Classic Rewind: Pirates Shock The Pack

Classic Rewind: ECU vs. NC State (Dec. 8, 2007)
Re-Air Date:	Saturday, June 27, 2020
Re-Air Time:	1 P.M. (EDT)
Game Location:	Greenville, N.C. (Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum)
Game Coverage:	Internet: ECUPirates.com
In-Game Hashtag:	#ECURewind
Roster:	ECU \| NC STATE
Final Statistics:	Box Score

This week's Classic Rewind series moves away from the gridiron and onto the hardwood as East Carolina welcomed NC State to Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum for the very first time on Dec. 8, 2007.

Seventeen times ECU traveled to Raleigh to take on the Wolfpack without a single return game. Seventeen times the Pirates returned to Greenville with a loss.

This year was different. The game was finally in Greenville. It was the Pirates who had home court advantage this time.

And they took full advantage of the opportunity.

Sam Hinnant scored a career-high 30 points and hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:09 left to help East Carolina stun NC State 75-69, giving the Pirates their first win against an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent.

Hinnant finished 10-for-13 from the field and went 6-for-8 from 3-point range, while Darrell Jenkins scored 11 points and went 4-for-4 from the line in the final seconds to seal it for East Carolina.

When Gavin Grant's final 3-pointer missed at the horn, the rowdy East Carolina fans -- who grew steadily louder as the game wore on -- stormed the court.

"It was a lot of fun and it was an unbelievable atmosphere," Pirate head coach Mack McCarthy said. "I've coached a long time and in a lot of great places. I don't think I've been in a building as loud as this was. There was some times where it was deafening in there. There's no question that the crowd played a factor in the outcome."

The undersized, but scrappy Pirates held NC State to 42 percent shooting and outrebounded the Wolfpack, 34-33.

ECU got hot from behind the arc, knocking down 10 of 18 3-pointers, and got some key plays late to make this game look completely different.

The Pirates fought the Wolfpack evenly throughout the second half and were tied in the final 2 1/2 minutes until Hinnant -- who was unstoppable all night -- made the game's biggest shot by draining a 3 from in front of East Carolina's bench for a 67-64 lead with 2:09 left.

Corey Farmer immediately followed with a layup off a stolen inbound pass, pushing the margin to 69-64 and sending the rowdy Pirates fans into ear-ringing celebration.

N.C. State twice closed to within three, the last coming on Grant's drive that made it 71-68 with 29.3 seconds left. But Jenkins knocked down a pair of free throws to push the margin to five and, after a free throw from Grant, hit two more with 8.1 seconds left to make it 75-69.

ECU repeatedly outhustled the Wolfpack the longer the game went on and it became apparent that the Pirates weren't going away.

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