Men’s Basketball Falls at ECU, 67-63

Sunday, February 23

Greenville, NC

12:00 P.M.

Temple University

14-13,6-8AAC

ECU

11-17,5-10AAC

Temple

East Carolina

Photo by: Richie Raspa

Men’s Basketball Falls at ECU, 67-63

2.23.20 | Men's Basketball

Box Score

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Sophomore Jayden Gardner, the AAC's leading scorer, tied his season high with 29 points to lead ECU (11-17, 5-10 AAC) to a 67-63 win over visiting Temple (14-13, 6-8) Sunday at Minges Coliseum. The loss snapped the Owls' three-game conference win streak.

Following a bizarre play where ECU was called on a flagrant foul, and two contact technical fouls with 3:51 remaining that gave Temple a 63-60 advantage, the Pirates ramped up their defense and closed the contest out on a 7-0 run for the win.

Game Summary
> The Owls, who limited Gardner to a season-low 11 points, had no answer for the ECU big man. The 6-7 forward recorded his 13^th double-double on the season with a game-high 13 rebounds while also tying for game-high honors with four assists and three steals. He made 13 of 24 from the field.
> Senior guard Quinton Rose led the Owls with 15 points and added three steals while redshirt junior Monty Scott added 12 points and four assists.
> Junior J.P. Moorman II had a solid game with nine points and a team-high eight rebounds.
> The difference in the game came at the free throw line as Temple made just 13 of 26 from the charity stripe while ECU was 17 of 24.

First Half
> ECU led the entire period, taking a 6-0 lead to start and building it to as high as 10 at times.
> Gardner was not to be denied, scoring 17 points and pulling down eight rebounds over the first 20 minutes for the Pirates.
> The Owls got a boost from their bench with 18 points led by Scott (8 pts) and Josh Pierre-Louis (6).
> Rose, who struggled from the field (3-15) against UConn, topped Temple in the half with 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting.
> A three-pointer by Alani Moore II at the buzzer off a feed from Nate Pierre-Louis closed the gap to a single point at the half, 37-36.

Second Half
> Moorman, who scored all of his points after intermission, gave the Owls their first lead, 38-37, with a driving layup a minute into the period. Three minutes later he extended the margin to four, 45-41, on a three-pointer.
> ECU quickly tied it with just under 14 minutes to play and the game would remain within one possession until the closing seconds.
> There were eight lead changes and seven ties in the frame, but the play that changed the game happened at the 3:51 mark.
> Moorman went up for an offensive rebound on a Scott miss and was fouled hard. After an official review, JJ Miles (11 pts) was called for a flagrant foul as well as a contact technical foul. Tremont Robinson-White was also called for a contact technical foul which gave Temple six free throws and possession.
> With the crowd enraged, Moorman missed both of his shots from the charity stripe and Alani Moore II then made three of the next four to give the Owls a 63-60 lead.
> Those, however, would be the last points for Temple as the Cherry and White missed all seven of their field goal attempts the remainder of the contest and turned the ball over three times.
> ECU only made one shot from the field, a driving layup by Robinson-White to give them the lead for good, 64-63. The Pirates did make five of six from the line, including three in the final 10 seconds to seal the win.

Up Next
> Temple travels to Wichita State for an ESPN showdown with the Shockers on Thursday night (8 pm).