ECU’s historic run continues

Published 9:56 pm Thursday, March 10, 2011

By Associated Press

EL PASO, Texas  č Darrius Morrow finished with 22 points, including six in overtime, and East Carolina upset No. 1 seed Alabama-Birmingham 75-70 Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA tournament.

Morrow added 14 rebounds, and Jontae Sherrod scored 22 as well for the eighth-seeded Pirates (18-14), who lost twice to the Blazers in the regular season, including by 18 Saturday.

Aaron Johnson had a career-high 39 points for UAB (22-8) and was 12 of 22 from the field (54.5 percent), but the rest of the Blazers shot a combined 9 of 43 (20.9 percent).

The game went into OT after UAB hit 3-of-4 free throws in the final 13 seconds to tie it at 57. East Carolina then started the extra period with a 16-5 run, and the Blazers never recovered.

East Carolina will face Memphis in the semifinals today at 4 p.m..