DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – RJ Felton scored a game-high 21 points as East Carolina bounced back on the second day of the Boardwalk Battle, defeating Stetson 71-64 on Friday afternoon at the Ocean Center.
Jordan Riley added 14 points and Cam Hayes scored 13 for the Pirates (5-1). C.J. Walker scored 11 points despite fouling out with three minutes left in the game.
Mekhi Ellison led Stetson (1-5) with 15 points.
ECU struck first on a layup from Felton and jumped out to an early 4-0 lead before Stetson tied the game at 6-6 with back-to-back threes from Abramo Canka. The Pirates forced an early Hatters’ timeout after back-to-back threes of their own from Riley and Hayes.
Stetson would take its first lead with a 9-0 spurt to make the score 15-12 with 14:21 to go in the first half. The remainder of the first half would be tightly contested as neither team could get ahead by more than four points until the Pirates closed the half on an 8-0 run to go into the locker room ahead 39-33.
ECU maintained its lead in the early stages of the second half, taking its largest lead of nine after a three-point play from Jayshayne Woodard made the score 52-43. Stetson would chip away and eventually take the lead back on a second-chance layup with eight minutes to go.
The Pirates would take the lead for good on two Felton free throws and a second-chance score from Woodard and ECU would hit key free throws down the stretch for the seven-point victory.
Game Notes
- RJ Felton scored 20 or more points in three consecutive games for the first time in his career with his 21 points on Friday.
- Cam Hayes recorded a career-high five steals on the day.
- The Pirates are 5-0 this season when outrebounding their opponent and recording more makes and attempts at the foul line.
- The last time ECU was 5-1 through its first six games was in 2020-21.
East Carolina will play UIC in the fifth-place game tomorrow at 1 p.m.
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