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Frosty ECU Shooting Leads to a 68-62 Loss at Appalachian State

East Carolina fell to 1-2 on the season after a 68-62 loss to Appalachian State Tuesday night in Boone.
East Carolina fell to 1-2 on the season after a 68-62 loss to Appalachian State Tuesday night in Boone. (ECU Photo)

ECU couldn’t quite seem to see the Forrest for the threes as Justin Forrest launched in a game high 22 points to lead Appalachian State to a 68-62 victory over the Pirates Tuesday night in Boone.

Forrest knocked down a pair of Mountaineer three-pointers and then found his way to the charity stripe where he went 10 of 11 on the evening. Forrest got a lot of help from Adrian Delph who scored 14 of his 19 points in the first half including four treys in a one-two punch for Appalachian State(2-1).

Seth LeDay led the Pirates with 20 points and seven rebounds in just 24 minutes of play to go along with 12 points from Brandon Suggs and just 11 points from Jayden Gardner in the loss.

ECU hit just 21 of 59 from the floor for an ice cold 35.6 percent in frosty Boone. They did hit 15 of 19 from the foul line though despite making just 5 of 22 from three-point land to go along with 14 turnovers.

“We had some spurts, but we have to figure out when we are on our heels to make sure we get a shot,” said Dooley, “I thought we made some inexperienced plays that really hurt us with turnovers. All those things come back to haunt you.”

Appalachian State managed to make 44 percent of their shots from the floor and 8-20 from the arc to go along with 20 for 28 from the stripe in the victory.

“I thought we got off to a horrendous start and fought back and it seemed like every time we got a lead we’d stumble back,” ECU head coach Joe Dooley said, “We missed a bunch of shots a the rim and we missed a bunch of shots that we need to start making. We probably had ten or fifteen good looks. We probably should have shot more threes too. We need to step up and start making some shots from the three-point line.”

Adrian Delph’s three-pointer and subsequent drive to the rim keyed an early 11-0 Mountaineer run. ECU went 0 for 8 before Charles Coleman finally got the Pirates on the scoreboard five minutes into the game.

ECU(1-2) then cut the lead to as little as 21-19 by the eight minute mark on a pair three-pointers from J.J. Miles and another from Seth LeDay. Delph’s fourth trey and fourteenth point of the half and a Mike Bibby, Jr. three-pointer had Appalachian State up 31-27 at the break.

The Pirate hit just 28 percent from the floor in the first twenty minutes on 8 of 28 shooting including just 2 of 11 from the arc. The Pirates did manage to get to the stripe where they hit 9 of 11 making that shooting percentage a little more tolerable.

Two ECU baskets from Brandon Suggs baskets tied the game at 31-31 early in the second period and the game remained tied at 50-50 with 7:34 remaining. A pair of made shots from Forrest and an Isaac Johnson basket along with a James Lewis, Jr. bucket with 1:05 to go had the Mountaineers up by five at 61-56. Lewis' father played for ECU in the 1990's.

Seth LeDay’s right hand hook trimmed the lead to three for ECU with :45 seconds on the game clock. LeDay’s then fouled Forrest who made two free throws with forty seconds to go to extend the lead back to five at 63-58. Then Gardner was fouled, but hit just one of two from the stripe. Couple that with three Mountaineer free throws down the stretch from Adrian Delph and Appalachian State held on for a six point win.

ECU returns home to take on Liberty Saturday afternoon Minges Coliseum. Game time is at 4 o’clock.

BOX SCORE & FINAL STATISTICS

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