Pirates drop close contest at home to UNCW, 78-75

by | Nov 8, 2026

The ECU men’s basketball team dropped a close one to longtime rival UNC Wilmington on Saturday.

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Photo and story by ECU Sports Information

Cian Medley tied a career-high with 23 points and added 11 assists but East Carolina fell to UNCW, 78-75, on Saturday afternoon inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

Trevor Best added a career-high 22 points on four made threes for the Pirates (1-1) who trailed by double digits early but used a 12-4 run to get back into the game midway through the first half.

Patrick Wessler had 24 points and 18 boards for the Seahawks (2-0) while CJ Luster added 21 points.

Four straight free throws from Medley gave ECU a 33-31 advantage heading into the locker room and the Pirates took their largest lead of the day after Best caught fire and Medley converted a layup to make it 57-50 and forced a UNCW timeout.

The Seahawks clawed their way back into the game and Tahlan Pettaway delivered back-to-back crowd-silencing threes to give UNCW a 76-73 lead with 46 seconds left.

Medley scored on a jumper with 23 seconds to go to make it a one-point game but the Pirates couldn’t convert on a game-tying three late.

Up Next
East Carolina will look to rebound on Wednesday when it hosts NC A&T at 4 p.m. on ESPN+.

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