ECU men’s basketball comes back from 19 down to stun Memphis at the buzzer

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) - Brandon Suggs hit the game winning jumper in the final second as ECU stunned Memphis 72-71 on Saturday night in Greenville.

The Pirates got down by 19 points in the first half. Memphis led by Jalen Duren who had 15 points and Emoni Bates who added 13 points.

ECU chipped away at the deficit little by little. Alanzo Frink and Tristen Newton both had 11 points. They got it down to single digits late in the 2nd half. ECU went crazy in the final minute. Newton hit a three to get it to 5. Then Vance Jackson nailed a corner three to tie it in the final minute. He had a co-game high 17 points.

After Memphis got a free throw. ECU appeared to be stopped by a great block by the Tigers. The refs put 1 second on the clock after review. Coach Joe Dooley said the review allowed them to draw up their inbound play. They got the ball to Suggs who hit a jumper as time expired to give ECU the victory as many of the 5,107 fans stormed the court. Suggs finished with a co-game high 17 and said he had never hit a shot like that in his life.

ECU is 10-0 at home for the first time since the 1955-56 season. The Pirates improve to 11-5 overall, 2-2 in conference. They host a very tough UCF team on Tuesday night at 7 PM.

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