East Carolina University
Charlotte
ECU's Comeback Attempt Falls Short At Charlotte
December 03, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 3, 2009
Final Stats |
Photo Gallery 
Dec. 2, 2009
Complete Box Score in PDF Format 
CHARLOTTE, N.C. --- Behind 10 different scorers, the Charlotte 49ers men's basketball team defeated former Conference USA rival East Carolina, 80-68, to start off the season 5-1. Senior point guard DiJuan Harris led Charlotte with 17 points and recorded six assists to push Charlotte to its best start since the 2000-01 season, when the 49ers began the season 6-1.
"This has been a much better start than last season because we have been learning something new about ourselves after each game," stated Harris. "Today we got stops on the defensive end, but we didn't rebound well so rebounding is what we will learn from this game."
Junior forward Shamari Spears registered his fifth-straight double-digit game with 12 points, while snapping his string of four straight games with 20 or more points. Junior Phil Jones also recorded double-digit points with 10 and pulled down nine boards to lead Charlotte.
"They're hard to pin down because they do come at you from different angles," Pirate head coach Mack McCarthy said. "When you have that many weapons, you generally don't have a cold night offensively."
The 49ers jumped out to an 18-point lead in the first half behind a well-balanced offense and ended the half with a 46-33 lead on the Pirates (3-5). Nine different players scored for the Niners including five different players connecting from behind the arc.
ECU held a 23-20 rebounding advantage to start the game including 12 offensive rebounds, which the Pirates converted into 10 second-chance points. Charlotte combatted the Pirates rebounds with a fast pace by pushing the ball quickly up-court and outscoring East Carolina 14-2 in fast-break points.
In the second half, Charlotte pushed its lead to 19 points at the 11:17 mark, but the Pirates made a comeback to cut the 49ers advantage to only seven points. Charlotte ended the game on a 10-5 run to close out the game and secure the victory.
"Number one, we're inconsistent at everything," McCarthy said. "Number two, we don't quit. The first one we've got to work on. The second one is nice to know, but we've sure got to clear up the first one."
ECU's Brock Young led all scorers in the game with a season-high 24 points, while the Pirates' Chad Wynn tallied a game-high 10 rebounds to go along with 10 points for his second double-double of the season.
"I thought we played poorly in the second half and ECU had a lot to do with that," Charlotte coach Bobby Lutz said.
The Pirates return home for their first game in Minges Coliseum since Nov. 13 when they host Coker on Saturday at 7 p.m.
