With both ECU and Charlotte looking to extend their respective win streaks, the Pirates came up big down the stretch to grab a 60-56 win from the jaws of defeat Sunday in Minges Coliseum.
The Pirates got 23 points and 10 rebounds from Jayden Gardner and 18 points from point guard Tremont Robinson-White, who is getting better every night, in the victory.
The win gives ECU three straight wins and in the process, snapped a three-game Charlotte winning streak heading into the holiday break.
It took ECU a while to get over the hump in this game before they finally took a lead late in the contest. Gardner scored six of the last nine points for ECU(5-7) including four free throws during crunch time at the end.
For ECU head coach Joe Dooley, it’s not been easy in the early going this season with so many new players, a great deal of youth on the team, several injuries, losing several early games and losing an upper classman in the past week when the Pirates parted ways with senior Seth LeDay. It now appears to be turning a little bit in the Pirates’ favor over the past week.
“I think a month ago we might have got frustrated and not got stops,” said Dooley, “Our resolve at the other end when we didn’t score was like ‘well if they don’t score they can’t beat us’. They did a nice job with a couple of good contests (around the rim) and we fought the drive a little bit better tonight so I do think there was some maturity in the last couple of weeks.”
Dooley says even though you could begin to see what Robinson-White can do at the point position, he’s still not back in full form yet after being out for the past three months. Dooley also liked the play of some others who might not show up big in the box score, but made big plays that played a big part in keeping ECU close in the game.
“We practice better and part of of the reason is we have more guys to practice and guys are getting a little bit more healthy. When you start stringing good practices together it helps your team get better. I think Tremont is 65 percent of what he is. He showed some glimpses today and he showed some bursts but he’s just not back yet and he won’t be back for a while, but I thought Tremont did some things.”
“I thought some other guys did some things. Charles Coleman gave us some good minutes in the first half when we were struggling protecting the rim. Bitumba (Baruti), even though he didn’t score, he gave us some good minutes. He came up with some rebounds and a big assist and all of those things added up.”
After making five first half treys, Charlotte went hitless in twelve second half attempts from the arc. Despite that, the 49ers held ECU off for quite a while before the Pirates were finally able to score enough to grab momentum and eventually take the lead.
“Momentum is everything in basketball and as you’ve seen,” Gardner told PirateIllustrated.com, “We had a big momentum shift in the second half and we had some runs, so it’s just nice to pick up this win. We’ve got to keep it going when we come back from a little, short break and prepare for Eastern Kentucky.”
For Robinson-White, who is still coming back from an injury that kept him off the floor for most of the fall, Sunday’s 18 point performance is a big building block in his recent return to the lineup.
“It’s a real big example (of mental toughness) You’ve got to keep fighting and you can’t give up. If you don’t score you’ve got to go back and get stops,” said Robinson-White, “I feel great. It’s a blessing with me coming back and trusting the process. It felt good fighting out there with my brothers.”
Charlotte(6-5) led for most of the game before ECU found ways to get defensive stops and then got to the stripe down the stretch and made some free throws. That proved to be big for the Pirates late in the game.
“It was a good team win. Obviously we played better in the second half, got a little bit of a rhythm and almost despite ourselves at some point down at the end we were able to string some stops together, especially when when we turned some possessions over,” said Dooley.
“The guys showed some character and some toughness and wrapped up. I think we got five of our five straight consecutive stops in order to wrap this thing up but it was a good team win.”
The Pirates made fifty percent of their shots overall in the final twenty minutes including 2 of 4 from the arc to go along with 14 of 17 shooting from the stripe in the second half after making just 4 of 10 in the first period.
Drew Edwards was the only player in double-figures for Charlotte with twelve points. Jamir Young and Malik Martin scored 8 points each and Jordan Shepherd added seven. Milos Supica pulled down nine rebounds for the 49ers.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Seven minutes into the game, a pair of Malik Martin three-pointers and a Tyler Bertram layup had Charlotte off and running to an early 18-9 cushion midway into the first half.
The Pirates got off to a slow start shooting the basketball, going just 4-13 from the floor including just 1-4 from the arc. Some of those shots resulted in Charlotte fouls but ECU hit just 1-5 from the foul line in the early going.
But when J.J. Miles knocked down an ECU trey from the top of the key and Gardner scored on a drive in the paint, it cut the 49’ers lead to three. Then three-pointers from Jahmir Young and two Luka Vasic baskets keyed a 49er surge that stretched the lead right back to seven points before a Milos Supica layup gave Charlotte a 30-22 halftime lead.
While neither team lit it up scoring wise in the first half with shooting percentages in the low 30’s, Tremont Robinson-White did lead ECU with seven points to go along with six Jayden Gardner points. The Pirates turned it over a little more frequently, committing seven first half turnovers to just four for Charlotte.
Luka Vasic led Charlotte with seven points and Malik Martin had six points in the first twenty minutes for the 49ers that benefitted from five first half treys.
Then Charlotte scored on three early trips down the floor to begin the second half and the 49er lead expanded to ten. Tyree Jackson’s corner trey, Charles Coleman’s dunk and a Jayden Gardner three-point play in the paint got ECU back to within two at 40-38.
Charlotte grew their lead back to as much as seven before the Pirates cut the lead back down to one point midway into the second half on a Gardner steal and subsequent score in transition. Tristen Newton’s long three-point bomb and a Gardner drive with 5:14 to play eventually gave ECU at 52-51 lead.
Tremont Robinson-White’s missed layup at one end and an easy wide open Charlotte basket from Drew Edwards helped Charlotte regain a one point 56-55 lead with 1:21 to play. But an ECU steal from Bitumba Baruti and a pair of Gardner free throws at the other end of the floor gave ECU a 57-56 lead with just 38.7 seconds left.
Two Charlotte misses and two more Gardner free throws to go along with two Tremont Robinson-White free throws ultimately led ECU to a four point win for their third straight victory heading into the Christmas break.
“I think the guys go home for Christmas in a lot better spirits,” Dooley told PI afterward, “The coaches go back in better spirits. Now hopefully we will come back with some juice and some energy when we come back and practice and maybe a little bit of confidence.”
“It’s a really big Christmas present, really big,” said Gardner, “We kept knocking and kept knocking. Then we finally got in. It was like four, down to one, back to two, and we finally got over the hump. As coach always says you’ve got to have balls. It was a real gut check. You’ve got to make sure you capitalize on the free throws. Once you get them, you’ve just got to knock them down. I was able to do that and help my team get the win.”
ECU returns to the hardwood next Saturday on December 28 when the Pirates host Eastern Kentucky. Game time is set for 4 p.m. on ESPN3.
PI AUDIO: JOE DOOLEY RECAPS CHARLOTTE VICTORY
