Final Score: East Carolina 25, Southern Mississippi 20

Greenville, NC (Sports Network) - Pat Pinkney threw for 269 yards to help lift the East Carolina Pirates to a 25-20 win over the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles in a pivotal Conference USA tussle at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

Dominique Lindsay rushed for 98 yards on 20 carries for the Pirates (8-4, 7-1 C-USA), who lock up first place in the C-USA East Division and ensure themselves home-field advantage for next week's conference title game. ECU entered the weekend with a one-game lead over Southern Miss in the East.

Martevious Young threw for 262 yards and a touchdown for Southern Miss (7-5, 5-3). DeAndre Brown finished with 145 yards on seven catches in the loss.

Ben Hartman got the Pirates on the board first with a 49-yard field goal at the 10:40 mark of the opening quarter.

Southern Miss took the lead with 4:23 remaining in the first quarter, when Young found Freddie Parham for a 17-yard touchdown pass.

Dwayne Harris put ECU back on top with a 34-yard touchdown run on a reverse with just under 13 minutes to play in the second quarter.

Linval Joseph extended the Pirates' cushion to 17-7 on a one-yard touchdown plunge with 5:28 remaining until halftime.

The Golden Eagles cut the deficit to 17-14 on Tory Harrison's 41-yard touchdown burst late in the third quarter.

An 18-yard field goal by Hartman gave ECU a 20-14 lead with 10:43 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Three minutes later, Southern Miss tied it up on a three-yard halfback pass from Damion Fletcher to Leroy Banks. But ECU's C.J. Wilson blocked the extra point and returned it the other way to help the Pirates retain a two-point lead.

Hartman added a 47-yard field goal at the 4:37 mark, and the Golden Eagles offense sputtered in their final two possessions.

ECU held only a 441-429 edge in total offense, but the Golden Eagles failed to score on two of their four trips to the red zone.