East Carolina dominates Coastal Carolina, 76-51

Pirates place four players in double figures in win over Chanticleers

East Carolina led nearly wire-to-wire as it earned an impressive 76-51 victory over visiting Coastal Carolina on Monday night at Williams Arena-Minges Coliseum.

The Chanticleers (9-2) scored the game's first point when Sam McLaurin converted the second of two free throws.

However, from that point, it was all Pirates (6-4), as Jeff Lebo's club quickly built a double figures lead that it maintained throughout most of the game.

A lay-up by Corvonn Gaines put ECU up 16-6 with 13:01 left in the first half.

The Chants did get within 16-8 on a Warren Gillis jumper just 20 seconds later, but a Maurice Kemp lay-up pushed the Pirates' advantage back to double figures for good with 9:23 remaining.

A three-pointer by Shamarr Bowden lifted ECU to its largest lead of the first half at 31-16 and it went on to carry a 35-23 advantage into the locker room.

The Pirates' lead quickly ballooned to 22 in the first five minutes after the break after back-to-back three-pointers by Bowden and Paul capped a 12-2 run that made it 47-25.

Cliff Ellis' club did produce a 9-1 spurt that cut its deficit to 14 at 48-34 following a jumper by Anthony Raffa with just under 13 minutes to go in the game.

However, East Carolina gradually extended the lead again and went on to win by 25.

Bowden, who knocked down 5-of-8 from three, scored a game-high 17 points. Paul finished with 15 points and six assists. Kemp and Morrow also reached double figures after tallying 13 and 12, respectively.

The Pirates, who have shot the ball poorly for much of the season, were a much improved 47.2 percent (25-of-53) from the floor--including 8-of-18 from beyond the arc.

The biggest improvement was seen at the charity stripe where ECU was a stellar 18-of-21 after shooting less than a combined 50 percent in the last two games.

Raffa and McLaurin led the Chanticleers, who shot just over 36 percent from the floor, in scoring. Raffa had 14 while McLaurin finished with 11 points and seven boards.

East Carolina will return to action on Thursday night when it welcomes in-state foe Gardner Webb to Williams Arena-Minges Coliseum for a 7 p.m. tip-off.