Tulane University
East Carolina
Tulane Men's Hoops Takes Down East Carolina on the road, 65-56
Jan 17, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 17, 2007
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Junior Donnie Stith came off the bench and scored a team-high 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead Tulane to a 65-56 Conference USA road victory over East Carolina in front of 4,010 at Minges Coliseum.
Tulane (8-7, 1-2 C-USA) picked up its first conference victory of the season and snapped a three-game skid, while East Carolina (5-11, 0-3 C-USA) remained winless in league play and has now lost 10 out of its last 11 games.
"I am very satisfied as a coach with the way our team played tonight," Tulane head coach Dave Dickerson said. "I thought we had an unbelievable team effort where everyone chipped in and helped us in certain areas. It was great to see Donnie Stith play well. He's a player that has a lot of potential and for him to come out and play in front of his parents and former coach and register a double-double was very gratifying. This was something we needed him to do in order for us to get the win."
The Pirates jumped out to a six-point lead in the first half and led 16-10 with 9:47 remaining in the opening period when senior Chris Moore drained a three-pointer and triggered a 10-0 run. Tulane took the lead for good on a Stith three-pointer. ECU stayed close and trailed 20-19 at the 6:05 minute mark. However, Stith broke loose for a dunk and followed that up with a lay-up and his second three-pointer of the half to lead the Green Wave to a 33-25 advantage at the break.
East Carolina made a strong push to regain the lead during the opening minutes by scoring the first seven points of the period and pulled to within a point with a little over two minutes gone by. Junior David Gomez stepped up by scoring six straight points and classmate Matt Wheaton tipped in a missed shot to give the Wave a nine-point cushion. Stith hit two free throws and Wheaton answered a Pirate basket with a three-pointer to give Tulane a 13-point lead.
TU led by double figures for the much of the remaining 10 minutes and never let the Pirates get close.
Gomez tallied 12 points, while Wheaton tied Stith for high rebounding honors with 11. The Wave out-rebounded ECU, 43-35, and received 29 points from its bench.
John Fields led the Pirates with 17 points.
