Pirates’ shooting woes squelch second half rally in 63-58 loss to UMASS

East Carolina loses third straight

For the second consecutive game, East Carolina demonstrated tremendous resiliency as it nearly rallied from a large deficit. However, its shooting woes were, once again, too much to overcome in a 63-58 loss to visiting UMASS on Tuesday night.

The Pirates (4-4), who have lost three straight, fell behind by double digits early and their hole became deeper as the opening half progressed.

Freddie Riley, who led the Minutemen with 14 points despite playing just ten minutes, knocked down the first of his four first half trifectas to cap an 8-0 run that put UMASS up 14-4 with 14:27 remaining.

UMASS (7-3), which managed to increase its lead to as many as 22 with just over four minutes to play, shot a sizzling 53.6 percent (15-of-28) before the break--including 5-of-11 from three.

Meanwhile, East Carolina struggled to handle the pressure applied by the longer and quicker Minutemen. The Pirates turned the ball over nine times and were just 8-of-26 (30.8%) from the floor in the first half. No ECU player had more than one field goal in the opening 20 minutes.

After trailing 40-21 at halftime, the Pirates produced a much-needed quick start to the second half. Seven straight points by Maurice Kemp capped a 16-4 run to open the half that trimmed the ECU deficit to just seven at 44-37 with nearly 15 minutes to play.

The Minutemen pushed the lead back to double figures on a couple occasions before ECU eventually pulled to within one at 59-58 with 40 seconds left. From that point, the Pirates had two possessions on which they could have tied or taken the lead, but failed to get a shot on either.

UMASS managed to escape with the victory despite providing the Pirates with countless opportunities in the second half. The Minutemen managed just six field goals, turned the ball over 13 times, and were just 10-of-18 from the line.

East Carolina finished just 22-of-62 (35.5%) from the floor, a dismal 5-of-23 (20.8%) from behind the arc, and a mind-boggling 9-of-23 (39.1%) from the charity stripe.

Jeff Lebo, the Pirates’ second-year coach, was almost at a loss following the game.

"Offensively we just struggled. We find different ways to struggle and tonight was shooting from the foul line. We went 9-of-23 and with your best one going 0-for-5 from the foul line. That's 39-percent. We had 14 more shots then they did and we shoot almost the same amount of foul shots. Tell me how we lose. We played even on the boards with them. It's just frustrating when you can't put the ball in the basket. We shot just horrendous from the line and poor from the 3-point line. Give them credit; they're long and athletic."

After being held scoreless on Saturday against Charlotte, Darrius Morrow tallied 13 points to lead four Pirates in double figures. Kemp finished with 12 while Paul and Bowden produced 10 each.

Erin Straughn pulled down a team-high ten rebounds for ECU, who was outrebounded, 42-37, but held its own on the glass in the second half.

Defensively, the Pirates limited UMASS’ leading scorer Chaz Williams to ten points on 4-of-11 shooting while forcing him to commit ten of his team’s 24 turnovers.

East Carolina will return to action on December 16 th when it travels to Greensboro to play UNC-Greensboro.