ECU's second-half comeback burns out against FlamesLiberty holds off late surge by the Pirates

By Kellen Holtzman East Carolinian

November 20, 2007

Greenville, NC (CSTV U-WIRE) -- ECU nearly completed an incredible comeback before a late Liberty basket yielded the second emotionally draining loss of the week for the Pirates.

With the game tied at 53, Liberty's TeeJay Bannister drove to the hoop, hoping to win the game for the Flames. Bannister's layup was off the mark but forward Alex McLean came down with an offensive rebound on the other side of the basket with 1 second left. McLean then finished a put-back off the glass, in traffic, to give the Flames (2-3) a 55-53 buzzer-beating win over ECU (1-2).

Liberty's last second heroics came on a broken play, setting up a frantic finish. Liberty point guard B.J. Jenkins began to run a play but lost control of the ball at the top of the key. ECU's Darrell Jenkins couldn't quite reach the ball as it bounced into the hands of Bannister on the wing.

"That's two losses in a row; close losses in a row at home," said sophomore John Fields. "We really disappointed the fans. We just need to play up to our potential in crunch-time."

The Pirates trailed Liberty for the duration of the game before freshman Brock Young finally put ECU in position to level with 18 seconds remaining. A Young free throw tied the game at 53, the first tie since the score was 2-2. Young missed his second, taking the pressure off the Flames for their final possession.

Jenkins brought the Pirates within one point of the Flames with a three from the corner with 52 on the clock. Young rebounded a missed jumper from Liberty and pushed the ball down the court, where he was fouled in the lane.

ECU trailed 50-40 with just over five minutes left in the game, when the Pirates began a hard-fought comeback. Sam Hinnant missed a three-pointer but followed his shot and finished a bank shot from close range. Jenkins then hit two free throws to cut the lead to 50-44.

The Pirates drew closer when Gabe Blair was fouled while landing a one-handed dunk on the baseline at the 2:05 mark. Blair's free throw made it 52-47. Jenkins, who paced the Flames with 22 points, went down with an injury on the ensuing play. While Jenkins was down on the floor, ECU's Darrell Jenkins raced down the court and missed a layup, but got a follow-up shot to go to narrow the lead to 52-49.

ECU Head Coach Mack McCarthy continued to look for a reliable rotation, playing 11 total players in the loss.

"Right now what we're lacking is any consistency from anybody," said McCarthy. "And that makes it hard to get into some kind of rotation and flow that makes sense."

Gabe Blair had another big game in the post for ECU, shooting 7-of-11 for 15 points. Jenkins finished with 12 points, while Young and Cory Farmer each added seven.

Liberty forced ECU to play a half-court game early, eliminating the up-and-down style the Pirates prefer.

"They did a real good job of making us play their tempo of the game," said Fields. "We couldn't really get up and down and get fast break baskets like we wanted to and establish the press."

McCarthy believes the offense will come with proper defensive adjustments.

"We've got to get more stops," McCarthy said. "We forced some turnovers and then we just didn't beat people down the floor. We've got to get stops, we've got to run the floor harder, and then we've got to convert in transition."

The teams combined for just 14 points after 10 minutes of play. Liberty finally managed to stretch its lead to 19-13 with 1:19 remaining before ECU built some momentum for the second half.

A Farmer two and a Blair layup after a Fields block on the defensive end cut the lead to 19-17 before halftime.

ECU bested Liberty in nearly every statistical category but field goal percentage. And shooting was what did the Pirates in.

ECU shot just 8-26 from the field in the first half but shot 13-27 in the second half, up almost 20 percent from the first.

"I thought we did a much better job in the second half," said McCarthy. "We found some solutions but we needed to find them quicker I guess."

The Pirates look to put an end to their run of bad luck on Tuesday night against Division III opponent North Carolina-Wesleyan.