ECU is slowly getting better in basketball and in particular on the road. The maturation process continued on Saturday and the Pirates had their chances in a game of big runs for both teams, but ECU came up on the short end of a 76-64 defeat Saturday night.
An 18-4 Temple second half run proved to be the Pirates undoing. Quinton Rose led four Owls in double-figures with 20 points to go along with 14 each for Alani Moore, Nate Pierre-Louis and J.P. Moorman who also pulled down a game high 10 rebounds. Rose got ten of his points from the charity stripe where he connected on 10 of 12.
Tremont Robinson-White seems to be getting better every game. He launched in a career high 21 points for ECU(9-13/3-6 AAC) to lead all scorers. Tristen Newton added 14, but the league’s leading scorer Jayden Gardner got off to a rocky start offensively in the first half before scoring the bulk of his 11 points just before halftime.
In the end, 49 percent Temple shooting beats 39 percent for an ECU team that made just 4 for 17 from the arc while the Owls managed to make 10 of 25.
The Pirates did make 16 of 19 from the stripe, but the three they missed came in crunch time and helped let Temple off the hook when the game was still within reach. Temple got to the stripe more frequently where they made 20 of 27 in the win.
ECU committed just 11 turnovers to 14 for Temple which would typically signal a good outcome if the ball had gone in the basket a little more often.
“An 18-4 run in the second half, that’s what did us in. I thought we finished the half the right way and made some plays,” Joe Dooley said after the game, “They shots 58 percent in the second half but I thought the real big problem today was making threes. They made ten and we made four. That’s the big difference. Obviously we didn’t get some timely stops and I thought we took some ill advised shots.”
In the end, the Pirates did not have an answer for Quinton Rose who in addition to scoring twenty points, pulled down six rebounds and he got to the foul line with regularity where he made 10 of his 12 attempts.
“The difference in the game was really Rose. He took over in the second half and got to wherever he wanted,” Dooley stated, “He’s mature, he made a crafty play on the baseline out of bounds where he shot faked - late clock and made savvy plays. That’s the reason he’s being considered for all-league. He’s been through the wars and I told our freshmen it’s just some things that you have to learn as we progress. He made some veteran plays, caused fouls and he shot a bunch of free throws. We did enough things to keep us around and then we did some things that backfired on us.”
HOW IT HAPPENED
Three-point jumpers from Quinton Rose and J.P. Moorman and five early points from Nate Pierre-Louis allowed Temple(11-10/3-6 AAC) to get off to a fast 13-6 start in the first five minutes of the game. Moorman’s NBA trey from the top of the key then had the Owls up by fifteen at 21-6 in a 13-0 stretch before J.J. Miles ended the run with a basket in the paint.
ECU began to heat up offensively with two Tristen Newton baskets in a 26-13 game midway into a half where Jayden Gardner was held scoreless for the first ten minutes.
Gardne got into the act with his first four buckets of the game. That and a Tremont Robinson-White basket in the paint highlighted an 17-0 ECU run to cut into the Owl’s lead to one at 26-25 with 6:30 left in the half. J.J. Miles’ three-pointer then gave ECU their first lead of the game at 28-26.
ECU’s 20-1 run over a seven minute span found the Pirates up 30-27 and breathed new life after being down by as much as sixteen points earlier in the game.
Arashma Park’s fourth free throw of the half tied the game for Temple with less than a minute to go before Tremont Robinson-White’s floater in the lane with five seconds to go gave ECU a 32-30 halftime lead.
Eight points from Jayden Gardner and Tremont Robinson-White and five points each from Tristen Newton and J.J. Miles led the Pirates in a 22-4 first half run. Charles Coleman showed marked improvement on both ends of the floor, being a presence in the paint and adding four points and two rebounds in the first half. Nate Pierre-Louis with ten and Alani Moore with eight points led Temple at halftime.
Temple quickly jumped out to a ten point lead in the second half behind a pair of Quinton Rose baskets. J.P. Moorman’s baseline jumper and subsequent jam after an ECU turnover made it 52-40.
The Pirates did cut the lead to six on a pair of Brandon Suggs free throws with 8:39 to play before Tremont Robinson-White’s drive in the paint cut the lead to four.
But Justin Hamilton, Alani Moore and Quinton Rose all scored to put the Owls back up by eleven and ECU then went cold on the offensive end of the floor on four straight possessions and Temple held on for the win.
The Pirates return to the court next Thursday when ECU hosts Central Florida on ESPN3. Tipoff is set for 7 o’clock.
