By By BRIAN HAINES, Sports Writer
GREENVILLE — East Carolina rolled over NAIA opponent University of Virginia-Wise 77-60 in its season and home opener on Friday, then took it on the chin on Sunday when it lost 89-58 to Wake Forest (ACC) at the Greensboro Coliseum.
Tonight, the Pirates will play an opponent that is more on par with their abilities then their first two matchups when ECU travels to take on Campbell University at 8 p.m.
The trip to Buies Creek is the first for the Pirates since the 1946-47 season, and should give fans a little bit more of a truer sense of where this team really is.
The Fighting Camels (Atlantic Sun Conference) enter the contest with a 1-0 record after beating Div. II St. Andrews 76-52 on Friday.
Campbell returned 10 letter winners to the 2009-10 squad, making it one of the most experienced teams in the country.
Of those 10 players, none is more important than forward Jonathan Rodriguez. The 6-5, 210-pound senior has a career scoring average of 17.9 points per game and is currently fifth all-time on the schools career scoring list (1,650 points). Rodriguez’s point total is the third highest amongst all Div. I seniors.
In the season opener, Rodriguez tallied 19 points and 11 rebounds, giving him his 40th career double-double, which is two shy of the school record.
Expected to join Rodriguez in the starting lineup are junior Junrad Hartley, who has started at point guard for the last two seasons, junior forward Preston Dodson (6-6), senior forward Will Kossangue (6-6) and sophomore shooting guard Lorne Merthie 6-2).
Dodson also recorded a double-double in the opener as he scored 16 points and pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds.
On Campbell’s bench is freshman Ricky Krainiak, who stared in football and basketball at Camden High School.
The Camels are coached by Robbie Laing, who guided the team to a 14-16, 11-9 record last year.
The Pirates are expected to counter with a starting lineup of Brock Young, Jontae Sherrod, Darrius Morrow, Jamar Abrams and Chad Wynn,
Young, ECU’s standout junior point guard, led the Pirates in scoring with 17 points in their loss against Wake Forest, but failed to dish out an assist for the first time in over a year.
East Carolina committed 22 turnovers against the Demon Deacons and 19 against UVa.-Wise. The Pirates will look to take better care of the ball tonight when they tip-off against the Camels.