Pirates Drop One to Golden Eagles, 72-55

Saturday, February 19

Hattiesburg, Miss.

5:00 PM

East Carolina University

Southern Miss

Brock Young led the Pirates with 18 points.

February 19, 2011 | Men's Basketball

Feb. 19, 2011

Box Score

Complete Box Score in PDF Format

HATTIESBURG, Miss. --- The East Carolina men's basketball team dropped its third straight game Saturday, falling to Southern Miss by 17, 72-55, at Reed Green Coliseum. The loss was the Pirates' fifth consecutive in the series and 10th in the last 11 meetings.

The loss dropped ECU to 13-13 overall this season and 5-7 in Conference USA. The Golden Eagles improved to 20-6 overall and 9-4 in the league.

Senior Brock Young scored 18 points off the bench to lead East Carolina. Senior Jontae Sherrod added 12 points, all in the second half. Junior Darrius Morrow was held to just seven points, but grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

The two sides played evenly through the first 10 minutes before the Golden Eagles scored seven unanswered to take a six-point lead, 26-20, with 7:23 left in the opening half. USM had the opportunity to extend its lead to double figures as East Carolina turned it over on its next two possessions, but were unable to convert.

The Pirates then scored six straight points to tie the game at 26 before Gary Flowers scored five consecutive points to push the Golden Eagles out to a five -point advantage. The Golden Eagles led by six at halftime, 36-30, after three ties and 12 lead changes in the opening 20 minutes.

Flowers scored 21 of his career-high 32 points in the first half. Flowers also had 11 rebounds to finish with a double-double. Maurice Bolden was the only other member of the Golden Eagles' squad to score double figures, netting 11 points.

Southern Miss opened the second half on a 12-4 run, getting seven points from Flowers, forcing ECU to call timeout before the first media timeout. The Golden Eagles scored the next four points following the timeout and led by as many as 20 twice in the second half.

ECU got within 14 with 7:25 remaining, but go no closer after that.

Southern Miss shot 45.0 percent (27-of-60) from the field, including 50.0 percent in the second half. East Carolina was held to just 38.5 percent (20-of-52) from the floor. The Golden Eagles were 7-of-21 (33.3%) from 3-point range, while holding the Pirates to just 26.1 percent (6-of-23).