ECU Earns a 74-65 Win Over Tulane
GREENVILLE, N.C. - When ECU hits a decent percentage of shots, they have ample opportunity to win on a nightly basis. The Pirates showed up ready to play and despite losing seven of their last eight outings, solid shooting allowed them to pick up a much needed 74-65 AAC victory over Tulane.
The Pirates hit a season high twelve treys in the contest out of 21 attempts for 57 percent. Despite giving up 32 points in the paint and committing 14 turnovers, ECU limited Tulane to just 41 percent shooting overall including just 6 of 18 from the arc in the win.
Caleb White scored 20 points to lead three Pirates in double-figures Saturday afternoon in Minges Coliseum. White continues to work his way out of a shooting slump. He was joined by point guard Jeremy Sheppard who tossed in 18 including 5 of 7 from three-point range. Kentrell Barkley added 14 points and 12 rebounds in the win and hit 3 of 4 from long range.
Cam Reynolds tossed in 16 to lead Tulane(4-19/1-10 AAC) to go along with 15 from Ray Ona Embo, 13 from Melvin Frazier and ten points from Ryan Smith.
White told PI that Coach Jeff Lebo, who is still recovering from hip surgery, showed up at practice and reiterated his confidence in White's shooting and that helped him regain some belief in himself entering Saturday's game with the Green Wave. Then hitting his first few shots against Tulane helped him settle down and have a big outing.
"It felt good to see the first couple of ones to go and gain some confidence during the game," White told PirateIllustrated.com, Putting the ball on the floor and getting to the free throw line but it was really about staying aggressive and keep shooting.
"I was really impressed with our team considering what they had to bounce back from. Literally it was a massacre in Dallas and you're always concerned what's going to be the mentality of your team as they try to respond back from such a devastating loss," ECU interim head coach Michael Perry told PI.
"I couldn't have been prouder of this group in all my years of coaching and being around a team to see these guys come out with the kind of energy and enthusiasm. Not only what we saw at the start of the game but the last couple of days at practice. They really put it behind them, held themselves accountable and worked harder and tried to move forward. It was great to see them be able to reap the benefits of that hard work."
ECU(11-13/3-8 AAC) opened up hot, hitting three of their first four shots and led 11-5 behind a pair of Jeremy Sheppard three-pointers and a long range bomb from Caleb White.
Three straight Pirate turnovers later Tulane was right back in the ballgame on a pair of Cam Reynolds treys in a 13-12 ballgame with 14:34 to go in the half. Then Ryan Smith’s hook shot tied the game at 13 apiece.
But the Pirates went 6-7 from the arc in the first ten minutes. A pair of Kentrell Barkley three-pointers and another from Caleb White, who had 14 first half points, put East Carolina up 22-19.
Tulane took a brief 28-27 lead on baskets from Ryan Smith, Kain Harris and a Blake Paul hook shot in the paint. ECU then went on a run and scored on five straight possessions to take an eight-point 39-31 lead with 2:25 to go in the half.
Three Kentrell Barkley free throws and a Elijah Hughes corner bomb off a feed from Jeremy Sheppard pushed the ECU lead to twelve at 43-31. Cam Reynolds led the Green Wave with ten points at intermission.
ECU was off to a jet start to open the second half on three baskets from Deng Riak and a fast break layup from Caleb White. Suddenly the Pirate lead ballooned to 52-37. Then Tulane made a run of their own and when Cam Reynolds nailed a corner jumper, the Green Wave fought back to within five at 56-51 with under eight minutes to play.
Baskets from Ray Ona Embo, Melvin Frazier and Malik Morgan trimmed the ECU lead to three at 63-60. But a pair of ECU bombs from Barkley and Sheppard extended the Pirate lead back to nine at 69-60 at the 4:18 mark.
A pair of Ray Ona Embo buckets kept things close down the stretch but ECU was able to hold on for their eleventh win of the season.
PI POST GAME: KENTRELL BARKLEY, CALEB WHITE & COACH MICHAEL PERRY
