East Carolina University
5-5
James Madison
6-3
Whisnant, East Carolina Put Away James Madison 70-58
December 13, 2014 | Men's Basketball
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From wire and staff reports
GREENEVILLE, N.C. - Terry Whisnant and Caleb White combined for 40 points, including 30 in the second half, to lead host East Carolina to a 70-58 win over James Madison inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum on Saturday.
The win snapped a brief two-game slide for the Pirates (5-5), while the Dukes (6-3) lost for the second time in four games after starting the season 4-1.
Whisnant scored 14 of his career-high 24 points after halftime, while White dropped in 16 second half points after being shutout in the opening 20 minutes. The duo combined to shoot 8-of-12 from the floor and 4-of-5 behind the arc in the second half, and made 10-of-14 free throws.
B.J. Tyson finished with 14 points off the bench, Michael Zangari grabbed 10 rebounds and Antonio Robinson dished out eight assists for the Pirates, who snapped a seven-game overall losing streak to Dukes and defeated JMU at home for the first time since 1993.
Ron Curry led the Dukes with 13 points and Joey McLean added 10 with five steals and five assists.
The Pirates fell behind 14-3 in the first eight minutes, committing nine turnovers during that stretch. Curry's 3-pointer at the 9:19 mark made 17-6 in favor of JMU before the Pirates scored nine unanswered points to pull within two. The Duke quickly stretched their lead back to eight, 23-15, before another mini spurt brought the Pirates within three, 28-25, at halftime.
The second half began with East Carolina scoring 12 of the first 16 points to take a 37-32 lead on a jumper by Tyson just over five minutes into the stanza.
James Madison tied the game at 41 as McLean made a pair of free throws and assumed a 51-49 lead when Curry hit another 3-pointer.
The Pirates answered with an 8-0 run to assume a 57-51 lead as White and Whisnant each made a 3 and Zangari hit a jumper. White added another 3 to helping push the lead to 63-56 with 3:07 remaining. After a layup by Paulius Satkus, East Carolina sank 7 of 10 free throws in the final 1:22 to seal it.
James Madison missed its last four field goal attempts and turned it over twice in the final two minutes.
ECU shot 54.2 percent from the field in the second half, after being held to just 37.5 percent in the first half. JMU also shot a higher percentage after intermission and finished the game at 40.4 percent. Both teams made six 3s with the Pirates claiming a plus-12 advantage on the glass.
Each team left a lot of points at the free throw line as ECU made just 20-of-32 at the charity stripe and the Dukes sank a mere 14-of-25, while the two teams combined for 40 turnovers.
