GREENVILLE, North Carolina -- With 13 minutes remaining, the ECU basketball team was staring at a 15-point deficit and the chance of their season possibly ending against the Savannah State Tigers. The four ECU seniors faced the fact that they may never suit up in a Pirate uniform ever again, but an improbable comeback kept their careers alive, at least for one more game.
Survive and Win.
The Pirates only led for 35 seconds in the entire 40-minute game. Miguel Paul gave ECU the lead on a “less than organized” sequence of plays with 47 seconds left in the game. A tipped pass caused the ball to go bouncing into ECU’s backcourt. In a foot race to the ball, Paul dove and tipped it to teammate Robert Sampson. Akeem Richmond ended up with the ball and threw a 30-foot laser pass back to Paul, who was streaking down the floor. Paul knocked down a three and put the Pirates ahead by one.
Savannah State called a timeout and set up a play to take the lead. After a scrum under the basket, the Tigers’ Rashad Hassan made a layup and was fouled. The “Minges Maniacs” became enraged at the officials and their controversial calls down the stretch. Hassan missed the important free throw and ECU regained possession.
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