Advertisement
basketball Edit

Rutgers Remains Undefeated After a 61-47 Win Over ECU

ECU center Jabari Craig tossed in 14 points in the Pirates' 61-47 loss to undefeated Rutgers Friday afternoon.
ECU center Jabari Craig tossed in 14 points in the Pirates' 61-47 loss to undefeated Rutgers Friday afternoon. (PirateIllustrated.com photo)

Rutgers remained undefeated and picked up their sixth straight victory in a 61-47 win over visiting ECU on Friday afternoon.

Deshawn Freeman from nearby Rocky Mount led Rutgers with 15 points and 11 boards while Issa Thiam added nine points. Isaac Fleming and Jabari Craig led the Pirates in scoring with 14 points each. B.J. Tyson scored six of his eight points in the final four minutes of the contest while Kentrell Barkley was not feeling well and was held scoreless on 0 for 8 shooting.

“Offensively we struggled just shooting the ball. We’re not a great shooting team, we’re not overly fast so we’ve got a lot of warts that we’ve got to get through offensively,” ECU head coach Jeff Lebo said.

Craig, the 6-10 senior out of Toronto was a bright spot in limited play for the Pirates leading the team in scoring in just 22 minutes due to foul trouble early in the contest.

“I thought Jabari Craig was the best that I’ve seen him play. Hopefully that will give him some confidence. I thought he was terrific in the game early, scoring the ball, catching the ball and rebounding the ball,” Lebo said, “We put them on the foul line too much particularly early. They’re big and physical. They’re bigger and stronger than us inside.”

ECU(2-3) took an early 6-0 lead on baskets from Isaac Fleming and Jabari Craig. Then Deshawn Freeman out of nearby Rocky Mount scored seven Rutgers points to get the Scarlet Knights untracked and the Pirates held on to a 13-7 cushion on baskets from Dimitri Spasojevic and a Jabari Craig dunk.

The nation’s tallest shooting guard, 6-10 Issa Thiam’s three-pointer and a pair of Mamadou Doucoure free throws along with a Eugene Omoruyi bucket gave Rutgers their first lead of the game at 14-13 midway into the first half. Two Geo Baker free throws and two more from Shaq Doorson gave the Knights a five point 18-13 lead in an 11-0 Rutgers run.

Justin Whatley’s fourth foul in just six minutes of play for ECU put Rutgers on the charity stripe with 7:40 to go in the half where the Scarlet Knights took a 19-13 lead. Spasojevic’s basket for ECU finally ended a 12-0 Rutgers scoring run.

“In the first half we’re down eleven points and our two leading scorers have goose eggs. They are the guys who have to be good every single night. K.B. (Kentrell Barkley) has been under the weather the last two days so you could tell he wasn’t himself out there,” said Lebo, “Offensively, when he’s not himself we really struggle trying to put the ball in the basket.”

An issac Fleming three-point jumper cut the Rutgers lead to 32-18 at halftime where Freeman led the Scarlet Knights in scoring with 12 points. 19 free throw attempts helped mask cold 28 percent Rutgers shooting from the field in the first period.

Isaac Fleming with eight points and Jabari Craig with seven led the Pirates at intermission.

ECU was able cut the lead to as little as twelve points six minutes into the second half before Rutgers quickly went up 46-28 on a Eugene Omoruyi basket. Then Doorson’s dunk made it 48-31. Freeman’s 15th point of the game and two Mike Williams bombs gave Rutgers a commanding 24-point 57-33 lead with 7:35 to play.

The Pirates had over 15 minutes of combined scoring drought over the course of the game to go along with 19 turnovers. Despite playing pretty good defense and holding Rutgers to just 32 percent shooting, ECU only hit just 39 percent from the floor themselves and 22 Pirate fouls helped the Scarlet Knights make up much of the difference from the charity stripe.

ECU returns to the hardwood when they host N.C. A&T Sunday afternoon at 4 o’clock in Minges Coliseum.

BOX SCORE & STATISTICS

Advertisement