“Edgeless” Pirates defeat Limestone, 69-43

East Carolina improved to 7-1 with its victory over the Division II Saints

Mack McCarthy wasn’t very happy following his team’s 26-point win over Limestone on Saturday night—claiming his team didn’t play with the edge it had for essentially all of its first seven games.

Fortunately for the focus-lacking Pirates, they were playing an opponent where they could get away with such an uninspired effort.

East Carolina (7-1) did start well. It scored the first six points of the contest and led 6-0 at the 18:47 mark following a Darrius Morrow dunk.

That start came so easily that the Pirates probably thought they could coast to a victory. Well, they found out they were going to have to play.

They did build their lead to ten at 28-18 with 4:46 to go before the break. However, the Saints used a 7-0 run to slice the margin to three at 28-25 with just over two minutes left in the opening half.

ECU answered with a three-pointer by James Legan and another hoop by Sam Hinnant to push its lead back to eight at the half.

After its lackluster first half performance, the Pirates undoubtedly received a wake up call during the intermission.

They opened the second half with a 7-0 spurt to lead 40-25 with just over 17 minutes to play. The run was fueled by a three-pointer by Legan and an old-fashioned three-point play by Morrow.

The short-handed Saints outscored ECU, 9-3, over the next 2:43 to get the game back into single digits at 43-34 with 14:23 remaining.

That was when the Pirates slammed the door once and for all. They used a 24-1 run over the next ten minutes to extend their margin to a game-high 32 points with 4:31 left.

After shooting 2-of-13 from behind the arc in the first half, ECU knocked down 7-of-14 from long range in the second. It finished the game at 47.2 percent from the floor while limiting Limestone to 32.7 percent.

The absence of Chad Wynn, who was sidelined with a cold, and DaQuan Joyner, who is out with a fractured bone in his foot, meant a very small line-up for McCarthy’s club.

ECU’s lack of intensity was perhaps seen in it only holding a 35-32 advantage on the boards.

Four Pirates scored in double figures. James Legan led all scorers with 14 points—including a 4-of-8 effort from deep. Freshman Darrius Morrow mustered his third double-double of his young career with 12 points and ten rebounds in a game-high 33 minutes. Sam Hinnant continued to struggle with his shot, as he was 4-of-12 from the floor; however, he still managed another double figures performance and did other things to help the Pirates’ cause. He finished with 11 points, eight rebounds and four assists. Jamar Abrams followed his 18-point performance against UNCW with 11 against Limestone.

Freshman Chris Turner gave ECU increased production off the bench with nine points in 24 minutes.

Michael Barrett led Limestone with 11 points. Bobby Grier finished with nine while James Hudson pulled down nine rebounds.

East Carolina will return to the court on Saturday, December 13 when they welcome UNCG to Williams Arena-Minges Coliseum for a 7 p.m. tip-off.