East Carolina 89, Houston 78

Jan 16, 2013, 09:51 pm

GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Maurice Kemp scored 30 points and Akeem Richmond added 14, all in the second half, as East Carolina rallied to defeat Houston 89-78 Wednesday night.

The Pirates (11-5, 2-1 Conference USA) trailed 69-60 with 8:18 remaining but outscored Houston 29-9 down the stretch. Richmond scored 11 of his points in that span, including three of his four 3-pointers.

It was the second consecutive come-from-behind victory for East Carolina, which defeated Central Florida 88-85 Saturday after trailing by 17 in the second half.

The Pirates committed just five turnovers in the game and shot 54.3 percent (19 of 35) in the second half after hitting 32.4 percent (12 of 37) in the first.

Danuel House led the Cougars (12-4, 1-2) with 22 points, TaShawn Thomas had 18, Joseph Young 15 and Leon Gibson 14.

Miguel Paul added 16 points and eight assists for East Carolina, and Ty Armstrong had 12 rebounds.