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Jan. 24, 2007

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HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) - Craig Craft and Sai'Quon Stone scored 19 points apiece as Southern Mississippi beat visiting East Carolina 83-72 in Wednesday night.

With the win, the Golden Eagles (13-5, 3-2) move above the .500 level in league play for the first time in six years. It is also the first time Southern Miss has won two consecutive regular season league games in three years. The Golden Eagles were coming off a 57-55 overtime win over Alabama-Birmingham on Saturday.

East Carolina (5-13, 0-5) lost its fifth straight game and has now dropped 12 of its last 13.

Stone's total included 17 points from the free-throw line. He tied the school record with 20 attempts from the charity stripe.

The Golden Eagles placed four players in double figures in the win, as Jeremy Wise added 15 and Courtney Beasley had 12.

Southern Miss overcame an early 15-7 deficit and took a 30-28 lead at halftime.

The Golden Eagles were 0-for-7 from behind the 3-point arch in the first half but made four 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes of the second half, part of an 18-6 run.

Trailing by 18, 62-44, with 6:21 remaining East Carolina made a furious rally, making six consecutive 3-point baskets in a five-minute span to trim its deficit to six, 75-69, with 1:48 remaining.

Craig Craft's 3 from the corner with 39 seconds left put the Golden Eagles up nine, essentially icing the game.

Darrell Jenkins scored a career-high 25 points for ECU, and Courtney Captain added 20 for the Pirates, netting a career-best six 3s. Jenkins was 5-of-9 from 3-point range.

The Pirates made 13 3-pointers on the night, its most since making 10 against Charlotte in January, 2002 and third-highest single-game total in school history.

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