ECU Defeats Gamecocks, 64-56, at Greenville Winter Invitational
South Carolina Athletics
Hayden Brown led South Carolina with 15 points in tough shooting day for the team
GREENVILLE, S.C. – South Carolina (5-6) fell 64-56 to East Carolina (8-4) on Saturday in the inaugural Greenville Winter Invitational. The Pirates started the game on a 12-0 run and led by 19 at the half.
The Gamecocks battled back in the second half however, going on a 15-2 run to pull within seven, 44-37, at the 11:07 mark. Carolina would cut it to seven again, 53-46, with 4:01 to go but could not get the deficit trimmed beyond that as ECU had a quick 5-0 spurt thanks to RJ Felton that pushed its lead to 12 with 1:50 on the clock.
Carolina shot 48.3 percent (14-for-29) in the second half but was plagued by a poor shooting performance in half one (26.9 percent, 7-for-26). The Gamecocks were just 6-for-24 (25.0 percent) from behind the arc.
Graduate transfer Hayden Brown (15), sophomore Meechie Johnson (13) and freshman Gregory “GG” Jackson II (13) scored in double figures for the Gamecocks. The rest of the team scored just four points and went 6-for-19 (31.6 percent) from the field.
Felton scored a game-high 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Javon Small was the only other player in double figures for the Pirates with 12 points.
KEY STAT
- ECU shot 50.0 percent (22-for-44) and 40.9 percent from 3 (9-for-22).
NOTABLES
- Hayden Brown has now scored in double figures in four consecutive games (seven games with 10 or more points on the season).
- Gregory “GG” Jackson II kept his 11-game, double-figure scoring streak alive with 13 points.
- Josh Gray led South Carolina for the third straight game with seven rebounds.
- Meechie Johnson led Carolina with three assists. He has 22 assists the past four games after dishing out a career-high eight at Georgetown back on Dec. 3.
UP NEXT
- Carolina (5-6) will play one more game before taking a brief holiday break as it hosts Western Kentucky (8-2) on Thursday, Dec. 22 at 7 p.m. (ET) on SEC Network. The Gamecocks will then wrap-up nonconference play at home against Eastern Michigan (2-9) on Dec. 30 at 7 p.m. on SEC Network+.
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