Pirates defeat Tulane in regular season home finale, 73-64

by | Mar 7, 2025

East Carolina’s final regular season home game was a good one in large part to the play of RJ Felton.

The Pirates beat Tulane, 73-64, on Thursday at Minges Coliseum. They led from start to finish to improve to 18-12 overall, 10-7 in the AAC.

Below is a full report from ECU Sports Information. Videos and photos from Pirate Radio are also included.

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Photo credit (RJ Felton, ECU Sports Information)

By ECUPirates.com

RJ Felton scored 17 points on 7-of-15 shooting as East Carolina defeated Tulane 73-64 in wire-to-wire fashion on Thursday evening inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

Jordan Riley and C.J. Walker each added 15 points for the Pirates (18-12, 10-7 AAC) who have won three in a row and six of their last seven games. Cam Hayes tallied 11 points on 3-of-6 shooting from behind the arc and dished out seven assists.

Asher Woods had a game-high 21 points to lead Tulane (17-13, 11-6 AAC).

The Pirates hit seven of their first 11 shots to blitz Tulane early and take an 18-5 lead at the 13:14 mark of the first half. ECU’s lead grew to as much as 17 after a steal and thunderous slam from Riley made it 28-11.

Tulane slowly crept back into the game, outscoring the Pirates 13-5 over a five-minute span, but the Pirates were able to have an answer for every Green Wave run as Walker’s alley-oop just before the half brought the Minges crowd to its feet and gave ECU a 42-31 halftime lead.

The Green Wave got within seven to open up the second half but the Pirates once again responded with a 15-5 spurt that featured a couple of highlight dunks from Jayshayne Woodard and Riley to push the lead back to double figures.

That trend continued in the final 10 minutes as every time Tulane cut its deficit down to 10 points or single digits, the Pirates answered with a score to halt the Green Wave’s comeback attempt and get their 18th win of the season.

Game Notes

  • The starting five of Hayes, Felton, Riley, Walker and LaBeaux started their sixth straight game and 18th game of the season.
  • The Pirates reached double digit conference wins for the first time since the 1974-75 season in the Southern Conference.
  • RJ Felton reached 1,700 points for his career with his three-pointer at the 13:14 mark of the first half.
  • ECU tied a season-high for made threes in a first half with seven.
  • ECU improved to 11-5 when leading at the half and 8-2 when hitting more threes than their opponent.

Up Next
East Carolina concludes its regular season down in Boca Raton on Sunday when the Pirates face Florida Atlantic at 1 p.m. on ESPN+.

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