By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
Demitri Gardner hit three free throws with 3.3 seconds remaining Wednesday night to lift the East Carolina Pirates to an 82-81 victory over the UTSA Roadrunners in American Conference men’s basketball.
The Pirates trailed by 11 points early in the second half and by three with 7.2 seconds remaining when UTSA’s Jamir Simpson knocked down two free throws.
From there, the Pirates inbounded and rushed it up the court. ECU guard Corey Caulker was fouled with 5.1 seconds left. With Caulker at the line, he made the first free throw and missed the next one.
The ball bounced outside to Gardner, who tried to hoist a desperation three. He was fouled by Dorian Hayes and went to the line. At the stripe with ECU down by two and the game on the line, Gardner made the first two to tie it.
At that point, UTSA called time. When teams returned to the floor, Gardner hit the go-ahead free throw for the final point of the game.
UTSA pushed the ball to the other end, and a three by Dorian Hayes was off the mark.
First half
The UTSA Roadrunners shot a sizzling 62 percent from the field and surged behind Daniel Akitoby and Dorian Hayes to a 43-24 halftime lead.
Akitoby knocked down a three-pointer and had three dunks against the East Carolina zone defense en route to 13 points.
Hayes also scored 13 on four of seven shooting. The freshman from Houston hit three from beyond the 3-point arc.
Jordan Riley, the second leading scorer in the nation, scored nine. He also had a couple of assists and three steals.
Records
East Carolina 10-18, 5-10
UTSA 5-23, 1-15
Coming up
Wichita State at UTSA, Sunday, 7 p.m.
Notable
The Roadrunners entered the game having already been eliminated from contention for the American Conference tournament.
With the loss, UTSA fell to 0-8 in the all-time series against East Carolina.
Also, they fell to 2-11 at home this season, including 10 straight losses, with the home finale set for Sunday night against Wichita State.
Their last win at the Convocation Center came on Nov. 18 when they defeated sub-NCAA Southwestern Christian, 103-70.