GREENVILLE — East Carolina wrapped up the nonconference portion of its 2016-17 schedule with a balanced scoring effort and a 76-56 win over Presbyterian in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum on Thursday night.
Kentrell Barkley and B.J. Tyson led the Pirates (8-5) with 12 points each. Scoring 11 points apiece were Caleb White and Jeremy Sheppard. Raquan Wilkins added 10 points. Elijah Hughes, who recently returned from a foot injury, had nine points.
“We moved the ball well,” said ECU coach Jeff Lebo. “We shared the ball very nicely tonight. . . . We drove the ball and got to the free throw line.”
The Pirates made 22 of 27 free throws for 81.5 percent.
Barkley had 10 rebounds and Wilkins grabbed seven as ECU had a 37-27 lead on the boards.
Sheppard had three of nine steals for the Pirates. ECU had 13 turnovers compared to 17 for the visitors.
From a 33-25 advantage at the half, the Pirates pulled away to three leads of 23 points in the second half.
A crowd of 3,667 was on hand for the contest during semester break.
Darius Moore led the Blue Hose (4-7) with 16 points. Jo’Vontae Miller had 13 points for the Big South Conference entry and Reggie Dillard scored 10.
“We needed this going into Christmas and getting focused on conference play,” Tyson said.
The Pirates open in the American Athletic Conference on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at home against South Florida.
ECU will be without forward Clarence Williams, who has been dismissed from the team.
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