East Carolina University
Charlotte
ECU Completes Rally To Overtake Charlotte
December 01, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 1, 2010
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GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Darrius Morrow made a three-point play with 3.8 seconds left and East Carolina avenged an earlier loss in a 62-61 win over Charlotte on Wednesday night.
The Pirates (6-2), who have won four straight since falling to the 49ers 74-63 at the Charleston Classic on Nov. 19, led 59-50 with 4:53 to go.
"It was a game of runs," Pirate coach Jeff Lebo said. "They started out and got up 10 on us. We battled back and then they went back up.
"In the second half I thought defensively we were very alert and active. Our execution at the end of the game was outstanding. We were able to get the ball to Darrius and he made the shot and then stepped up like an upperclassman is supposed to and made the free throw."
ECU trailed by 12, 42-30, two and one-half minutes into the second half and slowly mounted a comeback. Following a quick 6-0 spurt, which consisted on a pair of coast-to-coast layups by Corvonn Gaines and Brock Young, Charlotte called a timeout. The two teams traded baskets for the next three minutes before Jontae Sherrod's 3-pointer cut the lead to three.
Sherrod led all scorers with 19 and Young chipped in 14, finishing two points shy of 1,000 for his career.
Following a made free throw by Erin Straughn, Young scored four unanswered to give the Pirates their first lead since they led 16-14.
"We played better in the second half, but the crowd really got into the game and gave our kids energy," Lebo stated. "Our students stepped up and were loud and did a great job to the help the team. You could hear tonight what this place could be like on a consistent basis."
A three-point play by Morrow and another 3-pointer from Sherrod capped a 26-6 run and put ECU ahead by eight with 6:34 remaining. Chad Wynn made a free throw and then scored the Pirates' next to last field goal of the evening with 4:53 to play for a nine-point cushion.
Charlotte (3-5) then scored 11 straight to lead 61-59 on Gokhan Sirin's 3-pointer with 15 seconds to go. Phil Jones then fouled Morrow, who had 11 points. Morrow also led the Pirates in their previous game against Charlotte with 13 points.
"We needed a game like this to give us some confidence," Lebo said. "We haven't been in a close game. We came back from different deficits. We showed some toughness to be able to make the play at the end of the game to win."
The 49ers made five of their first six shots from the floor to race out to a 12-2 lead, but then cooled down and shot just 7-of-20 the remainder of the half.
ECU answered with a 14-2 run of its own to claim its only lead of the opening 20 minutes with 12:56 remaining before halftime.
Tied at 18, Charlotte scored seven unanswered points to take a 25-18 advantage and pushed its lead to 12 with 30 seconds left in the half. Sherrod then sank a floater in the lane just before the halftime buzzer to make it a 10-point game.
The Pirates trailed 35-25 at halftime and shot 51.9 percent in the second (14-of-27), while scoring 20 of their 26 points in the paint.
ECU held the Charlotte to just 10-of-31 shooting in the second half and without a field goal for nearly eight minutes during its 20-point run. Four of the 49ers' 10 second half field goals were made in the final 4:40.
Jones led the 49ers with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Derrio Green had 11 points for Charlotte.
The Pirates will return to action Saturday, Dec. 4 against Fayetteville State. The game is scheduled for 5 p.m. inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
