GREENVILLE — The Pirates bounced back from their first loss of the season by throwing a three party for visiting St. Andrews as they bombed their way to 111-59 victory on Tuesday.
East Carolina (6-1) scorched the NAIA Knights (0-9) from downtown as it made a school-record 18 three-pointers. Thirteen of those triples came in a sizzling first half in which the Pirates shot 65 percent from three-point land to go into halftime with a school-record 64 points.
East Carolina’s 111 points were the most since it scored 102 in 1975.
“It was nice to see the three ball go down and it went down a lot tonight,” East Carolina coach Jeff Lebo said. “Hopefully that will help our confidence out a little bit shooting the ball. We came in (to the game) last in Conference USA in three-point shooting at 27 percent and we knew that we were better shooters than we’ve showed.”
The Pirates sharpshooting, record-setting night comes days after ECU shot 6-23 from downtown during their 76-64 loss to Charlotte. The seismic shift in shooting accuracy had Lebo at a loss.
“I just don’t’ know, I wish I knew. If I did I’d fix it,” Lebo said. “We had some good looks at Charlotte and just missed them. That’s the game.”
Shamarr Bowden was sizzling hot on Tuesday, going a perfect 5-for-5 from downtown, while Akeem Richmond connected on five of his 10 three-point attempts as the duo scored 15 points each to pace the Pirates.
“I feel like we shot the ball pretty good,” Richmond said. “St. Andrews was in a zone and we got some open looks and knocked them down.”
St. Andrews managed to stay in the game throughout the first five minutes and cut ECU’s lead to 8-6 after a layup by Clavonte Brown, who scored a game-high 18 points.
Shorty after the Pirates got smoking hot and ripped off an 18-2 run that featured three Bowden three-pointers and from there the rout was on.
East Carolina splashed three after three and stormed into halftime up 64-30.
With such a sizable lead Lebo was able to empty his bench as 15 Pirates found themselves in the scoring column.
Paris Campbell-Roberts tallied 11 points, Maurice Kemp had eight points and eight rebounds and Peter Torlak tossed out a game-high six assists.
“Our starters got us a nice cushion where we were able to play a lot of people,” Lebo said. “We played some people who haven’t got a chance to play a lot that work hard in practice and do well.”
The win came at a great time for the Pirates, who will enter an 11-day break for finals week before returning to action on Dec. 15 for their much-anticipated battle against the Tar Heels at Chapel Hill.