Pirates Fall To South Carolina, 68-62

Saturday, December 9

Greenville, N.C.

Noon

East Carolina University

6-4,0-0AAC

South Carolina

8-1,0-0SEC

South Carolina

East Carolina

December 09, 2023 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

GREENVILLE, N.C. – RJ Felton scored 15 points and grabbed seven rebounds but the Pirates fell short to South Carolina 68-62 inside Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum on Saturday afternoon.

Felton was one of four players for ECU (6-4) to score in double figures joined by Bobby Pettiford Jr. (14 points), Ezra Ausar (14 points) and Brandon Johnson (10 points).

Meechie Johnson and Myles Stute led the Gamecocks (8-1) with 15 points each.

South Carolina would hold the lead for the entire first half as the Pirates were unable to get any closer than a point to the Gamecocks. ECU's three-minute scoring drought, coupled with a 9-0 Gamecocks spurt, would stretch the lead to 23-12 and lead to a Pirate timeout with 9:34 remaining in the first half.

ECU would fight back into the game by holding South Carolina without a basket for 2:16 and would close within two points on a Johnson three-pointer to cap a 9-1 run and bring the Minges crowd to its feet. South Carolina would answer with a quick 7-0 run and would go into the break up 35-28.

The Pirates would use a 7-0 run to knot the game at 38-38 and force a South Carolina timeout and ECU would take its first lead of the game on an Ausar layup to make it 40-38 with 15:53 to go. Both teams would go back and forth as there were seven ties and eight lead changes over the next 15 minutes. South Carolina would go 6-for-8 at the free throw down the stretch to go back ahead and spoil the Pirates' hopes for a win.

Up Next
East Carolina travels to Lakeland, Fla. for the Florida Tip-Off against Florida on Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. on the SEC Network.