Pirates swat Saints, 80-54

CUSA-fans.com has a new staff of team correspondents this fall to help bring you, the fan, more detailed Conference USA sports coverage. Today, our ECU Correspondent Thomas "Bubba" Rosenbaum brings you a recap of the basketball game between East Carolina and Limestone.

Following its first road trip of the season, East Carolina returned home to face Division II Limestone College on Tuesday night. The Pirates (3-1) started strong and cruised to an 80-54 victory over the Saints.

ECU, which was coming off a 72-64 win at UNCG on Saturday night, jumped out to a 20-9 lead with 10:45 to play in the first half.

Gabe Blair extended the Pirates’ lead to 17 at 29-12 with 7:30 remaining.

The Saints trimmed their deficit to 34-22 at the 3:34 mark of the first half, but East Carolina closed the opening half on a 9-2 run and took a 43-24 lead into the locker room.

The Pirates shot the ball extremely well in the first half, as they connected on 7-of-10 from behind the arc. Courtney Captain had ten points before the break for ECU. Freshman John Fields was swatting Saint shots all over the place in the half, recording five blocks in the first five minutes of the game.

After shooting the ball well from the perimeter in the first half, East Carolina turned its focus to feeding the ball inside after the break. The Pirates sought to get Gabe Blair and John Fields more involved on the offensive end, while wearing the smaller Saints down.

Limestone kept battling and cut the ECU lead to 54-39 with over 12 minutes remaining.

The Saints, however, would get no closer. From that point on, the Pirates would continue to add to the lead. They built it to as many as 28 at 76-48 with just over three minutes to play.

ECU freshman Brandon Evans scored the final basket of the game with only seconds to play, which produced the final of 80-54.

The Pirates’ defense limited the Saints to 35 percent from the floor and only 7-of-25 from three-point range. They limited Limestone’s leading scorer, Shawn Poppie, to 12 points in the game. He came in averaging 23 through the Saints’ first two contests. He did also post seven rebounds and six assists.

Terrell Smith led Limestone with 15 points while John Prioleau pulled down a team-high nine boards for the Saints.

Darrell Jenkins led East Carolina with 17 points, which included four three-pointers. “Smooch” also distributed the ball nicely, recording ten assists on the night.

John Fields finished the game with 13 points and seven blocked shots. Courtney Captain and Gabe Blair also scored in double figures, posting 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Cory Farmer also knocked down two three’s for ECU, which finished the game shooting 47 percent from behind the arc.

The game also featured some new Pirates scoring their first points in the purple and gold. Brandon Evans finished the game with five points, while James Dillard and Justin Ramsey scored two each.

East Carolina rebounded the ball well, as they held a 54-35 advantage on the boards in the game.

ECU head coach Ricky Stokes was pleased with the focus and intensity with which his Pirates started the game, but was disappointed with their inability to finish off the Saints sooner.

“We have to be able to maintain a lead and increase a lead and we didn’t really do that,” Stokes said in his postgame radio interview.

He also thought the defensive intensity was lacking at times, as the Pirates failed to dive on the floor loose balls at times during the game.