By By BRIAN HAINES, Sports Writer
By BRIAN HAINES
Sports Writer
GREENVILLE — The Pirates started out the new year on a positive note as it topped N.C. Central 68-58 on Sunday to improve to 6-8 as they head into Conference USA play.
East Carolina opened up the game clicking on all cylinders as it used an early 17-2 run to create a 24-9 lead 12 minutes into the game. It appeared the route was on but the Eagles (2-12) fought back and clawed their way into the contest and after a Vincent Davis reverse jam, they had cut the deficit with to 28-22 with three minutes left in the first half.
The Pirates were never able to put their foot down on N.C. Central, who behind the play of C.J. Wilkerson (18 points) and T.J. Granger (16 points) trailed only 56-54 with 4:50 left in the second half. However, key three pointers by Jontae Sherrod (13 points) and Jamar Abrams (12 points, nine rebounds) kept the Eagles at bay and allowed ECU to come away with a victory.
The East Carolina big men proved to be the biggest difference in the game as center Chad Wynn recorded his second double-double of the season scoring 12 points and grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds, while Darrius Morrow tallied a team-high 17 points and pulled down five boards.
The Pirates post play was a crucial element to their game as ECU got virtually no production from behind the arc as Abrams and Sherrod’s three-pointers were the only ones of the game. East Carolina finished the contest shooting 2-13 (13 percent) from downtown.
Pirates coach Mack McCarthy said he was happy to pull out a win, but said his team needs more consistency. ECU came into the contest having lost its last two games to George Washington and VCU by a combined 12 points, provoking McCarthy to that learning how to close out games is a process.
“We have played two really good games in a row and failed to finish them and that was kind of the theme for this game,” McCarthy said. “(Tonight’s game) was also eerily like some of the other games that we played and didn’t perform well where we did okay, got control of the game and then made some mental mistakes on both ends of the floor.”
Though ECU let the Eagles back into the game, McCarthy said his team performed some of its duties well down the stretch.
“We got control of the game in the second half and just one possession at a time kind of gave it away. We missed some shots and kind of took some ill advised shots later on, but we did the things we needed to do down the stretch to win the basketball game,” McCarthy said. “We made free throws and got enough stops. I thought Jamar Abrams was really big on the defensive glass, and thought Chad and Darrius gave us an inside presence that we probably should have explored a bit more.”
Depth was also an issue Sunday as East Carolina only got two bench points the entire game and did not make a substitution in the second half.
The Pirates will need a complete team effort on Wednesday when they enter Conference USA play at UAB at 7 p.m.