East Carolina Fades in Second Half in 74-63 Road Loss to SMU
Nic Moore led four Mustangs in double figures and untimately controlled the whole affair with 22 points to lead SMU to a 74-63 win over East Carolina Sunday afternoon in Dallas. Moore scored 13 of his points in the second half to go along with 19 points and 9 boards from Markus Kennedy, 12 from Jordan Tolbert and 12 rebounds. Shake Melton added ten points for SMU(22-4/10-4 AAC)
East Carolina held as much as a six-point lead midway into the first half, but SMU's depth and colder shooting and some timely turnovers in the second half proved to be the undoing for Jeff Lebo's Pirates in the end.
Prince Williams led the ECU attack with twenty points from his point guard position. Kentrell Barkley added 15 and Caleb White scored 14 for the Pirates who hit nearly 48 percent of their shots including 12 of 24 from the arc. But SMU controlled the boards to the tune of 41-17 and ECU hit only 5 of 13 from the charity stripe for the day. SMU hit 53.6 percent of their shots and went 8 of 19 from the arc while managing to hit just 6 of 11 from the stripe in the win.
Shake Milton jump started SMU with a pair of jumpers and the Mustangs took a 5-2 lead. ECU(10-17/2-12 AAC) struck back with treys from Kentrell Barkley and Prince Williams that tied the game at 10-10 in the first five minutes of the game.
Long treys from Prince Williams, Caleb White and Kentrell Barkley along with a left handed jam in transition from B.J. Tyson on a dish from Barkley put ECU up by six. But Milton and Tolbert scored consecutive baskets ate into the Pirate lead as SMU closed to within two at 23-21 with eleven minutes to play in the half.
Barkley hit his third trey of the game and ECU’s sixth to extend ECU’s lead to 26-22 but Nic Moore’s runner in the lane tied the game a 26 with 9:35 in the period. Two minutes later Clarence Williams entered the game and canned a pair of quick jump shots for ECU to give the Pirates a 30-26 lead.
ECU kept up the offensive pressure with a Prince Williams right handed drive. Then Barkley’s fourth straight three-point jumper and game high twelfth first half point gave ECU their biggest lead of the half at 35-28. But SMU erased the lead and a Marcus Kennedy basket underneath gave the Mustangs a 36-35 halftime lead.
Jordan Tolbert and Nic Moore had nine points each in the first twenty minutes to lead the Mustangs who converted on 55 percent of their shots but just three of nine from three-point range. ECU had an impressive first half shooting performance hitting 56 percent of their shots and seven of fourteen from the arc. SMU controlled the glass 20-8 in the first half.
SMU got solid early second half production from all league point guard Nic Moore who lofted a pair of three-point jumpers to give the Mustangs a six-point 44-38 lead. White tried to get ECU back into the game with a three of his own from downtown but Nic Moore countered with his third trey of the second half to keep SMU’s lead at six, 47-41 with 15:26 to play.
Sterling Brown’s three pointer along with a tap-in from Ben Moore and a Jordan Tolbert free throw on Zangari’s fourth foul gave SMU a commanding ten point 53-43 cushion with 13:40 in regulation.
ECU kept hanging around and managed to trim the Pony's lead to five on a Prince Williams trey and a tomahawk jam from Clarence Williams off a dish from Kentrell Barkley whose two free throws further cut into the lead to four at 57-53. But three SMU free throws and a Caleb White turnover that led to a layup at the other end from Markus Kennedy pushed the SMU lead right back to nine at 62-53 with just under nine minutes in the game.
SMU got their thirty-second point in the paint for Kenedy’s second straight bucket to push SMU’s lead to 70-57 at the 4:40 mark. Jordan Tolbert’s tap in gave the Mustangs a 72-59 lead down the stretch and SMU held on for the 74-63 victory.
