Pirates start fast, finish strong

Staff Report
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GREENVILLE — East Carolina never trailed in a 74-48 nonconference win over Florida Atlantic on Tuesday night.

A 3-pointer by Caleb White put the Pirates ahead 5-2 with 16 minutes left in the first half and ECU (4-3) led the rest of the way.

The margin grew to 18-3 on a drive by Grant Bryant with 9:25 to go in the opening half.

Bryant played 20 minutes with Michel Nzege out with an ankle injury and scored 12 points. Bryant made six of eight field goal attempts.

Nzege may be back as the Pirates host South Carolina-Upstate, 1-7 going into a game with Clemson tonight, on Friday at 7 p.m. The Spartans are coached by Eddie Payne, who guided ECU to the NCAA Tournament in 1993.

The Pirates got a game-high 15 points from B.J. Tyson, who has come on in wins in the last two outings to show the scoring ability he exhibited last year as a freshman. Tyson also has demonstrated the offseason work he did to finish more efficiently with his right hand.

"We didn't settle for jump shots," said ECU coach Jeff Lebo. "We started the second half with five layups off of drives."

Tyson made seven of nine field goal attempts as the Pirates were 32 of 59 from the field for 54.2 percent. Tyson also had a game-high nine rebounds.

White was two for three on 3-pointers as ECU was five for 13 behind the arc for 38.5 percent.

Lebo also liked the ratio of 23 assists to 11 turnovers. White had 10 points, five assists and five rebounds as the Pirates had a 41-31 advantage on the boards.

ECU extended its lead to 30 points twice in the second half, at 55-25 as Charles Foster assisted Bryant at 12:08 and at 68-38 with 3:32 to go as Clarence Williams scored on a feed from White.

The Owls defeated the Pirates 72-63 on Dec. 3 last season in Boca Raton, FL.

Georgia Tech transfer Soloman Poole led FAU (1-5) with 11 points.

Prince Williams had seven points and four assists. Freshman Kentrell Barkley had six points and six rebounds. Lance Tejada contributed six points and three assists.

Foster finished with five points. Mike Zangari and Clarence Williams had four points each. Clarence Williams also had four rebounds and three assists. Kanu Aja pulled down four rebounds and scored two points.

Deng Riak blocked a shot and grabbed three rebounds.

Former manager Drew Bost gave the crowd of 3,763 a reason to cheer as he sank a three in the closing minutes.

PAGE UPDATED 12/02/15 02:28 PM.

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