By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
The lowly East Carolina Pirates entered Wednesday night’s game in Greenville, N.C., with 16 losses on the season and without a win at home against an American Conference opponent.
The Pirates rectified the situation by cruising to an 88-72 victory, delivering a program-record 17th straight loss to the beleaguered UTSA Roadrunners.
UTSA point guard Austin Nunez sat out after taking a hard fall in a game played at home Saturday night.
For the Roadrunners’ men’s basketball program, it was another dubious moment as it clinched a 20-loss season for the fourth time in the last five years. Last season, in Austin Claunch’s first as head coach, they finished 12-19.
This year, the hard-luck Roadrunners sit at 4-20 and 0-12 in the American. To make matters worse, there’s probably no chance for redemption in March, either. In a new twist, the conference has whittled the tournament down to 10 teams.
Going into Wednesday night’s late games, North Texas, Rice and East Carolina were locked in a battle for the 10th spot.
North Texas and Rice have seven losses East Carolina eight, meaning that UTSA, barring a miraculous turnaround in the last few weeks, likely is on the verge of elimination with six games to play.
The Pirates, who improved to 8-14 on the season and 3-8 in the American, looked like a team that could have been beaten. They entered Wednesday night with an 0-5 record at home in the American and with a track record for losing in a variety of ways.
But with the Pirates racing to a 46-31 halftime lead, and with star guard Jordan Riley finishing with 19 points to lead six players in double figures, the Roadrunners were left again wondering when, or if, it will ever end.
“These guys battled,” Claunch said on his postgame radio interview with Andy Everett. “Just didn’t get it done.”
For Nunez, indications are that he could be ready on Sunday at Charlotte, but it’s uncertain how that will play out considering that he crash-landed so hard on a drive to the hoop last Saturday night at home against North Texas.
Against East Carolina, with seven players inactive, UTSA started Jamir Simpson and Brent Moss in the backcourt, with Baboucarr Njie on the wing and Daniel Akitoby and Kaidon Rayfield on the front line.
Simpson played 38 minutes, with Rayfield and Moss getting 36 and Daniel Akitoby 31. Akitoby, a spot player in the first few months of the season, produced 16 points and 11 rebounds. Moss had 15, with Rayfield scoring 12 and Simpson 11.
But, as so often happens with the Roadrunners, they shot the ball poorly. They hit 37 percent from the field and 33 percent from beyond the 3-point arc. At the free throw line, their inconsistency was maddening as they made only eight of 16.
In contrast, the Pirates attacked the rim and got fouled enough to make 18 of 20 free throws. From the field, they hit 46 percent, including 53 percent in the first half when they broke the game open.
Records
UTSA 4-20, 0-12
East Carolina 8-16, 3-8
Coming up
UTSA at Charlotte, Sunday, 11 a.m.
FAU at UTSA, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 6 p.m.
Notable
UTSA men’s basketball remains tied for second for the longest active losing streak in NCAA Division I. The Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils have dropped 22 in a row, while the Roadrunners and the Air Force Falcons have lost 17 straight.
East Carolina’s Jordan Riley, with three straight 30-points plus games coming in, was limited to 19. But Isaiah Mbeng and Co. more than made up the difference. He scored 15 of his 18 in the first half.
Demitri Gardner had 15, with Eli DeLaurier going for 13 and Giovanni Emejuru 12. Emejuru, a 6-foot-10 senior, protected the paint with three blocked shots while also pulling down 12 boards.
The Pirates entered the game with five players inactive, second in the conference in numbers only to the Roadrunners.
First half
Mbeng hit three 3-point buckets and scored 15 points, lifting the Pirates into a 46-31 lead.
In the game played at the Williams Arena at Menges Coliseum, in Greenville, N.C., Mbeng tied his career high in scoring by connecting on four for five from the field and three for four from beyond the 3-point arc.
Averaging 23.3 points for the season, Riley played secondary role in the opening half, scoring six points with three assists and three rebounds in 19 minutes.
UTSA entered the American Conference contest without the services of seven players, including Nunez, who has played 22 games as the team’s No. 1 point guard this season, and also without center Mo Njie.
Leading 9-6 in the first five minutes, UTSA started to falter as East Carolina started a 26-7 surge.
When Mbeng nailed a three with 6:02 left in the half, the Pirates had opened a 32-16 lead. Three minutes later, a Gardner triple gave East Carolina its largest lead of the half at 39-21.