The ECU men’s basketball team made the right moves down the stretch and held on for a 92-89 win over Georgia Southern on Tuesday in the season opener.
Below are more details from ECU Sports Information. Video is from Pirate Radio.
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Photo credit: Jordan Riley (ECU Sports Information)
Jordan Riley scored a game-high 22 points and grabbed eight rebounds as East Carolina outlasted Georgia Southern 92-89 in the team’s season opener at Minges Coliseum on Tuesday night.
Riley also had a strong night on the defensive end for the Pirates (1-0), registering a career-high six steals. Giovanni Emejuru had an impressive debut as a Pirate with 17 points and nine rebounds. Reid Cason had a career night with 14 points and five rebounds on 7-of-8 shooting while Isaiah Mbeng added nine points and a career-best eight assists.
Alden Applewhite led Georgia Southern (0-1) with 21 points.
After the Pirates jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead in the opening minutes of the first half, Georgia Southern battled back before taking their first lead of the night on Shainen Carter’s layup at the 14:17 mark of the first half to make it 15-14.
Neither team could gain a lead larger than three for the rest of the half, but the Pirates closed the half out strong with a mini 5-0 spurt to take a 44-42 lead going into the locker room.
The Pirates controlled the first five minutes of the second half, taking their largest lead of the night at 60-50 on a steal and thunderous slam from Riley that brought the fans in Minges to their feet and forced an Eagles timeout.
Georgia Southern would not go away, quickly cutting ECU’s lead back to just two before the second media timeout of the second half. The Eagles retook the lead and went up by as much as four on a second chance basket from Nakavieon White at the 8:58 mark.
Like most of the night, neither team could pull away in the final minutes that featured head coach challenges from both teams and key free throws made by Emejuru, Mbeng and Eli DeLaurier to help the Pirates hold off the Eagles and win their 26th straight season-opener.
Up Next
East Carolina travels to Richmond to face the Spiders on Saturday at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.