East Carolina University
10-12,2-7AAC
Houston
15-6,5-4AAC
ECU Defeated by Houston in 2OT, 97-93
January 30, 2016 | Men's Basketball
From wire and staff reports
GREENVILLE, N.C. --- Despite playing one of its best offensive games of the season, East Carolina simply ran out of gas and fell to American Athletic Conference foe Houston, 97-93, in double overtime Saturday afternoon inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
Houston's Rob Gray scored a career-high 31 points, nailing 6 of 11 3-pointers in 40 minutes of action. Gray left the game midway through the first overtime with an injury and did not return.
Damyean Dotson had 23 points and 13 rebounds for the Cougars, while Galen Robinson, Jr. scored 12 and Wes Vanbeck had 11.
East Carolina (10-12 , 2-7 The American)got double figure scoring performances from five players, led by sophomore B.J. Tyson's 20 points. Senior Prince Williams finished with 19 points, extending his double-figure scoring streak to four games, which matches the longest streak of his career. Caleb White added 17, Kentrell Barkley had 14 and Michael Zangari contributed 17. All five players played 37 or more minutes.
As a team, the Pirates tied the conference record for 3-point field goal attempts with 38, making 13 of 31 (.419) in regulation. They finished 14 of 38 behind the arc, while the Cougars were 11 of 22.
Houston (15-6, 5-4) led by eight points with three minutes left in regulation before East Carolina closed on a 9-1 run. The Cougars' Devonta Pollard missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 35.3 seconds left and ECU's White sank a 3-pointer from the wing to tie it at 75-all. Houston played for the final shot but turned it over.
Pollard put Houston ahead by two with 44 seconds left in the first overtime, but Zangari made two free throws to tie the game at 84. Robinson Jr. missed a 3 pointer with three seconds left in the first overtime and Dotson grabbed the offensive rebound but his jumper was short.
Tyson scored the first points of the second overtime before Vanbeck, who entered the game in place of the injured Gray, his first of two 3s in the period to put the Cougars ahead to stay. He secured the win by making the second of two free throws with three seconds to play.
Houston finished the game shooting 52.1 percent from the field, compared to ECU, which finished at 47.1 percent after shooting 50 percent in regulation. The Pirates made just 7 of 18 combined in the overtime sessions.
The Pirates trailed by 11, 30-19, with 3:16 to play in the first half and then Tyson took over, scoring 13 of ECU's final 16 points of the half and propelled them to a 35-32 halftime lead.
