GREENVILLE — Fighting through adversity had been the mantra of this East Carolina basketball team. It’s what helped power the Pirates past top teams in Memphis and Temple for their first two American Athletic Conference wins of this campaign.

And it’s what nearly propelled them past Houston Saturday afternoon in Minges Coliseum. ECU couldn’t stretch its good fortunes far enough, though, and fell to the Cougars 97-93 in double overtime. It was the third game the Pirates played in a week and each came down to the wire. The mental, physical and emotional toll may have been what ultimately put a third straight win out of reach.

“We’ve got a hurting group in there,” ECU coach Jeff Lebo said. “Memphis was to the wire, Temple to the wire, this one double overtime. We’ve exerted a lot of energy. I just hate it that we came up short. … We’re exhausted. This week has been emotional. It’s been tough. We’re just going to try and keep building.”

There’s a distinct difference now. Backing Houston against the wall like that would have been quite an accomplishment mere weeks ago after ECU started 0-6 in the league. Now it’s apparent the Pirates are grasping the fact that they will need to play their best basketball each time out to be competitive in the American.

“Just because we’ve won a couple of games doesn’t mean the adversity has gone away,” Lebo said. “You have to be good every night. Our best players have to be good every night. In teaching them that, occasionally, they can be great, they have to be good every night. They can’t be average. The people we’re playing are used to playing the UConns and the SMUs. They’re used to that. We’re not used to that as much.”

Neither team was afforded many chances to run away with the game. After a slow start, ECU found itself trailing 30-19 with 3:16 to play in the first half. It was a theme not too long ago for the Pirates to collapse in the waning moments of a half. More recently, though, they’ve battled back in gritty fashion.

Such was the case this time. B.J. Tyson, who led the team with 20 points, scored 13 points in that final stretch to carry his team from a double-figure deficit to a halftime lead.

That was the last three-possession lead of the game. A 3-pointer from Houston’s Rob Gray Jr., who netted a game-high 31 points, pushed the Cougars’ lead to 72-64 with 3:34 left in regulation.

ECU clawed its way back in again. Prince Williams hit a trey to make it a four-point game and Caleb White nailed one of his own to knot it up, 75-75, with 29 ticks left. Williams and White scored 19 and 17, respectively.

Houston had the chance to take the last shot, but turned the ball over.

Gray hurt his ankle early in the first overtime period. That seemed like a blessing to the Pirate faithful on paper, but Wes Vanbeck stepped right in and went 3-for-3 from long range and scored 11 points in just nine minutes.

Houston knew exactly what it was getting when Vanbeck checked in. ECU, too, had an idea based on the scouting report.

“He was our leading scorer against South Florida,” Houston coach Kelvin Sampson said. “It’s not like someone jumped up from the middle of a birthday cake. He had 14 against East Carolina last year.”

Clutch free throws by Mike Zangari helped ECU punch its ticket for a second overtime, but the Pirates didn’t have enough gas in the tank to pull out the win. Vanbeck hit two of those triples in the second overtime and Lebo said each was a dagger.

The Pirates get a week off to rest their bodies and minds before heading to Connecticut on Saturday.