GREENVILLE, N.C. James
Legan scored 18 of his career-high 24 points in the second half and
East Carolina handed Campbell an 86-65 loss Wednesday night at
Williams Arena.
ECU wrapped a 26-6 run around
half-time and held
Campbell without a field goal for 11:43.
Legan made 6-of-12 threes
(4-of-6 after intermission) on the night and led four Pirates in
double figures. Brock Young
added 18 (11-of-11 free throws) and six assists, Sam Hinnant 16
(12-of-15 from the line) and Chad Wynn 11, all in the first
half.
Jonathan Rodriguez led the
Camels (1-1) with 14 points, but was limited to just four second
half minutes and fouled out with 6:43 to play. Jabril Bailey and Preston Dodson came
off the bench to score 10 points each for Campbell, which shot just
24 percent in the first half, 35 percent for the game.
Rodriguez broke Campbell's
school Division I era (since 1977-78) record by scoring in double
figures for his 40th-straight game. Clarence Grier scored double digits in
39-straight games over the 1985-86 and 1986-87 seasons.
ECU converted 19 Campbell
turnovers into 23 points and led by as many as 23 late. The Pirates (3-0) have started the
season with three victories for the first time since 2003-04 and
only the fourth occasion since 1969-70.
"You've got to credit ECU for
playing a solid defensive ball game," said head coach Robbie
Laing. "We faced pressure
we have not seen this season, and I don't we handled it very
well. Our defensive effort
was very good. We had some
nice shots we just didn't finish inside, then ECU had a spurt where
they shot the ball well and we just didn't recover from
that."
The lead changed hands three
times and the score was tied on four occasions before the Camels
went cold from the field.
After Chris Reynolds' lay-in cut the ECU lead to 19-17 with 10:39
to play, Campbell missed its final 12 shots and made six turnovers
to close the half.
ECU ended the opening period
on a 21-6 run over the final 6:21. Chad Wynn (5-of-6 from the floor) had
11 points and Brock Young 10 for the Pirates who shot just
38 percent (12-32) from the field in the first
half.
Campbell trailed 47-34 before
Rodriguez picked up his second, third and fourth fouls in a
33-second span before the first media timeout of the final
stanza.
ECU finished the game
shooting 42 percent from the field and hit 8-of-24 threes, 28-of-34
from the line. Campbell
finished with a 42-37 edge on the glass; topped by Rodriguez' eight
boards and six each from Kyle Vejraska and Junard
Hartley.
Campbell returns to action Saturday in
a 3:15 p.m. tip-off at home against UNC Asheville.