Gary Flowers led hot-shooting Southern Mississippi with 17 points and the Golden Eagles defeated East Carolina 84-77 Wednesday night.
Southern Miss (15-5, 4-3 Conference USA) shot 55.1 percent from the field (27 of 49), 54.5 percent from 3-point range (6 of 11) and 80 percent from the free-throw line (24 of 30) to defeat the Pirates for the fourth consecutive meeting and for the ninth time in the last 10. The Golden Eagles snapped a two-game losing streak.
Darrius Morrow led the Pirates (11-9, 3-3), whose two-game winning streak ended, with 18 points. His layup with 8:17 left tied the score for the final time, at 58-58. Sai'Quon Stone's ensuing three-point play gave the Golden Eagles the lead for good, but it wasn't until Flowers' jumper with 4:58 left that Southern Miss built more than a one-possession cushion in the final minutes at 67-62.
