East Carolina University
SMU
Pirates Rally But Can't Overcome Mustangs
February 24, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 24, 2010
Complete Box Score in PDF Format 
GREENVILLE, N.C. --- Robert Nyakundi's free throw with nine seconds left ensured victory for SMU over East Carolina inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum Wednesday night. Mouhammad Faye added another with one second remaining to post a final score of 59-54.
The Pirates (9-18, 3-10 Conference USA) trailed by 12, 46-34, with 12:23 remaining in the contest after Mike Walker hit his second 3-pointer of the game.
ECU responded with a 13-2 run capped by a 3-pointer by Jamar Abrams to pull within one, 48-47, with under seven minutes to play. Faye answered with a 3 of his own 20 seconds later making it a two possession game.
Freshman Erin Straughn brought the Pirates within two, 53-51, with 2:20 to play.
Brock Young, who scored all of his game-high 14 points in the second half, made three free throws with 54 seconds left to keep the Pirates within a possession. Derek Williams then made just 1-of-2 free throws on SMU's (13-14, 6-7) next possession, but ECU was unable to capitalize and forced to foul.
Williams, the league's fourth-leading scorer at 17.1 ppg, finished with a team-high 13 points going 6-of-8 at the free throw line, while having a miserable shooting night. He was just 3-of-10 from the floor and 1-of-4 from behind the arc.
The only other players to net double figures in this low-scoring affair were the Pirates' Abrams and the Mustangs' Papa Dia who tallied 10 points each.
Neither team shot the ball well. SMU made 18-of-42 attempts (42.9 percent) and ECU connected on 19-of-49 shots (38.8 percent).
Offensive struggles for both teams occurred at the outset with the Pirates making just three of their first nine attempts. The Mustangs missed their first four shots but then made five of their next nine to assume a 13-10 lead.
With the game tied at 15, SMU went on an 11-0 run and held ECU without a field goal for nearly six minutes. Consecutive 3s by Rodney Clinkscales pushed the Mustangs out to a 23-15 advantage before three straight free throws gave them their largest lead of the half.
Despite 10 first half turnovers, the Pirates only trailed by six at halftime, 26-20, thanks to Jontae Sherrod's 3-pointer with 22 seconds left in the opening 20 minutes.
The Pirates took much better care of the ball in the second half, committing only four turnovers compared to eight by the Mustangs. Although they were out-rebounded by four in the second half, the Pirates did win the battle of the boards with a plus-three rebounding margin.
