The ECU men’s basketball team opened American Conference play at home on Wednesday with a loss to Tulane.
More details are below from ECU Sports Information.
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Jordan Riley scored a game-high 21 points but East Carolina was unable to win its first American Conference opener since 2021-22 falling to Tulane, 79-70, on Wednesday afternoon inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.
Tybo Bailey added 13 points on two made threes while Giovanni Emejuru recorded 12 points and nine rebounds for the Pirates (5-9, 0-1 American).
Rowan Brumbaugh and Asher Woods each scored 19 points to lead Tulane (10-4, 1-0 American) who picked up their first win inside Minges since the 2017-18 season.
Tulane went up by as much as much as seven multiple times in the first half before the Pirates closed the first half on a 14-5 run to go into the half ahead 39-37.
The teams exchanged leads in the first five minutes of the second half before the Pirates took their largest lead of the game on a three-point play from Emejuru with 13:52 remaining. Brumbaugh’s three with just under eight minutes to go tied the game at 61 and Scotty Middleton’s layup with 4:45 to go put Tulane ahead for good.
Tulane closed the game out on a 6-0 run, making their last three shots while East Carolina missed their last eight shots in the final 3:20 to drop their fourth straight conference opener.
Up Next
East Carolina has a bye week before visiting Temple on Wednesday at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.