In what has become a theme for the East Carolina basketball team, the Pirates came close but not close enough as Cincinnati walked out of Minges Coliseum with a 65-56 win.

The Pirates (11-18, 3-13 American Athletic Conference) kept the bench short as all five starters logged at least 34 minutes of play and Clarence Williams led bench players with nine minutes of play time. The Pirates’ legs proved tired in the final four minutes of play as Cincinnati (21-8, 11-5 AAC) stretched a lead that was just two with 5:33 remaining.

The Bearcats held a lead as large as 16 points with 16:48 remaining in regulation. The lead stood at 15 (49-34) with 14:04 left before an onslaught of 3-pointers by the Pirate starters. B.J. Tyson, Kentrell Barkley and Caleb White helped cut the lead to four before a nearly four-minute scoring drought by both sides.

Cincinnati’s Troy Caupain and Jacob Evans combined for seven points in the final five minutes of play while the Bearcat zone defense held ECU to just two points over the same stretch.

“I wouldn’t blame it on (a lack of rest), there’s no excuse but I give credit to Cincinnati, they made some big shots,” said senior guard Prince Williams. “I’m not sure what happened there, I’m just going to have to watch the film. It was a great game and we just didn’t come up with the win unfortunately.”

Williams kept ECU in the game early on with 14 points in the first while White and Tyson struggled from the field. White and Tyson each had three points in the first half while Barkley kicked in five points.

The Pirates and head coach Jeff Lebo made a concerted effort from outside and had just one converted shot from inside the arc in the first half. ECU finished the game 13-of-29 from long range (44.8 percent) and kept Cincinnati’s creative zone defense on the ropes.

“They’re so unique defensively in what they do,” Lebo said. “You can’t run plays against them, you have to run more motion, more concepts. When we had four little guys, you’re not going to get a good early shot, but we had a lot of good looks late and we shot the ball well from three. But our best ability to win games is to run a small lineup.”

Despite running a smaller lineup, ECU still hung with the Bearcats inside. Cincinnati won the rebounding battle 38-31 and the 3-point effort helped minimize the punishment of a 26-14 advantage on points in the paint.

Barkley stood out inside and hauled in 13 rebounds to go with his 14 points. Barkley further stuffed the stat sheet with six assists and the lone ECU steal of the game. Cincinnati controlled the ball well and only turned the ball over seven times. Big man Octavius Ellis accounted for four of the Bearcats’ turnovers but notched a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds.

Despite Williams’ hot start, things cooled off for the senior late. He finished with 18 points while White and Tyson each scored 11 points. None of the three players Lebo brought off the bench registered a point.

Caupain anchored Cincinnati with 27 points and cashed in on all five opportunities from the free throw line. Lebo raved about the junior that found the bottom of the net often, especially late in the shot clock.

“The guy that’s really underrated on their team, underrated in the league and, I think, underrated nationally is Caupain,” Lebo said. “He’s a little bit like (SMU point guard) Nic Moore in that he can do whatever his team needs. They needed points today and he gave them points.”

The Pirates will travel to South Florida next Wednesday before returning home for senior night against Memphis next Sunday.