Pirates Roll Past N.C. Wesleyan In Season Opener, 97-70

Monday, November 4

Greenville, N.C.

7:00 p.m.

East Carolina University

1-0,0-0AAC

N.C. Wesleyan

0-0,0-0USA South

N.C. Wesleyan

East Carolina

November 04, 2024 | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

GREENVILLE, N.C. – RJ Felton scored a game-high 22 points and C.J. Walker recorded a career-high 21 points along with 12 rebounds as East Carolina routed N.C. Wesleyan 97-70 in the Pirates' season-opener on Monday night at Williams Arena in Minges Coliseum.

Jordan Riley added 14 points and Cam Hayes scored 10 for ECU (1-0) who used a 20-0 run in the first half to blow the game open and take a 28-4 lead with 11:48 remaining in the half. ECU would go up by as much as 35 in the first 20 minutes, shooting 60 percent (21-35) from the floor and 64 percent (7-11) from behind the arc en route to a record-setting 65 points in the first half.

Marquis Eskew led N.C. Wesleyan with 16 points.

After the Pirates increased their lead to 37 points early in the second half, the Battling Bishops used a 10-0 run to cut the lead to 82-57 with 8:30 remaining but Wesleyan would get no closer as the Pirates responded and pushed the lead back to 30.

Game Notes

The Pirates' 65 first-half points are the most points scored in a half in program history. The previous high was 64 against Saint Andrews on Dec. 4, 2012.
ECU won its 25th straight season-opener on Monday night, tying the Pirates with Duke who also has won 25 straight lid-lifters.
RJ Felton extended his double-digit game scoring streak to 26 games dating back to last season and scored his 17th career 20-point game.
Felton moves to 16th all-time in career points scored at ECU with 1,176, passing Jim Modlin who scored 1,174 points.
ECU's 97 points scored was the most in a game in the Michael Schwartz era.

Up Next
East Carolina remains at home as the Pirates host Coastal Carolina on Saturday for a 4 p.m. tip on ESPN+.