LAKELAND, FL — East Carolina was edged down the stretch by a Southeastern Conference opponent for the second straight game as Florida topped the Pirates, 70-65, at the RP Funding Center on Thursday night.
The Pirates trailed, 35-24, with 2:54 left in the first half, but rallied within 62-61 on a jumper by Cam Hayes with 3:32 to go.
Bobby Pettiford’s driving layup with 1:06 left cut Florida’s lead to 67-65.
A video review after the ball went out of bounds under the Gators’ basket gave Florida the ball. On the ensuing possession, Tyrese Samuel dunked on a follow shot to extend the lead to 69-65 with 20 seconds remaining.
Hayes, playing his first game since transferring from LSU, missed a three with 14 seconds to go.
The Gators closed the scoring on a free throw by Alex Condon with 11 seconds left.
Florida (7-3) made 15 of 28 free throws compared to eight of 12 for ECU (6-5).
“Maybe we could have been more aggressive going to the basket,” said visiting coach Mike Shwartz on the Pirate radio network in regard to the foul shot disparity.
ECU was coming off a 68-62 loss at home to South Carolina on Saturday.
Shwartz cited 18 offensive rebounds by the Gators as the Pirates were beaten, 51-32, on the boards.
R.J. Felton and Ezra Ausar had 14 points for the Pirates. Pettiford scored 11 with four assists before exiting in the closing seconds with a leg ailment. Brandon Johnson had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Walter Clayton Jr. led Florida with 22 points, 20 of which came in the first half. Condon had 12 rebounds.
Next up for ECU is a home game against Delaware State on Wednesday at 7 p.m. (ESPN+).
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