By Jerry Briggs
Special for The JB Replay
The East Carolina Pirates made four straight defensive stops, leading to eight points in a row, as they broke open a hotly-contested tie game and defeated the UTSA Roadrunners 96-89 in overtime Sunday at Greenville, N.C.
It was the sixth straight loss for UTSA going down the stretch of the regular season in the American Athletic Conference.
Records
UTSA 10-17, 4-11
East Carolina 16-12, 8-7
How it happened
The Roadrunners played and shot the ball well for most of the night. They built a nine-point lead with 13:34 left in regulation. But they couldn’t make a few plays on the offensive end to close the second half, and the game went to overtime.
Once there, the Roadrunners continued to carry the fight to the Pirates, who were playing in their home at Minges Coliseum. UTSA’s Damari Monsanto quieted the crowd by knocking down a three-point shot with 3:08 remaining, tying the score, 86-86.
From there, East Carolina ratcheted up its defense behind Jayshayne Woodard, turning away UTSA without points on four possessions in a row.
On the other end, the Pirates converted with RJ Felton scoring on a drive to start a decisive 8-0 run. After Cam Hayes hit two free throws, Jordan Riley sank a 12 foot jumper.
Woodard, who made a steal and blocked a shot on the defensive end to kick start the rally, added a dunk with 39 seconds left to make it 94-86 with 39 seconds left.
UTSA couldn’t get any closer than five the rest of the way.
Another heartbreaker
For the Roadrunners, it was another heartbreaker in a late-season swoon that’s been marked by lost leads and lost games. This one was at least their fifth conference loss after leading by nine or more points in the second half. In their previous five setbacks, all came by five points or less.
East Carolina was responsible for one of them in an 80-79 victory at UTSA on Feb. 8. Now, the Pirates have swept the two-game series in contests that came down to only a few possessions each time.
On the offensive end, the Roadrunners played well, shooting 47 percent from the field and hitting at a 48 percent clip from three (13 of 27).
Guard Primo Spears contributed 24 points and seven assists. Marcus Millender scored 21 with five rebounds and four assists.
Monsanto and Tai’Reon Joseph both reached double figures, as well. Monsanto scored 14 and Joseph, who came out of the game momentarily in the first half with a cut near his eye, added 11.
Raekwon Horton returned after sitting out a game with an injury and worked hard at the end to slow down Felton, who led all scorers with 30 points. Riley had 17 points and Hayes 16.
For the Pirates, Felton hit 10 of 15 from the field and made all five of his attempts from the three-point line.
As a team, East Carolina shot 53 percent from the field and 56 percent from three against a UTSA defense that ranks near the bottom of the AAC in both of those categories.
For the season, the Roadrunners were allowing 46 percent field goal shooting and 35.8 percent from three leading into Sunday’s games.
Coming up
Rice at UTSA, Sunday, March 2, 5 p.m.
Memphis at UTSA, Tuesday, March 4, 6 p.m.
UTSA at Charlotte, Sunday, March 9, 3 p.m.
First half
The Roadrunners shot 59 percent from the field and withstood a scoring binge by guard RJ Felton to take a 39-38 lead on the Pirates.
In the opening 20 minutes of the game played at Minges Coliseum in Greenville, N.C., the momentum flowed back and forth with 11 lead changes and seven ties.
The Roadrunners trailed by as many as five at one juncture but always stayed competitive with a sweet flow on offense. They made 16 of 27 shots from the field and six of 11 from three.