Campbell upends ECU

By ECU Sports Information
Published in Sports on February 20, 2013 1:47 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- With leading scorer Michael Williams watching the first half from the bench, Charles B. Aycock proved it has more than enough weapons to hold its own.

Eastern Wayne struggled to maintain its early intensity.

Five different Golden Falcons scored in double figures in a 78-57 rout of the Warriors in the first round of the Eastern Carolina 3-A Conference boys' basketball tournament Tuesday evening.

Aycock travels to Southern Wayne on Thursday. Tip-off is 6 p.m.

Williams was sidelined during the first two quarters for what Golden Falcons' head coach Steve Moats described as a "minor discipline issue."

Aycock's supporting cast filled in admirably. Cameron Johnson scored a game-high 13 points. Javaris Williams and Shakel Powell each finished with 12 points. Greg Williams and A.J. Mundle both provided 10 points.

Malik Richard led Eastern Wayne with 11 points and Micah Smith had 10.

Both teams started strong offensively as Powell knocked down open jump shots for Aycock.

The Warriors stayed within striking distance with aggressive dribble penetration. Eastern Wayne routinely beat defenders to the rim or earned its way to the free throw line. The Golden Falcons closed the first half on a 10-4 run and led 41-32 at the break.

Aycock (13-11 overall) defended the paint and limited the Warriors' ability to drive toward the rim in the second half. Eastern Wayne was forced to settle for contested jump shots and a 12-3 Golden Falcons' run stretched the lead to 53-35 midway through the third quarter.

"They did a great job in the first half with dribble penetration and either getting to the line and getting three-point-plays so that was kind of a point of emphasis," Moats said. "We talked about if they're going to penetrate to make them go one way and one way only, and to try not to let it happen.

"We wanted to make them a jump-shooting team."

Moats received quality minutes from his bench and his reserves combined to score 31 points, including nine from Williams.

"We've got a lot of confidence in all of our guys," Moats said. "It is nice to be able to go eight or nine deep of the bench and get those guys some minutes and get some production also."

The Warriors finished the season 8-17 under first-year head coach Glen Darden. Eastern Wayne loses seven seniors, but returns several promising underclassmen.

"Your first year is your hardest year," Darden said. "Throughout the season I don't think the players grasped my system and what I was trying to run. We've got a lot of underclassmen coming in that are motivated.

"All of our losses, I'm the coach, I'll step up to the plate, I made some bad decisions and I made some good decisions. We're going to get better."