East Carolina University
North Carolina Wesleyan
Pirates Shoot Down NC Wesleyan In Season Opener
November 09, 2013 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 8, 2013
 | ||||||||||||||
 97East Carolina |
Game Report (PDF) | Box Score | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery Greenville, N.C. ? Attendance: 5,345 |  51 N.C. Wesleyan |
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Paris Roberts-Campbell scored 17 of his game-high 21 points in the first half, as the East Carolina defeated North Carolina Wesleyan, 97-51, on opening night Friday inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
Roberts-Campbell shot 8-fof-14 from the field and 3-of-7 from three-point range to go along with four steals on the defensive end. Akeem Richmond added 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting and handed out three assists in 23 minutes.
"We shared the ball pretty well and passed the ball pretty well," said Pirate head coach Jeff Lebo. "I thought they made us defend for long periods of time, which is hard, but I thought we did some good things. We saw some positive things and some things we need to work on."
In his first-collegiate game, Brandan Stith recorded a double-double off the bench with 12 points and 10 rebounds on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting from the field to go along with a game-high five steals on the defensive end.
NC Wesleyan jumped ahead scoring the first six points following the opening ti and lead 9-3 at the first media timeout. However, the Pirates responded with a 31-3 run of their own following to surge ahead 34-12. ECU continued to push ahead, before running to the locker rooms with a 42-20 lead at the intermission.
East Carolina shot 16-of-33 (.485) in the first half compared to NC Wesleyan's 7-of-24 (.292) performance, while Roberts-Campbell's 17 points came on 6-of-10 shooting, which included three buckets from beyond the arc. Marshall Guilmette pulled down nine of his career-high 11 boards in just 11 first-half minutes.
The Pirates didn't take their foot of the pedal in the second half, in what turned into a shooting clinic. ECU shot 22-of-34 (.647) from the field in the period, including a scorching 7-of-11 (.636) from downtown after making just 3-of-13 in the first half.
East Carolina's largest lead of the game was 48, and in addition to the hot shooting performance, the defense was equally as impressive, as they outrebounded the Bishops, 50-31, while forcing them into 16 turnovers and holding their opponent to 18-of-57 (.316) shooting in the game.
The Pirates' received plenty of production from the bench. In addition to Stith's performance, freshman Caleb White chipped in 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting, junior college transfer Antonio Robinson dished out a game-high six assists without committing a turnover and senior Peter Torlak was perfect on all three of his attempts from three-point land to finish with nine points and three assists.
The Pirates will hit the road for the first time this season when they travel to UNC Greensboro for a 7 p.m., opening tip on Nov. 12 at the Greensboro Coliseum. East Carolina will return home Thursday, Nov. 14, when it hosts Chowan at 7 p.m.
