East Carolina defeats SC Upstate 82-71, is unbeaten at home

Dec 4, 2016, 09:42 pm

GREENVILLE, N.C. -- B.J Tyson scored a career-high 26 points and East Carolina defeated South Carolina Upstate 82-71 Friday night to go 4-0 at home.

East Carolina (5-3) dominated, outscoring Upstate 48-18 in the paint and 17-4 on second-chance points despite only grabbing two more rebounds (33-31) than the Spartans (1-9).

Kentrell Barkley scored 18 for the Pirates and Caleb White 13.

Mike Cunningham led SC Upstate with a career-high 18 points and five 3-pointers, Deion Holmes scored 15, Michael Buchanan 14.

Jure Span hit a 3-pointer with 3:30 left to play, pulling Upstate to within seven, 73-66. But Tyson went 4-for-4 from the foul line down the stretch, and added a layup.

Prince Williams and Kanu Aja made 3 of 4 free throws in the late run, pushing the lead to 84-68 while SC Upstate was held to a pair of free throws until Cunningham hit a late 3-pointer with the game out of reach.