East Carolina University
4-3
Florida Atlantic
1-5
East Carolina Defeats Florida Atlantic 74-48
December 01, 2015 | Men's Basketball
From wire and staff reports
GREENVILLE, N.C. - B.J. Tyson had 15 points and Grant Bryant had a career-high 12 to lead East Carolina to a convincing 74-48 win over Florida Atlantic on Tuesday night.
Tyson was 7 of 9 from the floor and grabbed a career-best nine rebounds. Caleb White had 10 points and dished out five assists for East Carolina. The Pirates controlled the boards 41-31 and outscored the Owls in the paint 48-20.
Bryant, who had scored just eight points in seven career games entering the contest, played a career-best 20 minutes largely in part due to the absence of Michel Nzege, who sat out due to an ankle injury. He finished 6 of 8 from the field.
"Without Michel (Nzege) playing with the ankle injury Grant Bryant did a great job for us," ECU Head Coach Jeff Lebo said. "[He's] a guy that's really worked hard. He didn't play a lot last year, hasn't played much this year, but his attitude has been good... and he's gotten better. He was rewarded tonight and that was nice to see."
After a 2-2 tie, East Carolina went on a 16-1 run for an 18-3 lead holding FAU (1-5) without a field goal for more than nine minutes.
The Pirates posted a 32-14 score at halftime, the fewest points allowed by an opponent in Lebo's tenure, limiting the Owls to 5 of 25 (.200) shooting. It was the second time in the last three games that East Carolina has allowed fewer than 20 points in half.
"Coming from the west coast I thought we looked fresh, I thought we played with energy, played with enthusiasm," Lebo said. "We got a lot of good play off our bench and we were really solid with our zone defensively in the first half."
East Carolina pushed the lead to 55-25 with 12:08 remaining when Bryant wrapped back-to-back layups around an FAU turnover.
The Pirates shot 64.3 percent from the floor in the second half, connecting on 18 of 28 attempts and finished at 54.2 percent. Eleven players distributed an assist as East Carolina dropped a dime on 23 of 32 field goals.
Solomon Poole led FAU with 11 points. The Owls were held to 36-percent shooting (19-53).
