CHARLOTTE — East Carolina’s hopes of making the American Conference tournament took a hit Saturday with a 68-56 league loss at Charlotte.

The 49ers grabbed the initial lead on a 3-pointer by Arden Conyers and maintained the upper hand the rest of the way.

The Pirates are 9-18 overall and 4-10 in league play. ECU is currently 12th in the standings in the 13-team league. The top ten teams make the league tournament in Birmingham, March 11-15.

Charlotte (14-13, 8-6) ended a 4-game losing streak.

The 49ers had a 13-point lead, at 38-25 with 19:24 to play. ECU had a run to close within 43-42 on a second chance lay-up by Giovanni Emejuru with 10:19 to go.

The Pirates went without a field goal the last four minutes.

Jordan Riley had 15  of his game-high 20 points in the second half for ECU.

Corey Caulker was back in action from a foot injury that sidelined him early in a 92-89 double overtime loss to visiting Wichita State on Wednesday night and had 16 points at Charlotte on seven for 13 field goal shooting.

Emejuru had 10 points and 12 rebounds in the setback.

Charlotte got 12 points each from 7 feet, 2 inch Anton Bonke and Ben Bradford. Dezayne Mingo had 10 points and 10 assists for the 49ers.

Charlotte finished a regular season sweep of the Pirates with a 73-70 victory in Greenville on Jan. 18.

The Pirates will be on the road again for a matchup with Texas-San Antonio on Wednesday at 8 p.m. (ESPN+).  The Roadrunners (5-21, 1-13) play at Tulsa on Sunday at 4 p.m.