Pettiford's Buzzer-Beater Lifts Pirates Past Kennesaw State, 85-84

Tuesday, November 21

Greenville, N.C.

6:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

4-2,0-0AAC

Kennesaw State

4-2,0-0ASUN

Kennesaw St.

East Carolina

Pettiford's Buzzer-Beater Lifts Pirates Past Kennesaw State, 85-84

November 21, 2023 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

GREENVILLE, N.C. – Bobby Pettiford Jr. scored a career-high 18 points including a half court buzzer-beater to lift East Carolina past Kennesaw State 85-84 in the final game of the TowneBank Holiday Classic on Tuesday evening inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum.

RJ Felton led the Pirates (4-2) with 19 points who found themselves in a battle with the Owls for the full 40 minutes. Jaden Walker added 13 points and 11 rebounds and Ezra Ausar recorded 14 points for ECU.

Terrell Burden led Kennesaw State (4-2) with 19 points.

After a close start to the game, the Owls broke the game open with a barrage of threes to take a 14-point lead at 32-18 with 9:11 remaining in the first half. ECU would storm back with a 16-2 run to pull within two points and eventually reclaim the lead on a Walker three-pointer at the 5:11 mark. ECU would find itself down 47-43 at the break as the Pirates could not overcome 10 first half three-pointers from the Owls.

The teams would continue to trade blows in the second half until it appeared that Kennesaw State was on its way to an undefeated run in the tournament after a jumper by Simeon Cottle put the Owls ahead 78-70 with three minutes to go.

ECU would use free throws and key defensive stops to knot the game at 82-82 with just 13 seconds to go in the game. Burden would hit a tough two with two seconds left to put the Owls back up 84-82 but Pettiford was not to be outdone for late game heroics, nailing the miracle shot from past half court to give the Pirates the thrilling victory.

Up Next
East Carolina faces its first road test of the season on Saturday, Nov. 25 against George Mason at 2 p.m. on ESPN+.