Pirates Fall To USC Upstate, 83-81

Wednesday, November 15

Greenville, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

2-1,0-0AAC

USC Upstate

2-2,0-0Big South

USC Upstate

East Carolina

November 15, 2023 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

GREENVILLE, N.C. – RJ Felton scored a new career-high 33 points on 12-of-17 shooting but it wasn't enough as East Carolina fell to USC Upstate 83-81 on Wednesday evening inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

Ezra Ausar also set a new career mark with 24 points for the Pirates (2-1) who found themselves behind for the entire first half after not trailing for a second of its first two games. Felton became the first Pirate to score back-to-back 30 point games since Theodore "Blue" Edwards in 1989.

Trae Broadnax led the Spartans (2-2) with 20 points for their second straight win.

ECU found itself down by as much as 13 in the first half behind untimely turnovers and 54 percent shooting by the Spartans from the floor, but the Pirates would mount a 10-2 run in the final minutes of the first half capped off by a Jaden Walker layup to cut the deficit to 44-41 at the break.

Ausar would knot the game at 44-44 with his second career three-pointer and ECU would take its first lead after two Ausar free throws. The Pirates would keep the lead for the next nine minutes and Felton would hit one of his five three-pointers to give ECU its largest lead at 69-62 with 9:03 remaining.

The Spartans would knot the game up at 69-69 with 7:03 to go and both teams would tie and exchange leads twice over the next three minutes. USC Upstate would take a four-point lead on a second chance basket and hit its free throws to keep the lead down the stretch.

The Pirates would still have one last chance to tie or win the game in the waning seconds, but ECU could not convert a basket on two second chance opportunities in the final five seconds.

Up Next
The Pirates will tipoff the TowneBank Holiday Classic inside Minges Coliseum on Sunday, Nov. 19 at 2 p.m. against Northeastern on ESPN+.