ECU Beats UMES 71-57 For Second Straight Win
ECU came into Tuesday night’s game with Maryland-Eastern Shore looking to tie together back to back wins for the first time this season and they did so in a 71-57 win in Minges Coliseum.
Jayden Gardner led the Pirates with a double-double of 22 points and 13 rebounds, ten of which were on the defensive glass. Brandon Suggs scored ten points and nabbed ten rebounds along with a team high six assists for a Pirate team that went 20 for 25 from the foul line and 44.2 percent overall from the floor.
After starting out hitting 4 of 10 from the arc, ECU ended up just 5 for 19 from three-point land so it’s been a bit of a mixed bag for the Pirates so far.
“We’ve gotten to the line. I think of the 19 threes, we probably had 15 open ones,” said ECU head coach Joe Dooley, “J.J. (Miles) had that streak in the second half where he had those wide open ones and he’s a good shooter, but we just missed them and I think we have to make more of those also.”
“Brandon has a very high basketball IQ. When they pressured him he struggled a little bit. He understands things, he pursues the ball and I think he’s just going to keep getting better and better,” said Dooley who talked about the teams play in the paint, “We’ve been on (7-footers) Edra (Luster) and Charles (Coleman) and they come out and play 28 minutes and get one rebound combined. You’ve got 14 feet and one rebound, but I thought Charles did do some good things defensively on the ball screen when Cheeseman got rolling.”
“It does feel good after all the hard work we’ve put in,” said Suggs who talked about getting the team’s second straight win, “I feel like it’s showing, so we just need to keep working and try to get our third one on Sunday”
Bitumba Baruti went 4 of 8 from the floor including one three-pointer for nine points and five rebounds.
“For me, I’m just getting more comfortable with my teammates and myself on the court, said Baruti, “It felt really good today. We could feel the matchups and we tried to take advantage of them the best we could. I’m thankful to get the win tonight and I am getting comfortable.
A.J. Cheeseman tossed in 15 points, all in the second half to go along with five rebounds to lead UMES. Walter Prevost added nine points, while De’Shawn Phillip and Ty Gibson scored eight points each for a Hawk team that fell to 1-11 against what has been a very tough schedule thus far that has included games against Penn State, Liberty, Stanford, Oklahoma, Wofford and Baylor. They did outscore ECU 41-36 in the second half.
The Pirates were largely in control throughout despite the sloppy nature of the game overall, but it could have easily been a different matter if Maryland-Eastern Shore had hit a few more shots. Dooley pointed out some of the things he liked and some of the issues he is still trying to shore up.
“I was pretty pleased with the start of our defensive effort and we did some nice things. Our defensive intensity was good. We were contesting. Even when we made mistakes we were scrambling around. We were a little sloppy with the ball in the first half,” Joe Dooley said, “I felt our defense in the second half was bad. We took our foot off the gas to begin the half and that was disappointing. Our ability to guard and our competitiveness wasn’t where it needs to be for a forty minute game.”
Eight points early from Jayden Gardner had ECU up 16-8 with eleven minutes to go in the first half while holding the Hawks to just 4 of 12 from the floor including 0-3 from long range.
Brandon Suggs' three point play in the paint, a Pig Jackson bomb from the right corner and Charles Coleman’s score in the paint expanded the Pirates’ lead to 29-10 with less than six minutes to go before intermission.
The Hawks then went nearly seven and a half minutes without a bucket which proved to be pretty much the difference in the game until De’Shawn Phillip launched in a trey followed by a Gabe Gyampfi shot in the paint in a 33-15 game with 1:16 to play. ECU took a 35-16 lead into the locker room at halftime on 14 Jayden Gardner points. UMES went just 1 for 11 from three-point range in the first twenty minutes.
Two quick Maryland-Eastern Shore baskets from Kevon Voyles and Canaan Bartley quickly trimmed the ECU lead to 35-20. UMBC then stayed within range behind the scoring of Ty Gibson and A.J. Cheeseman working the paint in an eleven point 46-35 contest at the twelve minute mark of the second half.
Brandon Suggs’ basket in transition had ECU up 62-46 with six to play before Cheeseman’s twelfth point of the half kept UMBC within twelve at 64-52 with four minutes to go. The Pirates played scrappy down the stretch and were able to pick up their second straight win.
Dooley announced in the postgame that after a meeting with Seth LeDay, he wishes him good luck but he will be exiting the program.
“Seth and I met today and he won’t be a part of the program going forward,” said Dooley, “We wish him all the luck and will do all that we can to help him.”
With the win, ECU now improves to 4-7 on the season. The Pirates take on Charlotte this Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. in Minges Coliseum. The game will can be seen on ESPN3.
PI AUDIO: JOE DOOLEY POST GAME COMMENTS
