Free Throws Lift ECU To Victory Over UAB
February 17, 2005 | Men's Basketball
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) --- Japhet McNeil hit four free throws in the final 35 seconds and East Carolina survived a scare at the buzzer to upset UAB 67-64 on Wednesday.
McNeil's final two free throws gave East Carolina a 67-64 lead with 4.3 seconds left. UAB moved the ball down floor quickly and Richard Jones got off a 3-point shot at the buzzer that fell well short.
But McNeil was whistled for a foul on the shot, giving Jones three free throws with no time left on the clock. The first free throw bounced off the front of the rim, ending the game.
Freshman guard Tom Hammonds scored 16 points to lead East Carolina (8-16, 3-9 Conference USA). Corey Rouse added 12 points and 13 rebounds for the Pirates.
Marques Lewis scored 17 points for UAB (16-8, 6-5). Donell Taylor added 12 points and Caldwell ''Squeaky'' Johnson had 10 for the Blazers, who lost their third game in a row.
The victory was East Carolina's first on the road this season. For much of the night, it looked like the Pirates would come up short again.
UAB led by as many as 10 points in the first half and went into intermission with a 35-23 lead.
The Blazers built another 10-point lead early in the second half. But East Carolina battled back to take a 59-57 lead when Moussa Badiane scored six points in a row.
UAB tied it at 59-59, but Rouse worked inside for a layup to give East Carolina a 61-59 lead with just under three minutes left. The Pirates stayed in front the rest of the way, thanks to McNeil's clutch free throw shooting.
On the game: "I'm very disappointed and frustrated, but you've got to give credit to East Carolina. They didn't go away. They did what you've got to do on the road, and that's hang around and hang around. Before you know it, looking at the free throw line, and there's the difference right there. We knocked down free throws, but they shoot 81% in the game. That's the difference in the ballgame."
On the tempo: "We controlled the tempo for a while. Then they went to a zone and we couldn't make any shots. We struggled in terms of shooting the basketball and just finding someway we could score. There was a time for about six or seven minutes where we didn't make a bucket. Of course, the big work-horse for us, the guy that can score, Marques continues to get in foul trouble and we don't have a go to guy."
On Marques Lewis and his fouling out: "He's a guy that's playing awful well for us right now. We've got to get somebody else that can come in and give us a lift. I thought the bench played very well for us in the first half, but not as well in the second half. We made them turn the ball over 26 times, and the key is what you do with those turnovers. We had our chances, even as we went to the free throw line, but it just didn't happen tonight."
On Richard Jones' missed free throw at the end of the game: "He got a chance to learn right there. He made two-for-two earlier in the game. Hopefully it's going to be a learning curve for him. Some of our younger guys continue to grow up for us, and you'll see more and more of those guys. As I look at some of the playing time of some of the older guys and we're not getting it from some of the guys, especially during crunch time. Again, I thought it was an off night. I thought we did some good things defensively, but we just couldn't put the ball in the hole."
