East Carolina University
UNC-Wilmington
Pirates Light Up Scoreboard Against UNCW
December 03, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 3, 2008
From staff and wire reports
WILMINGTON, N.C. -- East Carolina erased 16 years of frustration Wednesday night with a 99-85 win over instate rival UNC Wilmington, ending an 11-game losing streak at Trask Coliseum that began in 1992. It was the highest scoring game in the 60-game history of the series.
The Pirates improved to 6-1 overall, matching their best start since the 2003-04 season when it posted the same record through seven games. The Seahawks fell to 3-5, losing for the fifth time in the last six games.
ECU senior guard James Legan tied a school record with eight three-pointers, scoring all but two of his career-high 26 points behind the arc, to lead six East Carolina players in double figures as the Pirates recorded the most points in series history by either team.
Legan went 9-of-16 from the floor and 8-of-13 from 3-point range. Sophomore Jamar Abrams tied his career-high with a season-best 18 points, while freshman Darrius Morrow chipped in 16, senior Sam Hinnant added 13 and sophomores Chad Wynn and Brock Young netted 10 each.
Young also distributed a career-high 12 assists for his second double-double in the last three games.
Morrow led all glass cleaners with nine rebounds.
UNCW sophomore guard Chad Tomko notched a game-high 29 points and sophomore Dominque Lacy added 22. Junior guard Johnny Wolf was the third Seahawk player to reach double figures with 19 points to go along with seven rebounds and seven assists.
Leading 52-48 at the break, ECU opened the second half by scoring eight straight points to start a 23-8 run that lasted more than six minutes and gave the Pirates their first double-digit lead of the contest, 75-56. Legan highlighted the game-changing run by hitting four straight three pointers over a 2:15 span as four different ECU players scored during the stretch.
ECU maintained its double-digit advantage throughout the rest of the contest, leading by as many as 21 midway through the frame, before the Seahawks pulled within 12 points, 92-80, with 1:33 left in the game.
The Pirates scored seven of the last 12 points of the game to for the final 14-point margin; its largest margin of victory in the series since posting a 16-point win in 1995.
ECU raced out to an early 9-2 lead as it converted on each of its first four possessions in the opening 1:14 of the contest.
Lacy and Tomko teamed up to score nine of the next 13 points to bring UNCW within two, 13-11, just 3:45 into the contest. The two teams traded baskets until a jumper by Hinnant ignited a 7-1 ECU spurt that stretched the lead to 29-22.
The Seahawks responded with a 12-3 run of their own that gave them a 34-32 lead with 7:34 remaining.
Hinnant staked ECU back in front with a 3 from the wing, 35-34, that began a 4:30 stretch of basketball in which there were eight lead changes and one tie. The Pirates closed out the half scoring seven of the last nine points to take a four-point lead into the locker room.
Both teams shot the ball well in the first half as ECU connected on 56.1 percent of its attempts from the floor, while UNCW converted 60.0 percent of its opportunities from the field.
The Pirates finished the game shooting 53.8 percent from the floor, while the Seahawks converted 54.5 percent of their field goal attempts.
ECU will return to action Saturday against Limestone. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
