EW boys hand New Bern 1st loss of the season

By Ryan Hanchett
Published in Sports on December 20, 2013 1:48 PM

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rhanchett@newsargus.com

Eastern Wayne never panicked.

After New Bern erased a 13-point deficit in the second half, interim Warriors head coach Chris Roberts reminded his guys that slow and steady play was going to win the game.

Roberts was right and Eastern Wayne knocked New Bern from the unbeaten ranks with a 63-58 victory in Eastern Carolina 3-A/4-A Conference play Thursday night.

Roberts filled in for second-year head coach Glen Darden, who is out due to illness.

"At halftime I told the team that New Bern was going to make a run," Roberts said. "Once they did, I called timeout and used it as another opportunity to calm the guys down. The players responded by hitting some big shots in the final minute."

Eastern Wayne (2-2 overall, 2-1 ECC) started hot as Malik Richard scored the first seven points of the game and pushed the Warriors ahead 7-2. Micah Smith followed with a thunderous dunk that electrified the home crowd.

"Even though that play was early in the game I think it was a big play," Roberts said. "The crowd got excited and the players got hyped up. It was an exciting moment."

Eastern Wayne pulled ahead 20-13 after one quarter and extended the lead to 38-25 at the intermission.

New Bern (7-1, 1-1) answered with some hot outside shooting in the second half. Guards Rhysante Ellis and Miller Mills combined to score 15 points in the period, and the Bears tied the game at 50-50 with eight minutes to play.

New Bern led 55-53 midway through the fourth quarter before Richard sank a pair of putbacks to help Eastern Wayne retake the lead. The Warriors sealed the game in the final minute when K.K. Best hit four consecutive free throw attempts.

"K.K. is just a sophomore, but he plays much older than that," Roberts said. "Even when things started to get a little out of control in the third quarter, he was able to settle the guys down and keep us in our offense. He got the chance to put the game away at the line and he made the most of it."

Richard led Eastern Wayne with 17 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Smith added 13 points. Deshawn Boudy and Zeke Martin each finished with seven points.

Ellis led New Bern with 15 points. Jeff Taylor added nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Eastern Wayne travels to Havelock tonight.