GREENVILLE, N.C. – Cleveland State had three players in double figures, but dropped a 72-69 contest at ECU on Monday night as part of the Showcase on the Banks.
CSU, playing without leading scorer and rebounder Kenny Carpenter who missed the game due to illness, fell to 1-3. ECU improved to 2-2.
STAT LEADERS
- Bobby Word led the Vikings with 17 points and three steals.
- Tyree Appleby finished with 15 points and four assists.
- Stefan Kenic was in double figures for the fourth straight game, tallying 14 points to go with eight rebounds and two assists.
- Anthony Wright tallied seven points, 11 rebounds and three assists.
- Dontel Highsmith, who was making his CSU debut, recorded nine points, nine rebounds, three assists and two steals.
COACH SPEAK
- “They turned up the pressure like the needed to and we didn’t take good enough care of the ball. We had a couple key turnovers and we didn’t execute and take care of the ball down the stretch. There’s a lot to learn from this moving forward. I thought it was tremendous that when we fell down by 10 in the second half, we hung in there and grinded our way back into the game. That was exciting to see.” Head Coach Dennis Felton
FIRST HALF RECAP
- After ECU opened the scoring with a basket, the Vikings rattled off the next 11 points to take an 11-2 lead four minutes in and force a Pirate timeout.
- CSU maintained control and still held a 10 point lead (25-15) on a Word layup with 8:26 to play in the half.
- The Pirates answered with 10 straight points to knot the contest at 25-25 with just under six minutes to play.
- Kenic stopped the run with a driving layup and Highsmith’s three-point play gave the Vikings a three-point lead (32-29) with 2:39 to play.
- ECU ended the half with a pair of buckets to take a one point lead (33-32) into the locker room.
SECOND HALF RECAP
- ECU scored the first five points of the second half as part of a 15-5 run to open up a nine point lead (48-37) four minutes into the half and force a CSU timeout.
- The Vikings came right back, using a 14-2 run to take a 51-50 lead on Appleby’s driving layup with 11 minutes left.
- A Word three-pointer with just over four minutes to play gave the Vikings a 64-57 lead, but Kentrell Barkley answered with a three-pointer on the other end to pull ECU back within four points.
- Kenic responded with a three-pointer on the other end to push the lead back to seven points (67-60).
- ECU finished the game by scoring 12 of the final 14 points to pull out the win.
- Appleby’s three-pointer at the buzzer was just off which would have tied the game.
KEY STATS
- The Vikings were without senior Kenny Carpenter, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder who missed the game due to illness.
- Senior Derek Sloan also missed the game due to injury.
- CSU held a 33-32 edge on the boards and made eight steals.
- The Vikings received 22 points from their bench.
- CSU was 15-of-18 (.833) at the free throw line, while ECU was just 11-of-25 (.440). n m mtrf
- The Pirates shot .519 (27-52) from the field, while the Vikings were 24-of-58 (.414).
UP NEXT
- The Vikings return home for their next two games, hosting Central Connecticut on Friday (Nov. 24) at 5:00 pm and Arkansas State next Wednesday (Nov. 29) at 7:00 pm.
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