Darrius Morrow scored 24 points as East Carolina snapped a six-game losing streak by defeating Alabama-Birmingham 73-66 on Saturday night.
Morrow made 11 of 15 shots for the Pirates (10-10, 1-6 Conference USA), who also defeated the Blazers the last time they met, 75-70 in last season's conference tournament quarterfinals. Morrow scored 22 in that game.
East Carolina closed the first half with an 18-5 run to lead 36-26 and increased its margin to 17 points, 56-39, with 9:30 remaining.
Cameron Moore scored 10 straight points to start a 17-7 run by the Blazers (7-13, 2-5) that trimmed their deficit to 67-64 with 28 seconds left. Four free throws by Miguel Paul and two by Robert Sampson secured the Pirates' victory.
Paul scored 14 points, Erin Straughn 13 and Maurice Kemp 12 for East Carolina.
Preston Purifoy had 17 points and Moore had 14 points and 13 rebounds for UAB.
