Cam Hayes had his best performance in a Pirates jersey with a season-high 20 points to go along with six assists and five rebounds. RJ Felton added 15 points and Jordan Riley tallied 11 points to round out ECU’s scorers in double figures. The Pirates (7-1) were also efficient in running their offense with 23 assists to just nine turnovers.
Ryan Forrest scored a game-high 25 points to lead N.C. A&T (3-4).
ECU jumped out to an early 11-4 lead after back-to-back threes from Riley and Hayes and would push their lead to as much as 11 after a Yann Farell three-pointer made the score 21-10 with 11:28 remaining in the first half. The Aggies would cut the Pirates’ lead to five with a 9-5 spurt and ECU’s hot start would fizzle out as the Pirates only made two of the six shots in that span.
After A&T cut the lead to five again, ECU made their last four shots to close out the half capped off by a buzzer-beating three from Felton to give the Pirates a 44-33 lead at the break.
N.C. A&T would get within eight points in the opening stages of the second half but the Pirates would go on a 13-4 run to push their lead back to double digits. ECU’s lead increased to 24 after a highlight alley-oop dunk from Jayshayne Woodard and the Pirates would go up by as much as 33 en route to their seventh win of the season.
Game Notes
- The Pirates are 7-1 for the first time since 2020-21.
- RJ Felton has now scored in double figures in 33 consecutive games dating back to last season.
- The quartet of Jordan Riley, C.J. Walker, RJ Felton and Cam Hayes has each scored in double figures in five of ECU’s first eight games this season.
- C.J. Walker recorded his fifth 20-plus point game of the season and also of his career.
- Hayes’ six assists and five rebounds are also season-highs.
- Jordan Riley’s six assists are a career-high.
- The Pirates are 3-0 when they shoot 50 percent or better from the floor.
- Bencao Vungo grabbed a career-best five rebounds.
East Carolina remains at home for a battle against in-state rival UNCW on Tuesday at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.
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