GREENVILLE, N.C. – Ezra Ausar scored 18 points and Bobby Pettiford Jr. added a career-high 15 points, but East Carolina fell to Northeastern 82-76 in the first day of the TowneBank Holiday Classic on Sunday afternoon.
 
Quentin Diboundje turned in 14 points for the Pirates (2-2), who dropped their second straight game and were outplayed on the boards 35-27.
 
Chris Doherty led the Huskies (2-2) with 18 points and 10 rebounds.
 
After a slow offensive start from both teams, the Pirates went out in front from the 12-minute mark, going up by as much as five points after an Ausar three-pointer made it 22-17 with 5:49 left in the first half.
 
Northeastern would claw back to knot the game at 26-26 but ECU would take a 33-29 lead going into the half after a Diboundje.
 
Both teams would go back and forth for the first 13 minutes of the second half, but the Huskies would score 10 of the game’s next 14 points to pull ahead for good. The Pirates would keep the game within five points in the last two minutes but were unable to string together a stop and a score in the loss.
 
Up Next
East Carolina will look to bounce back against Georgia Southern at 6 p.m. on ESPN+ in the second day of the TowneBank Holiday Classic.