Rice University
East Carolina
Rice Falls to ECU, 76-65
2/20/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2010
East Carolina vs. Rice Game Book 
East Carolina point guard Brock Young scored a career-high 27 points and the Pirates used a late rally to stretch a four-point lead to double figures Saturday afternoon as they beat Rice 76-65 in Tudor Fieldhouse.
Rice lost its fourth straight conference game to fall to 8-18 and 1-11 in Conference USA. ECU avenged an earlier home-court loss to the Owls, improving to 9-17 and 3-9.
Tamir Jackson scored a career-high 22 points for the Owls, marking just the second, 20-point game by a Rice player this season.
East Carolina never trailed in the second half but Jackson's two free throws with 4:36 to play cut the Pirates lead to four points, 59-55 with 4:36 to play. Rice had cut ECU's lead to as few as two points early in the second period but the four-point margin with just over four minutes to play was as close as the Owls had come since midway through the half.
After Jackson's free throws, Young made one of two free throws but the Owls couldn't convert further into the Pirate lead as Jackson missed a layup attempt. Corvonn Gaines scored on a putback basket to give ECU a 62-55 lead with 3:33 left. A three-point play converted by Young at the 2:15 mark gave the Pirates a 67-59 advantage.
Jontae Sherrod later scored inside on a jumper and hit two free throws following a missed three by the Owls and the Pirates were up 71-60 with 1:20 to play. Sherrod finished with 15 points including a 7-for-8 performance at the free throw line. Jamar Abrams hit a pair of big three-pointers in the second half, one after the Owls had cut ECU's lead to two early in the period and another to put the Pirates up by nine later in the half. Abrams finished with 13 points.
Rice trailed 30-24 at the half as ECU scored the final six points of the period. The Owls missed two field goal attempts and a free throw in the final two minutes of the half. The Owls also turned the ball over with less than 12 seconds to play and Young converted a pair of free throws with a second on the clock to extend the Pirates lead at the break.
Young was 9-for-12 from the field and 8-for-11 from the line. The league's leader in assists also had four assists and two steals.
As a team, East Carolina shot 44 percent from the field and outrebounded the Owls 40-35.
Jackson was 7-for-16 from the field and made 7-of-10 free throws for the Owls. Lucas Kuipers added 14 points for Rice.
The Owls continue a home stand Wednesday when they play host to Marshall as the regular season winds down. Only two weeks (four games) remain in Conference USA play before the C-USA Tournament begins in Tulsa the second week of March. East Carolina plays host to SMU Wednesday.
