Following an up-and-down 1-2 showing at the Gulf Case Showcase over Thanksgiving weekend, the Pirates (4-3) righted the ship Sunday afternoon with a 74-59 victory over the Central Connecticut State Blue Devils (0-6).

Head Coach Jeff Lebo thought that the Pirates had been “offensively challenged” to this point in this season, but on Sunday, ECU could barely miss, shooting 59.6 percent from the floor aided by a 18-25 showing in the first half (72 percent).

Sophomore forward Michel Nzege, who says he can’t remember ever shooting perfect, went nine-for-nine from the floor with 18 points to lead the Pirates in scoring. Point guard Lance Tejada was also efficient on offense, dropping 14 points on four-of-six from behind the three point arc. Freshman B.J. Tyson added 14 to the mix for the Pirates to go along with his team-leading six rebounds and four assists. Caleb White and Terry Whisnant both finished with seven points contributing to a balanced Pirate attack.

“It’s really fun when everyone is going like that,” said Tejada after the game. “It’s a big thing for us to get everyone involved and let the game come to [us].”

After a back-and-forth first several minutes of the game, the Pirates began to pull away at the nine minute mark of the first half and took a 44-32 lead into the tunnel. From there, the Pirates were able to retain the cushion for the rest of the game due to offensive consistency.

“We have some stretches where we can get in a lull where we don’t score for long stretches of time,” said Lebo in the post-game. “But when they cut it to about 12, we had some key baskets to keep it comfortable so give my team credit for that.”

While Lebo’s squad found its groove offensively, he noted that defense is still an area of inconsistency for the young team. Central Connecticut State shot a fairly healthy 43.6 percent in the game; Lebo experimented with a lot of man-to-man defense Sunday.

“We haven’t played much man-to-man [this season],” he said. “We get beat on the bounce a lot but we’re young and we haven’t done it. We’re mixing [defenses] a lot and when you’re mixing a lot, it’s hard to get good at one [in particular]; you kind of get okay at a lot of them. I’m still trying to feel my way through what we can do to be effective defensively. I think right now our guys are more comfortable in the zone but I want to play more man-to-man.”

Much of what Lebo is trying to do offensively would be more smoothly installed with a healthy Paris Roberts-Campbell in the lineup. But the senior leader and lockdown-defender is still nursing a knee injury with no set time table for return.

“We have to get some consistency,” said Lebo. “Not having your leader out there on the defensive end is a factor. [He] is a guy I trust in there, especially on the defensive end of the floor. He’s been in every situation you can think. Not having that leader out there affects us at times.”

The Pirates just returned from Florida but they hit the road again shortly for the Sunshine State as they take on the Florida Atlantic Owls (2-3) Wednesday in Boca Raton Fla. at 7 p.m. The matchup will be ECU’s first true road game of the young season.