East Carolina University
5-6
UNC-Wilmington
5-3
East Carolina Drops Road Match to UNC-Wilmington, 66-54
December 20, 2014 | Men's Basketball
From wire and staff reports
WILMINGTON, N.C. ---Freddie Jackson scored 14 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and was credited with three steals to UNCW to a 66-54 win over visiting East Carolina at Trask Coliseum Saturday night.
The Seahawks (5-3) also received double digit scoring performances from Craig Ponder with 12 and Addison Spruill with 11. Cedrick Williams grabbed 12 rebounds and missed a double-double by a single point, finishing with nine points.
Terry Whisnant led East Carolina (5-6) with 18 points and Paris Roberts-Campbell added 11 in his first game of the season. Roberts-Campbell enter the contest with 10:18 remaining in the opening half and made his first field goal attempt less than three minutes later, pulling up for a 3 on a fast break.
UNCW quickly took control with a 10-0 run sparked by a 3-pointer from Jordan Tally early in the first half and carried a 33-23 advantage into the break. The Seahawks connected on 50 percent of its first half field goal attempts and held the Pirates to just 22.6 percent in the opening 20 minutes.
"We could not score," ECU coach Jeff Lebo. "Shooting 28 percent from the field will get you beat, and 50 percent from the foul line will get you beat by most anybody, especially on the road."
Despite collecting 11 offensive rebounds during the opening stanza, the Pirates only scored two points off their second chance opportunities, while UNCW scored six points off five offensive boards. ECU posted a final tally of 21 offensive rebounds, but scored just 13 second chance points.
The Seahawks pushed their lead out to 14 in the first five minutes and maintained a double digit lead until Roberts-Campbell cut it to eight with 7:09 to play.
The Pirates had the chance to get even closer, but missed three consecutive free throws, including the front end of a 1-and-1, and UNCW took advantage of ECU's squandered opportunities and extended its lead back to 12 with 4:44 to play.
"When you don't score, it hurts you on the defensive end," said Lebo. "We had some opportunities, but we couldn't make a few plays that really could have made it interesting."
East Carolina later cut the margin below double figures with a 5-2 spurt capped by a bucket from B.J. Tyson that made it 59-52 with 1:48 to go, but the Seahawks responded with 7-for-8 shooting from the free throw line down the stretch to cement the win.
The Pirates look to bounce back on Monday night when they host Florida A&M at 7 p.m. inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
