East Carolina mauls Milligan, 101-45, in season opener

Six Pirates score in double-figures

Miguel Paul was magnificent in his East Carolina debut.

The Missouri transfer was a perfect 7-of-7 from the floor and finished with 19 points to lead the Pirates to an easy 101-45 win over NAIA foe Milligan on Friday night.

Paul also had seven assists and four steals despite playing just 17 minutes.

East Carolina (1-0) established control early as it scored the first eight points and led 14-2 just over four minutes into the game after consecutive three-pointers by Erin Straughn.

Over the next three minutes, the Buffaloes (2-3) did go on a 9-2 run to pull within 16-11, but the Pirates poured it on from that point and their lead ballooned to 49-18 at the break.

ECU shot 56.3 percent from the floor in the first half and was 6-of-8 from three-point range. Meanwhile, it limited Milligan to 30.8 percent (8-of-26) shooting.

After halftime, the Pirates quickly added to their lead and increased their margin to 41 with over 17 minutes to play in the game.

Freshman Paris Campbell scored 12 in his first game as a Pirate with all the points coming via three-pointers. Three of those came in a three-minute span in the second half to increase the ECU advantage to 50 at 90-40 with 5:20 to go.

As a team, the Pirates sank 13 of their 21 three-point attempts to shoot a scorching 61.9 percent from beyond the arc.

Maurice Kemp and Austin Steed recorded double-doubles in their debuts. Kemp finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds after playing a team-high 24 minutes. He converted 7-of-8 from the charity stripe. Steed had 11 points and 12 boards.

Shamarr Bowden and Erin Straughn also scored in double figures for ECU. Bowden had 11 points after hitting each of his three three-point attempts. Straughn ended his night with ten points and four rebounds.

While the Pirates were obviously the superior team, perhaps one of the more impressive things about the performance was that they managed to produce 101 points despite returning starters Darrius Morrow and Corvonn Gaines combining for just eight. Morrow finished with six points and six rebounds while Gaines had just one field goal and an uncharacteristic five turnovers.

Point guard Kyle Grisby led Milligan with 15 points and five assists in 30 minutes. Mickey Woods also scored in double figures, as he finished with 10. Cordero Seymour grabbed a team-high nine rebounds for the Buffaloes, who were outrebounded, 52-28, by the Pirates.

The margin of victory, which is tied for the fifth largest in school history, is the biggest since East Carolina defeated Christopher Newport, 104-47, during the 1984-85 season.

Jeff Lebo’s club will head to Campbell on Monday night where it will get its initial road test against its first Division I competition of the year.

Check back with CUSA-fans.com for its preview of that contest.