Second Half Surge Helps ECU Beat Grambling

Thursday, December 21

Greenville, N.C.

7 P.M.

East Carolina University

6-5

Grambling State

4-8

Grambling

ECU

Photo by: Rob Goldberg

December 21, 2017 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

RESULT
B.J. Tyson scored 20 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out three assists to lead ECU to a 76-68 victory over Grambling State inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum Thursday night.

TURNING POINT
Trailing by four with 10:59 to play, the Pirates went on a 12-2 run over a four-minute span to take a six-point lead, 59-53, with 6:29 to play with Dimitri Spasojevic scoring eight points. ECU pushed its lead to 10 with under three minutes to play after trailing by 12 in the first half.

ECU PLAYER-OF-THE-GAME
Tyson kept ECU in the game in the first half, scoring 15 points of 5-of-6 shooting – knocking down a pair of 3s and 3-of-4 free throws … The rest of the team was 5-of-19 from the field … Tyson finished the game 7-of-12 overall from the floor … He also pushed his career scoring total to 1,293 points leaving him seven points shy of 1,300.

GRAMBLING PLAYER-OF-THE-GAME
Ivy Smith, Jr. poured in 20 points, handed out six assists and grabbed five rebounds in the loss for Grambling, who has played 11 of it 12 games on the road this season … He was 7-of-13 overall from the floor and a perfect 5-of-5 at the free throw line.

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT
"I hope we gave everybody here tonight some holiday cheer… It was a heck of a win tonight obviously after a dismal night a few days ago."– ECU Interim Head Coach Michael Perry

KEY PERFORMERS
Isaac Fleming scored 18 points, making 8-of-11 free throws … Spasojevic poured in a career-high 16 points and grabbed team-high seven rebounds … Freshman K.J. Davis also grabbed seven boards, surpassing his season total of six … Fleming and Davis picked up two steals each … Usman Haruna and Spasojevich each blocked two shots.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE AND MORE
ECU recorded season-highs for free throws made (25) and attempted (40) … The Pirates shot 51.9 percent from the field in the second half … ECU picked up its fourth win in the last five games, beat Grambling for the third time in a row and posted a winning nonconference record for the eighth straight season.

UP NEXT
ECU returns to the court on Dec. 28 as it opens American Athletic Conference play at Tulsa. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. and will be televised on ESPNU.