East Carolina University
Southern Miss
Pirates Remain Winless in Conference Play
January 25, 2012 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 25, 2012
Postgame Interviews| | Southern Miss 72, East Carolina 60 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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From wire and staff reports
GREENVILLE, N.C. --- Southern Miss closed the first half on a 31-10 run and never looked back on its way to a 72-60 Conference USA victory over East Carolina Wednesday night inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
Jonathan Mills led the Golden Eagles (18-3, 5-1) with 13 points. LaShay Page scored 12, Neil Watson 11, and Darnell Dodson and Torye Pelham 10 apiece.
Miguel Paul scored 21 points for East Carolina, and Darrius Morrow and Eric Straughn scored 14 points each. But no other Pirate scored more than five points as East Carolina (9-10, 0-6) remained winless in conference play, losing its sixth straight game.
Morrow also grabbed 11 rebounds for his third double-double of the season.
ECU jumped out to an early 13-7 lead behind seven points from junior Miguel Paul. Southern Miss countered with a 20-5 run to claim a 27-18 lead with 4:27 left in the first half. USM guard Nail Watson connected on an old-fashioned 3-point play before hitting one from beyond the arc on consecutive possessions during the spurt.
The Golden Eagles led 38-23 at halftime after they knocked down five first-half 3-pointers and made 11-of-12 from the foul line.
ECU cut the deficit to seven twice in the second half, but could get no closer as Southern Miss posted its seventh consecutive win over the Pirates.
East Carolina returns to action Saturday night in Birmingham for a contest against UAB. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. EST.
