Gameday: Pirates Face Mercer In Savannah Invitational Semifinals

Game 6: East Carolina vs. Mercer
Date	Friday, November 25
Time	5 p.m. (ET)
Location	Savannah, Ga. (Savannah Civic Center)
Coverage	Live Stats \\\ Listen Live
Game Notes	East Carolina \\\ Mercer
Social Media	Twitter: @ECUScoreboard \\\ @ECUPirateHoops

SAVANNAH, Ga. --- East Carolina continues play in the Savannah Invitational Friday at 5 p.m. against Mercer at the Savannah Civic Center. The winner will advance to the tournament championship game Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and face either Air Force or Akron.

East Carolina and Mercer are each 2-0 in the tournament as the Pirates defeated Stetson and Florida A&M in the first two rounds, while the Bears disposed of Georgia Southern and Radford.

The two regional foes are squaring off for the first time since 1978 with each looking to avoid their second loss of the season. ECU sports a 4-1 record with its only setback coming on the road at Charlotte, while Mercer owns a 3-1 mark, suffering its lone defeat to Florida in Jacksonville.

ECU has three players averaging double figures led by senior Caleb White with 18.8 points per game. White has scored 20 or more three times in the four games he's played, including each of the last two. B.J. Tyson dropped season-high 17 against Florida A&M Tuesday to raise his scoring average to 13.6, while Kentrell Barkley poured in 21 last time out against the Rattlers and is averaging 12.6 ppg.

Seven-foot-1 graduate transfer Andre Washington leads the Pirates in rebounding (8.6 rpg) and blocked shots (12).

Junior guard Ria'n Holland is Mercer's top scorer at 19.5 ppg with a pair of 20-point games on his 2016-17 resume. Demetre Rivers is the team's only other double figure scorer at 12.3 ppg.

Both teams enter play on Friday ranked among the top defensive teams in the country after three weeks of competition. ECU is holding its opponents to 33.8 percent shooting and Mercer is limiting its opponents to 34.6 percent.

NEWS &NOTES

East Carolina won each of its first two games of the Savannah Invitational by 20 points. The Pirates opened tournament play with a 73-50 win over Stetson followed by an 82-62 victory over Florida A&M. Senior Caleb White dropped in 22 against Stetson and 20 on FAMU. He is 11-of-19 (.579)from outside the arc in the tournament so far. Kentrell Barkley and B.J. Tyson are each averaging 15.5 ppg through two games of the Savannah Invitational.
UPCOMING MILESTONE: White needs five 3-pointers to move into fourth place on the school's all-time list. He currently tied with Brandon Hawkins in fifth-place with 200 career 3s.
The Pirates will look to earn their first non-conference victory outside of Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum in 363 days. Their last non-conference win away from home was against Stetson on Nov. 27, 2015 in Las Vegas. Since then ECU has lost non-league games at College of Charleston (12/7/15), James Madison (12/20/15) and Charlotte (11/17/16).
White and Tyson have scored double figures in every game they've played this season with White posting 20 or more points three times. Barkley has scored double figures in four of the five games he's played. Through games played on Tuesday, White led The American with 4.0 3s per game and was fourth in 3-point percentage (.552).
ECU Head Coach Jeff Lebo will coach his first game as the Pirates' winningest all-time Division I coach after surpassing Tom Quinn with his 103rd triumph steering the Pirates on Tuesday. East Carolina became competing as a full fledged Division I member in 1965.
East Carolina has out-rebounded each of its first five opponents of the season by an average of 11.2 boards per game.
ECU has held four of its first five opponents under 65 points, all at home. In 10 halves of basketball this season, ECU has held its opponent to less than 30 points eight times.
The Pirates have 30 blocks and 31 steals through the first five games. ECU collected its 30th steal of the previous season in game six, but it didn't record its 30th block until game 13.
ECU has forced its opponents to shoot under 35 percent from the floor in seven halves this season, including five halves under 30 percent. Stetson was 6-for-37 (.162) in the second half Sunday after shooting 8-of-32 (.250) in the first half. N.C. A&T shot just 25.9 percent in the first half and Charlotte made just 29.4 percent of its first half field goal attempts. Most recently, the Pirates limited Florida A&M to 29.6 percent shooting Tuesday.

Gameday: Pirates Face Mercer In Savannah Invitational Semifinals

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Players Mentioned

Kentrell Barkley

B.J. Tyson

Andre Washington

Caleb White

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