Men's Basketball Unable To Find Second Half Rhythm in Loss To UCF
 
Courtney Captian leads ECU with 15 points in 67-49 loss
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John Fields
 
John Fields
 
 

Feb. 7, 2007

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GREENVILLE, N.C. --- Senior Josh Peppers scored 24 points, including 14 in the second half, to lead UCF to a 67-49 win over East Carolina in Conference USA men's basketball here Wednesday night. Sophomore Jermaine Taylor, the Golden Knights' leading scorer coming into the game, finished with 17 points.

ECU, which lost its ninth consecutive game, fell to 0-6 all-time against UCF with four of those losses occurring over the past two seasons.

Senior Courtney Captain led the Pirates in scoring for a fourth consecutive game with 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting. In the first half he netted 5-of-8 shots, including 4-of-7 attempts from behind the arc, but made just a single free throw after halftime.

Freshman John Fields recorded his second double-double of the season with 11 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Junior Cory Farmer also finished with double figures, scoring 10 points.

Neither team gained much of an advantage prior to halftime with the biggest lead of the half being a six-point lead by UCF (17-6, 6-3) after it scored the game's first six points.

Captain made three consecutive 3s to take ECU (5-17, 0-9 C-USA) from down three to up by three, 21-18, with 5:12 left until halftime. UCF closed the half on an 11-5 run, five points courtesy of Taylor, to claim a three-point halftime lead, 29-26.

The Golden Knights extended their lead to seven on a dunk by Taylor, but a traditional 3-point play from Gabe Blair and a lay-up by Farmer brought the Pirates back within two, 36-34, with 12:23 showing.

 

 

ECU then went the next 5:23 without a point as UCF put together a 13-0 run to claim a 15-point lead, 49-34, with just over eight minutes left. Peppers scored eight of his 24 points during that stretch. UCF led by as many as 19 before Fields made a free throw with under a minute to play to determine the final margin.

UCF shot 50 percent from the floor (10-of-20) after halftime compared to just 32 percent (8-of-25) by ECU.

The Pirates' leading scorer Darrell Jenkins finished with just three points, but did distribute five assists to move into second place on the school's single-season chart with 124 helpers.

Play resumes for the Pirates on Saturday, February 10, against Houston. The game is scheduled for an 8 p.m. EST start at Hoefheinz Pavilion on the UofH campus.