabe is the first complete recruiting class for us that we have graduated since I've been here. Both of those kids have had tremendous basketball careers here. I could not have asked for five better guys to coach. I am really going to miss those guys."
