GREENVILLE — East Carolina overcame a 21-point deficit to defeat Buffalo, 73-70, in Williams Arena at Minges Coliseum on Sunday as Jordan Riley scored 31 points.

The Pirates (4-7) trailed 47-26 with 39 seconds left in the first half and were down, 47-28, at the break before Riley challenged his teammates.

“The first half, we weren’t getting it done at all,” Riley said on the Pirate radio network.

“Defense is obviously what it was,” said ECU coach Mike Schwartz.

The Pirates outscored Buffalo (9-2) by a 45-23 margin over the final 20 minutes, including a 16-2 run over the final 4:55 of the nonconference contest.

Daniel Freitag had 29 of his 31 points in the first half. Schwartz credited a defensive adjustment to deny Freitag the ball in the second half and the individual effort of Tybo Bailey in limiting Freitag’s production after intermission.

Bailey had 11 points. Giovanni Emejuru had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Luke Davis had six points, three blocks and 11 rebounds for ECU, which led, 40-36, on the boards.

Isaiah Mbeng had eight points. Corey Caulker had five points, four assists and three steals.

The Pirates committed fewer turnovers, 6-13.

ECU had an early 11-5 lead before Buffalo went on a 42-15 run.

The Pirates were down, 68-57, with under five minutes to go but took the lead at 71-70 on a second chance hoop by Emejuru with 1:04 left.

Grady Dillon of the ECU media relations department said it was the largest comeback for records dating back to 1981. The Pirates battled back for an 82-73 win over South Dakota State in the Virgin Islands on Nov. 23, 2009, after trailing by 20 points.

ECU hosts Presbyterian (6-6) on Wednesday at 7 p.m.